MEN’S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: Rebounding emerges in loss
LAS VEGAS – Underneath the miserable stats of Saturday’s game Nevada can build on its 44-34 rebounding advantage against the Rebels.
The Wolf Pack was bigger than UNLV in the 79-67 loss and rebounds were a stat it had to exploit. It did but the Pack still lost.
JaVale McGee not only led Nevada in points but the 7-foot forward crashed the boards for eight offensive rebounds and 13 total rebounds.
Nevada beat UNLV in second chance points 16-10.
The UNLV game was only the second game this season that Nevada out-rebounded its opponent. Nevada beat UC Irvine on the boards Nov. 13, for its first win of the season.
More backcourt presence
Nevada needs better play from its backcourt. The Wolf Pack backcourt shot 13-34 (38 percent) with only eight assists.
An eight assist to 19 turnover ratio will not win games for Nevada this season.
“I don’t think their (UNLV) defense was as good as last year’s,” coach Mark Fox said. “We just made way too many mistakes.”
Nevada made two of 12 shots from the three-point line compared to UNLV’s seven of 19. Every time UNLV needed to answer a Nevada run it made a three-pointer to pull away. The Wolf Pack didn’t have the same luxury from the three.
It was UNLV’s big men who shot well from three. Forwards Matt Shaw and Joe Darger combined to shot five of the Rebels seven three-pointers.
Inexperience looms
Nevada’s inexperience may have played a part.
Freshman and sophomores contributed 14 of the Pack’s 19 turnovers.
“It’s still early in the season,” Marcelus Kemp said. “We have to focus on coming together as a team. We have to play our (style of) basketball.”
Only four of Nevada’s 13 players are either juniors or seniors.
Rebounding program
The UNLV program is winning again and Lon Kruger is the reason why. The Rebels had its best season last year since its championship run in 1991.
Not to mention it has beat Nevada two years in a row.
The Rebels went 30-7 last season and for many it may have felt like the towel eating Jerry Tarkanian was back on the bench.
Kruger’s résumé includes a 22-year Division I record of 449-302, 2 and-a-half years as a head coach in the NBA under the Atlanta Hawks and multiple trips to the NCAA tournament.
Kruger is one of three coaches to lead four different schools to the NCAA tournament: Eddie Sutton and Jim Harrick are the others. He also joined Bill Self, Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith as the only coaches to take three different schools to the Sweet 16: Kansas State, Florida and UNLV.
Kruger’s success in Las Vegas may awaken a sleeping giant. UNLV was one of the most successful college programs in the country in the late 1980s. Under Tarkanian UNLV won its conference tournament ten years in a row (1983-1992) and made the final four in 1987, 1990 and 1991. The Rebels ranked in the top-ten in the nation in attendance from 1985-1991.
Recruiting violations under Tarkanian hurt the program since Kruger’s arrival.
This is Kruger’s fourth season at UNLV. His overall record with the Rebels is 68-35.
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