No solutions on defense as UNLV falls to Richmond

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 | 7:16 p.m.

It seems apparent now that UNLV’s season-opening loss to Southern University was no fluke.

All the warning signs that popped up in that game have since turned into blaring sirens — most notably a defense that has been unable to stop opponents, or even slow them with any regularity. On Tuesday, it was Richmond’s turn to torch the Scarlet and Gray in an 82-65 blowout in the consolation bracket of the Sunshine Slam.

Richmond opened the game with an 11-0 run, pushed the lead as high as 21 points in the second half and crossed the finish line with an easy 82-65 win over Kevin Kruger’s squad, which has now dropped two straight to fall to 2-3 on the season.

Defense was supposed to be UNLV’s calling card this season, not a fatal weakness, but Richmond shot 60.0% from the field, nearly matching the 62.7% posted by Florida State in its blowout victory over UNLV the day before.

Freshman guard D.J. Thomas stepped up after the game to take accountability for the team’s underperformance on defense.

“More intensity,” Thomas said when asked what it will take to fix the defense. “All the games we’ve lost so far, we’re not intense on defense. I’m at fault, too, because I’m the point guard and I need to be telling everyone what to do, being more vocal. So, I take part of the blame on that. We’re going to go back and get better this week.”

There were breakdowns at all levels against Richmond. In the first half, senior guard Jordan King poured in 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting to help stake his Spiders to a 38-23 lead at the break. After the half, big man Neal Quinn took over, decimating UNLV’s interior defense to the tune of 14 points on 6-of-10 from the field.

King finished with 21 points, while Quinn tallied 20 on the day.

In each of UNLV’s three losses, its opponents have shot better than 56% from the floor.

With the team having six days off before its next game, Kruger said it will give the players and coaches a chance to reset and find some solutions on defense.

“It’s just kind of one of those things,” Kruger said. “We’ve got a couple days here where we’re going to be able to watch a lot of film, we’re going to be able to be in the gym a lot, so we can figure out some things and be more prepared for next week.”

When asked if he might make some changes to the starting lineup — Florida State outscored UNLV 7-0 to start Monday’s game, and Richmond made six of its first eight shots — Kruger didn’t seem inclined to shake things up.

“It’s not expected,” he said.

Instead, Kruger wants his veteran core to step on the floor prepared to play.

“Unfortunately, slow start kind of hurt us,” Kruger said. “That will be one of the top priorities going into next week, just making sure that when the ball goes up, we’re ready to go.”

Jackie Johnson led UNLV with 17 points in 20 minutes off the bench. Kalib Boone scored 14 on 6-of-8 shooting.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.