Battling multiple injuries, UNLV presses on into key 4-game stretch

By Ryan Greene

Friday, Feb. 19, 2010 | 9 p.m.

You look good, you feel good, you play good.

Right now, UNLV has some guys not feeling too good, and the play of late has been, well, you know.

Still, the Mountain West Conference schedule won't take a hiatus for anyone to heal up, so the Rebels have no choice but to head into a crucial four-game stretch to close out the regular season with what they've got.

"Injuries not only shorten the rotation and take guys out of the lineup but are also a distraction," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "It's different in practice; it's a different rotation there, too. A different mindset, as well. Then, when the guys are trying to come back from injury, individually they have to deal with that, too."

Dealing with it for the longest has been junior guard Derrick Jasper, who is roughly half-way back from a partially torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee. He won't be back on the floor for at least two more weeks.

On Wednesday night, before a critical 66-61 loss at Utah, the Rebels lost starting center Matt Shaw to a sprained left ankle after rolling it in a freak incident during warm-ups. During Friday's practice, he was in street clothes and limping around with the assistance of crutches.

He will likely not be in uniform on Saturday, either, when the Rebels (19-7 overall, 7-5 Mountain West) play host to Colorado State (15-10, 6-5) in a 3 p.m. tilt at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Then there are the lingering woes.

None may be more important moving forward to the Rebels than the status of point guard Oscar Bellfield's left knee.

Since bruising it during the second half of UNLV's 88-74 victory at home over BYU two Saturdays ago, he hasn't quite been the same.

Coincidentally, the Rebels haven't been the same in general, dropping three straight and now more than likely needing to win their last four going into the league tournament to remain a player for a potential at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.

Bellfield sat out from practice for a couple of days after banging up his knee, and two weeks later, he said it feels like it's at about 75 percent of its full strength.

"It's slowing me down a little bit, but other than that, it's all right," Bellfield said. "I'm just fighting through it, I guess."

Added Kruger: "Oscar's typically a scoring threat for us. Earlier in the year, he was a double-digit guy on a pretty regular basis. (With the injury he's) not quite as explosive off the dribble, not quite as explosive attacking the rim. He's one — from a frustration standpoint — who has to deal with hit. Because he's wanting to do things he knows he can do, but physically not quite capable because of the injury. But he's playing through it, trying to do whatever he can to help the team."

Bellfield has scored 27 points in three games since the injury, but has done so in a fashion he's not used to, relying more on his outside shot than getting to the bucket. In a Feb. 10 loss to New Mexico, 10 of his 11 field goal attempts were from 3-point range, and in that three-game stretch, he's a combined 10-of-31 from the floor.

It's also affected his ability to penetrate, draw in a defense and kick out for teammates, with seven assists and six turnovers in that same stretch.

"Probably not until after the year's over," Kruger said of when the injury will probably heal fully, with the team not having the luxury of letting him miss an extended period of time. "It's not an injury where there's fear of further damage. It's just restrictive in the meantime. Until he gets extended rest, it's probably not going to get any better."

Luckily for UNLV, their last four games are against four teams — CSU, TCU, Air Force and Wyoming — who they beat the first time around this season.

In an 80-72 victory in Fort Collins on Jan. 20, Tre'Von Willis and Chace Stanback combined for 40 points to help the Rebels shake loose in the second half in a tight contest.

The x-factor in that game, though, was the defensive job UNLV did on CSU junior forward Andy Ogide, holding him to four points and two rebounds in 28 frustrating minutes.

On the season, the Ole Miss transfer is averaging 11.6 points and 5.9 rebounds a game.

The difference this time, though, is that the Rebels will have fewer bodies to throw at him. Doing most of the dirty work will be Brice Massambaand Darris Santee.

"We just try to push him off the block," said Santee, who produced nicely in Shaw's place with six points and six rebounds on Wednesday, playing a season-high 27 minutes. "We know he likes to go over his right shoulder and shoot the jump hook, so we've got to push him off the block, chest him and make sure to get the rebound after he shoots the ball."

Despite suffering the three losses consecutively after earning back a national ranking for the second time this season, the Rebels looked far from defeated in a Friday morning practice.

Team-wide, the chatter was consistent and verbal stingers flying back and forth as a form of motivation were present in abundance.

"The attitude about what we need to do is good," Kruger said. "The disappointment about what's happened the last three games is high. That combination, hopefully, results in a sharp, sharp effort execution-wise."

And while the injuries have limited the number of available bodies, the Rebels are doing the best they can to keep that from becoming a mental distraction during the most critical portion of the 2009-10 schedule.

"It's really just pressure we're putting on each other, knowing what we're capable of doing," Bellfield said. "We all need to step up. People are down, people are injured or whatever. We just need to ignore that, stay positive and keep going."