Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

UNLV BASKETBALL:

Rebels survive scare to start season

UNLV tops Washburn 74-56, learns weaknesses before regular season begins Saturday

UNLV-Washburn

Justin M. Bowen

UNLV fans cheer at the tipoff of Tuesday night’s game.

A Legendary Reunion

Before UNLV's Basketball present took to the floor Tuesday night, alums from Rebels' Hoops past hit the hardwood at the Thomas & Mack in the Legends Game.

Working Out the Jitters

Wink Adams scored 27 points to lead UNLV to a 74-56 exhibition victory over Washburn.

UNLV opens season in exhibition

UNLV's Beas Hamga blocks a Washburn shot attempt. Launch slideshow »

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Box score

Next game

  • Opponent: San Diego
  • Where: Thomas & Mack Center
  • When: 2:30 p.m.
  • TV: The Mtn.

UNLV freshman guard Oscar Bellfield was a bit surprised Tuesday afternoon when Rebels coach Lon Kruger announced he would start at the point Tuesday night.

Then a Thomas & Mack Center crowd of 10,516 was more than a bit surprised, with a dash of discomfort tossed in, when Division-II Washburn gave UNLV a battle.

For Kruger, Bellfield and the rest of the Rebels, a 74-56 victory over the Ichabods was much closer than the final score indicated.

“It’s all behind,” said Bellfield, finally creaking a smile and showing a flash of his braces in a courtside seat in the empty arena. “It’s over.”

The Rebels open their season Saturday afternoon against San Diego at the Mack. Bellfield might be new to college hoops, but he knows the competition is about to increase.

“It’ll be much tougher than this game,” he said. “We have to go out there, make few mistakes, play hard, play together and get a victory.”

During a summer tour of Australia, Tre’Von Willis, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound sophomore transfer from Memphis, ran the point and led the Rebels to four victories in six games.

During practice, the 6-2, 175-pound Bellfield said he wouldn’t back down, that he’d give Willis a run, that them pushing each other would make the team stronger.

Bellfield appeared to play more conservatively at the point than Willis over the past month.

Tuesday afternoon, in a team meeting, Kruger told all that Bellfield would start at point guard.

Tuesday night, UNLV had a 32-30 edge on Washburn when Bellfield ran the show. That included a 7-2 game-ending spurt.

The Rebels had a 42-26 advantage with Willis at the helm.

“It was good to experience that pace and aggression,” Bellfield said. “They come at you. It was a good opportunity. Better to get it out of the way for Saturday.”

Bellfield had five points, two assists and four turnovers during his time running the team, which Kruger split evenly with Willis.

“They were freshman mistakes, turnovers and stuff,” Bellfield said. “You just have to learn from it, adjust to it, forget about it and get ready for Saturday.”

Willis scored nine points, dished out four assists and turned it over five times.

UNLV trailed, 11-9, when Kruger put Willis in for Bellfield. The Rebels responded with a 10-1 run. Willis was effective in finding senior forward Mo Rutledge down low for easy baskets.

Washburn outscored the Rebels 10-8 the rest of the first half and trailed UNLV, 27-22, at halftime.

“I felt pretty comfortable,” Willis said. “We were pretty stagnant, standing around. I wanted to get some flow, some easy baskets, get some momentum, get things going our way and run from there.”

Kruger said he looked forward to Willis providing energy off the bench, and that’s what happened.

“It’s one of those things, I suppose,” Willis said. “I support Oscar. I want him to do the best job he can do. I want to bring another dimension when I come off the bench.

“It doesn’t matter to me. I’m a team player. Egos aside, we have a goal; trying to play hard and get ‘Ws’ on the board.”

With Willis running the action in the second half, Washburn eked back into it.

Reserve forward William McNeill, a freshman who led the Ichabods with 15 points, sank a 3-pointer and was fouled by Willis. He buried the ensuing free throw to get Washburn within 53-48.

Paul Byers hit a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key on Brice Massamba to cut it to 53-51.

“Their coach was yelling at them,” McNeill said. “Everything was discombobulated for them. They learned that even though we’re Division II, they shouldn’t have an opinion on us.

“They learned a lot. Oh yeah, we really shook ‘em. They were kind of scared.”

UNLV shooting guard Wink Adams then traveled, and Byers missed a short jumper that would have tied it.

Adams, who led everyone with 27 points, drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Rebels some space.

McNeill was asked about both of UNLV’s point guards.

“Personally, they were kind of shaky,” he said. “Whenever we ball-pressured them really well, they hurried to get the ball out of their hands. For Division I, they’re OK.”

Neither Bellfield nor Willis said starting at the point is such a big deal. What’s more important, they said, is showing confidence in each other and every teammate.

When pressed, Willis pondered for a few seconds.

“Well,” he said, “the No. 1 thing that matters is the ‘W.’”

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