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Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun
UNLV’s Mike Moser yells after teammate Bryce Dejan-Jones drew an Air Force foul during their Mountain West Conference Tournament game Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at the Thomas & Mack.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 | 2 p.m.
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Moments before the start of the UNLV basketball team’s Mountain West Conference tournament quarterfinal game Wednesday against Air Force, one of my media colleagues asked for a prediction.
With a straight face, I told him the Rebels would win by double digits. Not just against Air Force, but in the Rebels’ other tournament games, too. So far, so good — UNLV beat Air Force 72-56 in advancing to Friday’s semifinals.
Considering UNLV lost to an 11-win team at home four days ago and has severely underachieved most of the season, the proclamation of three wins by double digits might not seem too logical.
Of course, the outcome of today's game is deceiving because Air Force’s Michael Lyons, a first-team All-Mountain West selection who scorched UNLV in two regular-season meetings, exited with an ugly knee injury after just three minutes. That changed the Falcons’ plan of attack and ultimately killed the confidence they entered with from beating UNLV once this season and narrowly losing in overtime in the other contest. Air Force also had momentum on its side from beating league-champ New Mexico last Saturday.
But, at this stage of the season, there are no asterisks next to the final score. All wins carry the same value — they advance you to another stage of the tournament you are playing in.
That’s where you have to give UNLV credit for taking advantage of the Lyon-less Falcons. With Air Force searching for answers after Lyons was carried to the locker room, UNLV forced 13 first-half turnovers and limited Air Force to 4 of 12 on its 3-point attempts.
UNLV wasn’t at its best early in the game, and some will argue this year’s group won’t equal the lofty preseason expectations. But they smelled blood after the injury and ultimately imposed their will. It’s what more talented teams do when they sense weakness in an opponent.
And in the second half, UNLV looked like that special team some expected it to be. Bryce Dejean-Jones dunked over a pair of defenders, freshman sensation Anthony Bennett finally played again like a sensation, Justin Hawkins finally hit a jump shot and the Rebels appeared to have their swagger back.
There is no doubting the talent on the UNLV roster. And it’s no secret that talent has meshed well in bringing on much criticism. My theory of three victories by double digits is because I truly believe the shocking loss last week to Fresno State was a wake-up call, and something finally clicked with the players. Their window to have a memorable season was slowly closing, and reversing the trend needed to happen immediately.
Who knows? Maybe today was the start of something promising.
The only way UNLV can silence its critics, though, is to keep winning. This week, next week, and in what would really signal a turnaround, in three weeks. Today, they took a step in the right direction. Even if it was a small step.
Here are two more observations from the win:
All eyes on Anthony Bennett: NBA scouts will be front and center the rest of the way of Anthony Bennett’s UNLV career and dissecting his every movement. It’s that way for any potential lottery draft pick a professional franchise will invest millions in. That’s good news for UNLV because when Bennett is at his best, the Rebels have the potential to do great things. When UNLV opened the second half with 21 points in nine minutes to essentially put the game away, Bennett was a beast. He drained a pair of 3-pointers and made a reverse dunk in transition in showing his versatility. While he hasn’t been at his best down the stretch, his ability to score from the inside and out always puts UNLV at an advantage, because the opposition’s post players have to guard the perimeter. He finished with 23 points, including two monster dunks down the stretch.
Moser hitting the glass: Mike Moser finally appears to be returning to form. An ugly elbow injury early in the season at Cal derailed his plans for a solid final season before heading early to the NBA Draft, and after several dismal performances, he seems to have found his stride. He shined last year in the post at power forward but was penciled in on the wing this year to improve his draft stock. He’s just more valuable on the inside — something witnessed against Air Force. He grabbed 10 rebounds in the victory, typically racing the ball up the floor himself to start the fast break. When UNLV was great last year early in the season, much of the success was credited to Moser’s gaudy rebounding figures and his ability to start the transition offense. The experiment on the wing never had a chance to develop because the injured elbow hindered his shooting. He’s back in the starting rotation in post and should be a mainstay underneath the rest of the year. The best way to improve his draft stock isn’t by hitting jumpers. It’s by having good performances. That’s what he did today.
Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or ray.brewer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21.
For starters, congrats on the win. Yet, it was against Air Force though. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here and clear off a space in the cabinet for another National Championship trophy or even a MWC trophy. It would be sad for the team not to beat Air Force by double digits.
Also look at all those empty seats...... wow.....
"Yet, it was against Air Force though."
And not a worthy win, because Air Force didn't just beat the #11 team in the nation. Perspective is too frequently lacking in these comments.
Go Rebels!
@James_P_Reza (James Reza) - You're exactly right. Even though Air Force isn't going to the tournament, they're still very solid.
@GoBruins - You're not selling out a game at 12 noon on a Wednesday.
Glad to see the way the Rebels came out for this game and then sustained their focus, especially on the defensive end.
Really appreciated cbs sports "edge to the game". They listed 2 bullet points for UNLV:
1)Defend the 3
2)Crash the glass (rebound)
Couldn't have said it better myself!
To defeat Colorado State the Rebs will have to out-rebound them again, like the last meeting in Vegas.
Ray - You are not falling for the "wake up call" and a "desperate team" are you??? Have we not heard this before? I thought that the UNC game, the Fresno St game on the road, the Air Force game on the road, and the Fresno game at home were all "wake up" calls? The good news is the Rebels have typically responded after a lousy defeat, the bad news is there is always another lousy defeat that pops up again. This team is just too much Jekyl and Hyde to proclaim that the "swagger" is back. Quit hyping this team up. The last thing this team needs is to think that just because they took care of a short handed Air Force that they are going to steamroll into the NCAA's. Once again you cannot talk your way to good basketball. You have to prove it when it matters. If you have followed this team closely at all, you ought to know this by now.
Confidence? Yes. Desperation? Yes. Swagger? No. The last thing this team needs is "swagger" & to buy into this kind of hype. They arent mature enough or experienced enough to handle it. All it takes for the first domino to fall...and GUARANTEED the rest will follow suit...is for this team to veer even the slightest off course in terms of 1. Defensive focus & effort 2. Valuing the possession 3. Sharing the ball. The second we get too full of ourselves & lose focus...we flush all three of those aspects down the drain...and lose. Ugly.
As Gumby documented above...the second we or anybody proclaims that this team has "arrived"...they have a tendency of still chalking up "no shows" too. I am not even remotely suggesting that they cant do it or are not capable of winning the MWC tourney or making a nice, deep run....they are....but this team puts me in parental mode so I'm "trusting but verifying" first. lol
Frankly, I'm more concerned with Katin bouncing back & whether or not Green plays Friday. He looked pretty gimpy & favoring it getting off the bench today. Meanwhile, I'll save the "swagger" for the trophy presentation should we be confident & desperate enough to execute & get there.