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Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun
A UNLV fan rests his chin in his hand in the final minutes of their game against Fresno State Saturday, March 9, 2013 at the Thomas & Mack Center. Fresno State, a 14-point underdog, upset the Runnin’ Rebels 61-52.
Saturday, March 9, 2013 | 5:15 p.m.
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Before the disaster that was the UNLV basketball team’s second loss of the season to lowly Fresno State, a script read by the public address announcer during the Rebels’ Senior Day celebration raised a red flag.
When introducing Justin Hawkins and Anthony Marshall on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center for their final game, making four straight NCAA Tournaments was listed in each of their accomplishments. OK, I get it, the Rebels are 99.9 percent guaranteed to have their name called next Sunday.
It’s just a pair of defeats to 11-win Fresno State will surely be a gigantic black eye when the seeding gods huddle next weekend to piece together the bracket. The Rebels entered winning six of their past seven games, and five straight, working their way from the dreaded 8-9 line in seeding projections to a more manageable No. 4 to 6 seed.
Then, Fresno State came to town. And, in one of the uglier home defeats in UNLV history (yes, I wrote that), prevailed, 61-52.
The Rebels gave up way too many offensive rebounds, were ineffective offensively and got out-hustled by a team with little talent. UNLV entered 34-1 in its past 35 games at home and was a 15-point betting favorite — somehow Fresno State, not San Diego State or New Mexico, stopped the trend.
UNLV didn’t make a shot in the final 9 minutes, 52 seconds of the game. Again, UNLV didn’t make a shot in the final 9:52.
While the accomplishment of becoming the first UNLV players since Stacey Augmon and Chris Jeter from the back-to-back Final Four teams to make the tournament is nice, winning a game in the “Big Dance” would be a more significant accomplishment for Hawkins and Marshall. That’s why I thought the announcement is odd — the expectation at UNLV should be doing more than making the tournament.
To make that happen, the Rebels need to play a perfect game. The tournament is all about matchups, peaking at the right time, and in all honestly, luck. UNLV has proved in the defeats to Fresno State that it can’t overcome a team that plays its best or makes all of its shots.
It doesn’t matter that Fresno State made 8 of 12 of its 3-pointers in the first half; the Rebels got beat by a team they had no business losing to. What’s even more disappointing is how they were out of rhythm offensively and played with little urgency. Come on, 52 points at home. Against Fresno.
Everyone in the arena sensed UNLV would eventually pull away. (I even started writing about how they overcome adversity). Looks like the UNLV players had the same mindset, and in sports, that’s a formula for disaster.
The Rebels gave an underdog a glimmer of hope, and they paid for it. Dearly for it — the Rebels are back on that 8-9 seeding line. Ugh.
A 23-win regular season: When it is all said and done, the UNLV season won’t be judged by 23 wins, losses to Fresno State or great home wins against the Mountain West’s better teams. They’ll be solely judged on the postseason and how they survive and advance. If they Rebels can win next week’s Mountain West Conference tournament or advance to the second week of the NCAA Tournament, the season will still be considered a success. Yes, 23 wins is disappointing. It about three fewer than a team with this much talent is capable of. Right now, you can classify the season as one of underachieving. But it’s not over. There is much basketball left to play.
UNLV does it right on Senior Day: From a majority of fans wearing white to the crowd singing the national anthem and coach Dave Rice starting all three seniors, Saturday was an event Justin Hawkins, Anthony Marshall and Quintrell Thomas will surely cherish. It was a first-class ceremony by everyone involved. They also honored cheerleaders, members of the band and Jon "Jersey" Goldman — better known as the mascot, Hey Reb. Goldman received a framed No. 57 (UNLV, of course, opened in 1957) jersey and exchanged long hugs with school officials while uncontrollably crying. It was a good reminder of how important this basketball team is to our city. In good times and bad in Las Vegas, and there’s no secret our economy has struggled in recent years, the Rebels have been there to give us a reason to cheer. From the players, cheerleaders and Hey Reb, it’s a labor of love. Three cheers for UNLV honoring those students who are often lost in the shadow of the basketball players. It’s Scarlet. Gray. Every day. Well, except on Senior Day, which was a white-out game.
Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or ray.brewer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21.
Holy cow, I didn't see this coming. Wow.
Unexplainable? no , unacceptable ? yes. So I guess the fans will really be upset when they lose in the first round in the MWC tournament. Ohhhh let's see could it be hmmmmm Fresno again in the first round?. If Boise States' point man hadn't fouled out in the last few minutes of the game earlier in the week UNLV would have lost that one too. When you have an inferior coaching staff you can't expect to win continuosly. No defense , no offensive rebounds, bad passing, poor ball handling, looks like it's very explainable.
A Vulcan, Dave Rice is not.
@fedup2here (Kenny Rogers) - I don't even know where to begin. I'll just start off with the way you state things like it's fact. You don't know what's going to happen.
Also, why do you ignore the fact that the Rebels are a young team? That doesn't excuse what happened today, but young teams lose games like this. Dave Rice has won 49 games in his first two seasons as head coach. That's pretty good if you ask me.
The Mountain West is probably the top league in the nation right now in RPI. (New Mexico just lost, at home, to Air Force.) There are no bottom feeders in this league, judging by how both UNR and Fresno have played as of late. So, this was one game, and it's over. See you Wednesday, Rebels!
It's good UNLV doesn't want a new arena. How about improving the education first before we become enamored with the sports teams!
The worst thing that could have happened to this team...happened. We went up early on an inferior team, then started thinking we could put it in cruise control, do what we want, & win. I didnt see one guy play with ANY emotion. Marshall's body language the whole game was terrible.
Why we kept trying to trap off the high pick & roll over & over & over 1st half when they just popped Foster to the top the key for uncontested 3s over & over & over...was mind boggling. Plus there was ZERO ball pressure the whole game...we just conceded the first pass & let them get into rhythm & run their stuff. That is unacceptable when you have the length we do to protect the rim...get into their mugs & stay there. Terrible.
Offensively, I had to check my phone to make sure it was really early March and not December. Marshall was a black hole. We'd move the ball around until it got to him & then it stopped. He'd over dribble & drive or kick. That is fine in dosages, but it cant be your whole offense because the second he got the ball they just clogged the lane & we tried to jam it in there anyway. The ball HAS TO get reversed & go into the post too. Like it has been the last 5 games.
I wish the Srs could have went out better...but we got what we deserved.
Pretty much the same Rebel team we've become accustomed to every season for about the last 5 seasons. About a 24-26 win team with 8-10 losses, 2nd or 3rd place in the MWC, usually a MWC tournament semi finals appearance, a 7-8 seed in the NCAA tournament, and one and done in the NCAA tournament. The Rebels always start the season out well and sputter in conference play. They are ranked for a few weeks out of the season but never an entire season. The best player from the season before usually always comes back and has a disappointing last season (Wink, Willis, Stanback, and now Moser). If you go back and compare this team to teams from the last 5 years they really are no better despite the talent level. The last 5 Rebel teams back to 2008 averages around 72-73 ppg, roughly 37 rpg, 16 apg, 45% shooting, and 33% 3pt shooting. To be specific this team according to ESPN stats (before this debacle of a game) UNLV was averaging 73 ppg, 40 rpg, 17 apg, 44% FG, 33% 3PFG. i just feel like the Rebels have been stuck in this pattern and can't seem to improve on it. Don't get me wrong, 24-26 wins and trips to the NCAA tournament aren't a bad thing but I'm just ready to see the Rebels take the next step. Teams are supposed to improve from season to season where as i just feel this program can't get over the hump despite bringing Rice in with his so called "Let's Run" system and his recruiting abilities. I know it could be worst but I feel as if I'm watching the movie Groundhog Day when it comes to UNLV basketball lately.
To expand on my last post, I just don't want UNLV to be stuck in mediocrity. I don't just want UNLV to be a good team I want them to be a great team. I'm not really expecting them to return to National Champion status (although i hope they do) and not asking for Sweet 16 or Final 4 appearances every year. But it would be nice to see them get there more than once in the past 20 years. We haven't won the MWC regular season since 2000 and we are supposed to be a basketball school. We haven't won the MWC tournament since 2008 despite it being played in the Thomas and Mack. Come on Rebs. It's time to step up and give the fans of Vegas what they want. The talent is there and despite this being a young team there is experience on this team (Marshall, Hawkins, Moser, Thomas, Lopez).
oh dang, I misread the title ,it reads unexpected not unexplainable , I'm so sorry, but still the same it was not unexpected according to Dave Rice.
ive been to senior night before.its pretty cool.sorry they had to lose.
Where is the "Run As One"? 52 points isn't exactly a track meet. Tons of talent that doesn't reach potential. Where is the evidence of great coaching? Even the tv commentator said last night that "that was a wasted timeout" with 8 seconds to go in the shot clock and didn't even get a shot off? Their coach drew up an alley oop slam dunk that was sportscenter worthy out of a timeout. Thanks for your time here Dave Rice but you are in over your head. We cannot become a major program with a mid-major head coach who continually gets out worked game in and game out. Fire Dave Rice.
@SanAntonioRebel - Good luck convincing Livengood that 23-8 is pitiful and that he deserves to be fired.
To all of the Dave Rice haters: come up with something new. It's ALWAYS the SAME talking points.
@phillips: I never typed the word pitiful in my response so don't put words in my mouth. It's "unacceptable" like the article title says. I wanted Dave Rice over Reggie Theus, but after 2 years it's pretty evident he doesn't have the coaching talent to become a top notch coach and maximize the talent he has at his disposal. Is he horrible? Absolutely not. Can UNLV get a better head coach? Absolutely. Jimmer could have made me look like an "offensive genuis" if I was coaching at that sorry school that is byu while he was there. And I know he won't get fired because he wins just enough. Which is apparently fine for you.