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Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010 | 6:13 p.m.
UNLV vs. Wisconsin
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UNLV knocked off Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon, 68-65, behind a career-high 25 points from Chace Stanback and clutch late-game heroics by Justin Hawkins on defense and at the free throw line.
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The Rebel Room
WISCONSIN POSTGAME: Rebels survive the grinder
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Ryan Greene and Case Keefer take a closer look at a grinder of a 68-65 win for the UNLV men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon at home against Wisconsin. It was far from pretty, but the Rebels improved to 3-0 and now have a few days off before the start of the 76 Classic on Thanksgiving night. The guys take a look at the struggles of UNLV's big men, the defensive prowess of Justin Hawkins, the offensive heroics of Chace Stanback and assess Tre'Von Willis's return from a 4-game suspension.
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The UNLV basketball team couldn’t have asked for a better early season matchup.
This game had it all — emotion, a great opponent and a positive outcome.
Sure, it’s only the third week in November, but Saturday’s 68-65 win against No. 25 Wisconsin will only make the Rebels that much stronger come March.
Obviously, a victory against a quality opponent from a nationally respected conference will carry it weight in gold at the end of the season when the Rebels are jockeying for position in the NCAA Tournament. More importantly, however, is the experience and confidence the UNLV players got from the victory.
Trailing by one point with one minute to play, the Rebels didn’t flinch in pulling out the win. They made the shots when they needed to and closed the game with a great defensive stand.
And it wasn’t just one player. They got contributions from several.
Take junior forward Chace Stanback for instance.
He finished with a game-high 25 points in arguably the best performance of his UNLV career. His 3-pointer from the corner with about 55 seconds to play erased a one-point deficit and gave the Rebels the lead for good. He’s really blossomed into a player the Rebels can rely upon with the game on the line.
Here are three more observations from Saturday’s game:
1) Welcome back Tre’Von: When Tre'Von Willis was arrested in June in connection with a domestic complaint, I was highly critical of his actions, arguing he should have never put himself in a compromising situation. However, my opinion was in the minority, with several Rebel fans hitting the message boards to show their support. Willis eventually pleaded no contest to a reduced misdemeanor charge and returned Saturday following a three-game suspension. The senior guard was greeted with a standing ovation by the Rebel faithful. Performance on the court aside — he finished with four points and five assists — it was nice to see Willis receive the warm reception. I’ve been impressed with how he’s accepted responsibility for his actions and how he appears to be contrite for his action. He’s earned your cheer.
2) A rough week for Quintrell: Quintrell Thomas, the heralded Kansas transfer who is expected to be a force for UNLV on the interior, has been hampered with foul trouble the past two games. The 6-foot-8 sophomore forward lasted less than one minute in UNLV’s starting lineup Saturday before picking up a foul and being benched. At halftime, he had two fouls in just five minutes. He also was 0-for-3 from the field in the first half, misfiring badly on two attempts. He only played two minutes in the second half. In Wednesday’s victory against Southeastern Louisiana, Thomas only played eight minutes in fouling out. Thomas simply needs time to work off some of the rust after sitting out last year. He is pressing in an attempt to make an impact. He needs to let the game come to him, and that’s when his obvious talent will take over. The Rebels need his big body on the inside.
3) Those 3-pointers: UNLV’s streak of games with a 3-pointer made increased to 775 contests as the Rebels connected on 9 of 18 of its 3-pointers. Oscar Bellfield hit a 3-pointer two minutes into the game and the Rebels keep firing — which is a problem. Unlike years past, they don’t have enough proven shooters to live and die by the 3-pointer. I know that sounds odd considering the Rebels hit 50 percent against Wisconsin, but ultimately, it will be tough to duplicate the effort the rest of year. Oftentimes, they settled for the 3-pointer early in the shot clock. Against Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday, Stanback hit the only 3-pointer in the Rebels’ eight attempts to keep the streak alive. His shot came with less than 10 minutes to play, well too deep into the game for the liking of the UNLV fans.
Big win. With a rather weak OOC schedule the Rebs need these games if they are going to end up out of that 7-10 seed range in the NCAA tourny.
The good. Overall the Rebs played a really solid defensive game. Held Wisconsin to 36.5% from the field. I thought Kruger moving Marshall on Taylor was a big key. Marshall did a nice job on defending him. Of course Hawkins came up huge at the end with the steal (really bad decision by the Wisconsin player trying a bounce pass), and even bigger to me was stepping up and nailing those free throws when he was virtually ice cold.
The not so good. Overall, so far I don't see a whole lot of difference from the previous seasons in terms of play. They are still a three point/jump shooting team in the half court. When the shots are falling as they were tonight it is fine, but of course as we know there are nights when it won't.
Very little came from guys driving to the basket. Compounding problems in the half court is still almost no productivity from the bigs. Other than a nice move by Lopez late in the first, and one by Brice with about five minutes to go, the bigs were non existent again offensively. Thomas plays like a bull in a China shop. He desperately needs to slow down a little. Can't be productive on the bench in foul trouble.
And the rebounding differential once again remains a problem (37-29 in favor of Wisky tonight).
Ray, you take what the other team gives you. Last year it sucked because we did live and die by the three but Wisconsin is a Big 10 school, known for physical play with big men inside. If we weren't hitting and continued jacking em up, I'd understand. But truthfully, you should just be glad our shooters were on.
Ray, a little correction. Stanback hit a long two with 55 seconds to play, not a three.
The good news is that we won't see too many teams like this throughout the rest of the season. Bo Ryan is an extremely good coach, and their players play good defense. We were able to attack the rim from the perimeter, but often times our guy just had a half step, so when they stretched out for a layup, their defense collapsed with all of their big guys. Plus with the foul trouble early, it looked like we were content with slowing the game down to decrease the overall possessions.
I thought most of the 3's were good looks, with the shot selection overall much better than last year. We don't have a guy who will bust a 3 in your face like KW did last year, but I do think we capable shooters if given good looks. Also I think Stanback has officially improved his range.
Huge win beating Wisconsin
Not to mention, the big 10 officials not giving anything to the guards when they did drive. Typically they were being bounced like a pin ball when they went to the rim without a call.
a couple more...
4. T&M - Great to see (hear and feel) a raucous Thomas & Mack. I understand a few key recruits were in the building and hopefully that atmosphere got them excited about the idea of becoming Rebels. Rebels games are fast becoming a major event in Vegas. It'll be fun to watch games this season with more fans jumping on the bandwagon.
5. Stanback's mid-range J - If that shot remains consistent, what a nice bridge it'll become between their outside game that looks solid, an inside game that is emerging and transition game that should be solid once the guys have a few games under their belt and calm down a bit.
6. Lopez - I hope the coaching staff can gather a few hours of tape of Joakim Noah, both at Florida and now with the Bulls and get it to Lopez to study. The flowing mane aside, Lopez's game shares some similarities to Noah's. Some diligent tape review might help Lopez take a few of Noah's tricks and make them his own.