Curtain goes up at UTEP as Rebels’ show hits big time

Sam Morris

UNLV guard Wink Adams splits North Carolina A&T forwards Ed Jones, left, and Nicholas Wilson during the second half of their game Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center. UNLV won 71-58 and improved to 4-0.

By Rob Miech

Monday, Nov. 24, 2008 | 2 a.m.

The auditions are over. Now, fifth-year UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger takes his 4-0 team on the road to see what it has learned so far this season.

On the verge of breaking into the legitimate Top 25 rankings, Kruger is more concerned with guiding his program to a 5-0 start for the first time in nine seasons.

"We haven’t always played as well as we’d like, but we've learned from each opportunity and gotten better each time," Kruger said after practice Sunday afternoon. "It's exactly what we wanted from those first four ball games."

If Kruger, his assistants and the Rebels wake up this morning in El Paso and discover UNLV is among the best 25 teams in the nation over scrambled eggs and bacon, so be it.

Kruger has other priorities.

"You always like to have your name in there," he said. "Not that it makes any difference at this point in the season. Given the choice of the two, I’d rather come back from UTEP playing well and having figured a way to win.

"Given the two, say, ranked and lose at UTEP, or win at UTEP and not be ranked, we’d much prefer to play well at UTEP and win."

From his two point guards to his three centers, to forwards who can play two or three positions, Kruger’s options are many.

He experimented with a variety of looks during the past four games.

"We do have flexibility," Kruger said. "We have different guys who can go at the 'five' spot late in the game, to protect a lead or get better ball-handling.

"We can put Joe (Darger) at the 'five' and Rene (Rougeau) at the 'four,' and get even more skilled. Yeah, I think we have a lot of flexibility."

Still, the opener against San Diego, if not games against Texas Pan-American and North Carolina A&T, might have been too tight at late junctures for some fans.

"I think every team in the country could say, we'd like to be farther along," Kruger said. "I think this group has made progress. Now we go on the road to learn a lot about ourselves in a tough place to play."

A closer look at what we saw in UNLV"s first four games:

Guards

Oscar Bellfield, a freshman, and sophomore Tre'Von Willis started three times and once, respectively, at the point.

Willis is bigger and stronger, and he takes more chances, as we knew. Both have more assists than turnovers, which is critical in Kruger's system.

Bellfield sports the better shooting touch and is the only starter making more than half of his attempts, at 52.4 percent, from the field. He also sinks a team-best 41.7 percent of his 3-pointers.

Bellfield has earned the position. Yet, Kruger showed confidence in a less-than-healthy Willis (slightly separated right shoulder) to start him Saturday against North Carolina A&T.

Against a smaller tandem of guards, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound Willis struggled shooting, from the field and at the line, but his dogged defense hindered the Aggies' backcourt.

Kruger has the luxury of flip-flopping between Bellfield and Willis to his liking, so expect that to continue.

"I think we're getting good production out of the point guard position," Kruger said. “Oscar and 'Tre' have done a nice job."

Wink Adams, the senior from Houston, favors his right hip just a tad from a recent fall, but that's difficult to decipher during games. He is accustomed to playing through all sorts of pain.

And he's stronger than ever this season.

But his 38-percent shooting is below his career figure (of 40.4 percent), and so is his free-throw touch of 69.6 percent; he hit 79.1 percent of his freebies in his first three seasons.

No problem, Adams said. This team doesn't have to rely on any one player.

"We have guys who can score, we have guys who can penetrate, we have good 'Bs' (reserves) who can do a lot of things," he said. "I think every game our chemistry is getting better.

"We're just learning how to play with each other, learning what each other can do. Every game, the team is getting better and better."

The Houston native is 4-0 in Texas during his collegiate career. The Miners have won 73 of their past 88 games at home, but they're 26-10 at the Don Haskins Center under third-year coach Tony Barbee.

"El Paso is so far from Houston it's almost like driving to another state," Adams said. "But going back to Texas is always personal. Bragging rights. I haven't lost there and I have to keep it going."

Kendall Wallace, a sophomore, spells Adams and had a career-high 14 points (on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point land) against Northern Arizona.

Can Wallace produce on the road in a tough environment against a worthy opponent? Kruger expects him to.

Forwards

Rougeau has been operating at small forward. In the offseason, he promised to deliver a more above-the-rim game, dunks from the wings and tip slams, like Corey Bailey converted last season.

That hasn't happened yet, but Rougeau rolled his right ankle during fall practice and has been bothered by a right hip flexor lately.

That might account for some of his sliding issues on defense.

His shooting is down but he's patrolling the rim well and again leads the team with 7.3 boards a game. "Nene" hopes to average a double-double.

Darger, a fellow senior, hit three of his 13 attempts beyond the 3-point arc but has been hot, going 9-for-16 in his past two games.

His 41.1 percent marksmanship from the arc beats his career average of 38.7 percent, and his continued success from long range will be invaluable in opening up the middle for teammates.

At 6-feet-3, Mo Rutledge shouldn't be overlooked when he gives Darger a break at power forward. He, too, has the ability to pull a bigger foe out to the arc, and he's sneaky quick on the glass.

DeShawn Mitchell, the 6-5 freshman highlight reel from New Jersey, displayed his electric moves with three dunks that powered him to 14 points in the victory over Pan Am.

He might have played more in the first four games if a few of them hadn’t been so tight, which required the veterans to secure cushions and seal victories.

Mitchell is a small forward, but Kruger said the 'threes' and 'twos' are interchangeable – both are wings – in his system.

Centers

Darris Santee, Brice Massamba and Beas Hamga, the 7-footer from Cameroon, have combined to average 10.5 points and 7.1 rebounds.

Santee, the starter, hasn't hit double digits in a game yet. Another Houston native, he said returning to West Texas won't be that special to him. No family will be in El Paso.

He won an NJCAA title at Midland College, out among the oil derricks on the Plains, but cringed when recalling the desolation.

The challenge for the big UNLV trio tonight will be junior 7-footer Kareem Cooper, who averages 12 points and 5 boards, and shoots 80 percent from the field.

He also tips the scales at 285 pounds.

Welcome to Division-I basketball, Rebels.

That Kruger relied on Darger at center to polish off Saturday's victory over North Carolina A&T showed that, while early, the three new centers have plenty to learn.

"We can get a lot of mix-and-matches," Adams said. "That's how you win games. We have to get the advantage, make switches and ball screens … get smaller guards on Rene or Joe, and get them the ball.

"UTEP is like A&T, but a little longer and very athletic. We have to slide well on UTEP because they constantly go to the basket."