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Lessons can be learned in tough loss to San Diego State
Saturday, March 13, 2010 | 6:23 p.m.
UNLV Falls Short of MWC Title
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del.icio.usFor the fifth time in the last six meetings, San Diego State knocks off UNLV, winning the Mountain West Conference Championship, 55-45.
You can’t blame the UNLV basketball team for being emotionally drained Saturday during its Mountain West Conference tournament title game against San Diego State.
After all, everyone who was in the Thomas & Mack Center last night for the Rebels thrilling semifinal victory against BYU was surely drained.
Fortunately for the Rebels, their 55-45 loss to the Aztecs won’t keep them out of next week’s NCAA Tournament. While the disappointment of being upset in the title game surely stings, it is definitely not the end of the season.
It is simply a roadblock that can be erased with a pair of victories next week in a more meaningful tournament.
If anything, the loss will serve as a valuable wake-up call. The Rebels have to come ready to play every night, and whatever the circumstance, the players need to find that extra motivation to push through.
Playing in the NCAA Tournament is a rare experience — a lifelong dream for several players. The Rebels need to come ready to play like they did in their last-second victory against BYU, and not like today, when they were seemingly stuck in neutral all night.
It’s hard to duplicate on consecutive days the brand of intensity that helped the Rebels win a back-and-forth battle with BYU.
Still, the lackluster and sluggish performance, especially in the first half where the Rebels only shot 32-percent and didn’t score in the game’s initial six minutes, came as a surprise. UNLV had looked so impressive in winning its previous six games that the hangover from the BYU slugfest wasn’t expected.
San Diego State, which had a thrilling victory Friday in its semifinal win against New Mexico, also failed to match the intensity from the previous day. But the Aztecs did what they needed to do late in the game to cap its run of three wins in three days to earn the league’s automatic berth in the NCAAs.
And holding usually high-powered UNLV to 45 points was impressive.
Several of us were guilty of expecting too much from this game. After a pair of thrilling semifinal games yesterday, it was easily assumed the excitement would carry over into the championship game. Both teams, however, were running on fumes.
While the game didn’t feature as much of the up-tempo style of play as yesterday's semifinal contests, it still included a tight finish that had fans on the edge of their seats.
It’s the drama that makes March such a special month for college basketball. And as UNLV learned in its last two games, the thrill of victory or agony of defeat is always one shot or lackluster performance away.
Fortunately, UNLV will have one more opportunity to experience the thrill again.
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Totally agree. We're going to be hungry going into the first round.
@Sufferin
In what way? The seeding?? The only people that care about the seeding are the fans. The players just want to play. Are you trying to suggest they they're one of the "First 4 teams that's out"???
Lunardi's math has been proven right year over year. And he had us as a lock when we beat Utah.
Your math is Wrong, they are at best a 7 seed per Lunardi
Robert,
Based on teams' overall body of work, I see three teams in your lock list that would get the boot before UNLV if MSU and UM win:
1.Richmond
2.Utah State
3.OK ST.
I love how you sometimes remember to pretend you're with us and say something like "I sure hope we're in" but we know you really wish for these bad things to come true. And then when something bad happens (like a loss) you are thrilled to death and can't stop talking about it!
It's so bizarre that you'll be watching the show tomorrow crossing you're fingers that we're in the NIT so you can continue you're anti-Kruger campaign.
Thankfully, you'll be wrong
...again.
What's Richmond's record versus the RPI top-50? Top-100? What's Richmond's road record?
MWC > WAC. WAC = 0 ranked teams. MWC = 2, and 3 at some points of the season. It's about overall body of work, not just RPI.
I will give you OK ST.
Keep trying.
Oh yeah, Va Tech doesn't get in over UNLV, either.
UNLV is a lock for sure.
We are in no matter what happens today, Lunardi has us 10th in the midwest on his final bracket.. Not the ranking UNLV will want, but it is better than the NIT..
It's that BS 4pm start time that has everyone lacking energy. Put it back to 8pm.