Notebook: Willis, Jasper hoping to be at full strength in time for Thursday

By Ryan Greene

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 | 2:15 a.m.

The last time Tre'Von Willis was in the NCAA tournament, he never had a chance to take his warm-ups off as his Memphis team made a run to the Elite Eight in 2006.

Derrick Jasper started three NCAA tournament games, with the last one coming as a sophomore at Kentucky in 2007. In that 74-66 loss to Marquette, on a weakened left leg, Jasper went scoreless with seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks in 40 minutes.

Both now want to make impressions in the tournament as juniors for UNLV, but health will determine how much both can do this Thursday, as the Rebels play Northern Iowa at 4:10 p.m. Las Vegas time in Oklahoma City.

Jasper has missed UNLV's last 12 games after suffering a partially torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee Jan. 26 against Air Force.

Willis rolled his left ankle in Friday's 70-66 victory over BYU in the Mountain West Conference tournament semifinals. He returned to play Saturday in the title game against San Diego State, but was visibly limited, scoring 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting in the 55-45 loss.

Even though Jasper looked to be the healthier of the two during Monday afternoon's practice at the Thomas & Mack Center, the prognosis for Thursday might be better for Willis.

"I expect it to be, if not 100 percent, close to 100 percent by Thursday," Willis said. "When it first happened, when I went down, the first thing that popped in my mind was 'not now.' But I don't think about it too much, because things happen. I'm just trying to look at the positives."

If Willis is known for anything other than leadership qualities and production on the stat sheet for the Rebels (25-8), it's his high pain tolerance.

Last season, he battled shoulder and knee injuries for much of the year, while as a junior he dealt with back pain early on, then with another injury to the same ankle when he landed on the foot of a Weber State defender Dec. 17. He sat out one game before returning to action.

"He tweaked it pretty good Friday night, he did the best he could on Saturday," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "That's a credit to him, because when you're playing someone like (San Diego State's Kawhi) Leonard, who's a monster, it's tough enough when you're at 100 percent. When you're not, it may be easier to not be out there. He wanted to be out there, that's a credit to him."

Willis was limited during practice, but Jasper looked better than he has at any point in his career since suffering the second significant injury to his left knee.

In a series of three plays during live drills, he took the ball to the hole each time in heavy traffic. On the first, he rose to the rim for an easy lay-in, he followed it with a sweet dish to Chace Stanback for an uncontested bucket up close, then barely missed a lay-up attempt similar to his first.

"I really want to play really bad," said Jasper, whose confidence appears to be back after feeling things out last week on the practice floor. "I want to play this weekend, and it's hard sitting and watching your team execute well, winning games by a lot. You want to be out there with them. I plan on playing this Thursday, so we'll see how practice goes, and it'll be a good game."

While Jasper sounds as if he thinks he'll be a go in OKC, Kruger said he still believes the 6-foot-6 guard, who is averaging 6.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists this season, will need to be eased back into game action.

"We're not going in expecting him to be the difference that gets us over the hump," he said. "We are going in hoping he can play, but not banking on the results.

"Again, it's one thing to be healthy, it's another thing to have not played in seven weeks. It's not just being able to play, but being effective. If he feels good enough to go a little bit, we'll check that out, but as it's been all along, it's up to Derrick. He's got to feel confident in that knee."

Grandy Glaze is UNLV's first 2011 commit

With four scholarships — and roster spots — to fill after the 2010-11 season, the UNLV men's basketball staff got a dose of good news.

Grandy Glaze, who Rivals.com ranks as the No. 83 prospect in the 2011 class, committed to UNLV on Monday after getting interest from the likes of West Virginia, Florida and several others.

Glaze, a hyper-active 6-foot-6 power forward, was most recently in Las Vegas over the summer playing for Team Takeover Canada.

This season as a junior at Proctor Academy in Andover, N.H., he averaged 20 points and 13 rebounds per game.

Northern Iowa, from another perspective

Not many teams have found a way to get the best of Northern Iowa (28-4), which has inflicted its slow-as-molasses pace on several opponents this season en route to averaging just 54.3 points per game.

One Missouri Valley Conference foe who did, though — albeit once in three meetings — was Wichita State, which triumphed 60-51 at home against the Panthers on Jan. 19.

"The one thing we know when you play Northern Iowa is you have to make perimeter shots, because they do a good job of clogging up the lane, and they're one of the best defensive teams in all of college basketball," WSU assistant coach Earl Grant said on a Monday teleconference. "You've almost got to play a perfect game to beat them. They're really good, and I'm just glad some of those seniors are graduating."

Fans invited to send team off to OKC

UNLV will depart for Oklahoma City from the Thomas & Mack Center at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday.

Fans are invited to show up to the parking lot at the Mack for a send-off gathering.