UNLV basketball’s seniors look to make another memory in final regular-season game

By Taylor Bern

Friday, March 2, 2012 | 9 p.m.

Like a parent at their son or daughter’s high school graduation, the Rebels seniors wonder where the years went.

“I feel like a few weeks ago I was just a freshman,” senior guard Oscar Bellfield said. “Time flies.”

Bellfield, Brice Massamba, Chace Stanback and Kendall Wallace will all be in the starting lineup for their Senior Night game against Wyoming (20-9, 6-7) on Saturday at 7. The game, which as of Friday evening was a few hundred tickets from being a sellout, will be televised on The Mtn. (Cox cable channel 334).

UNLV coach Dave Rice was going to approach junior guard Anthony Marshall about giving his starting spot to Wallace, but before he could, Marshall suggested it first. That’s just a small sign of the respect No. 17 UNLV (24-7, 8-5) has for its seniors.

“They’ve done such a good job just as far as leadership goes on and off the court this year,” said sophomore forward Mike Moser, who will be the only underclassmen in the starting lineup. “It’s going to be a real special day.”

Unlike most teams’ Senior Night games, this won’t be this group’s final game at the Thomas & Mack Center. They will have potentially three more next week in the Mountain West tournament, but those games will be (slightly more) neutral crowds.

This is the final time to play in front of just their fans, and to have their families there on the court to soak it in with them.

“I’ve always thought it’s one of the most special games of the year,” Rice said, “just because it’s an opportunity for coaching staffs, players, families and fans to honor young men who have meant so much to their program.”

Wallace said he’ll keep his composure only as long as his family does. If they start crying, he’ll probably follow. Those sentiments were just under the surface of all four players at Friday’s practice.

At the forefront? Winning the game.

This season has been amazing when the seniors look back at where the program was when they started. Massamba and Bellfield’s first year ended in the NIT, with Stanback taking a redshirt on the bench. Wallace is the only player on the roster with both a Mountain West tournament title and an NCAA Tournament victory.

He said he desperately wants to share those achievements with his teammates, and that starts with taking down Wyoming. UNLV’s scouting for this game is all but assured to double as its preparation for a first-round matchup with the Cowboys, too.

UNLV still has an outside shot at a co-Mountain West regular season title — both New Mexico and San Diego State must lose — but no matter what it can be no higher than a three seed in the tournament because of tiebreakers. And a victory Saturday would ensure that Wyoming stays in sixth place, setting up another showdown Thursday night in the 3 vs. 6 quarterfinal game. A loss could also set up that matchup, depending on other outcomes.

The Rebels enter this game after yet another disappointing road game, in which they gave up a 16-point lead and lost 66-59 at Colorado State’s Senior Night. That defeat ended their realistic chances of winning a regular-season crown.

Moser said the letdown is a concern, but the best thing UNLV can do is move on and not think about it. Bellfield had another suggestion.

“Just take that out on our next opponent,” Bellfield said.

Wyoming has a unique place in UNLV’s season trajectory.

When the Rebels traveled to Laramie in early February, they had won 12 of their last 13 games. Their road woes were confined to double-digit defeats at Wichita State and at Wisconsin and a tough loss at San Diego State. All of those are NCAA Tournament teams.

But starting with that 68-66 loss to Wyoming, UNLV has lost four consecutive road games — and seen the home fans storm the court in each one of them, an unofficial record.

The Cowboys didn’t play particularly well in that game, and their best chance Saturday is to keep the pace slow — Wyoming allows fewer than 55 points a game — hit a lot of 3s and just hope that’s enough.

The revenge factor only adds to UNLV’s fire. With the pregame festivities for the seniors and a near-capacity crowd decked out in white, the environment will rival any Rebels home game this season.

Of course, for four student-athletes this isn’t any game. It’s the last one, and they’re set on going out the right way.

“I just want to make memories with my teammates,” Wallace said.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.