LAS VEGAS — With the way the Runnin’ Rebels started last season, it would be hard to blame anyone for needing to see proof of product before making a proclamation about their NCAA tournament hype.
If Saturday’s 80-74 loss to Memphis is any indication, we can’t let our minds wander there just yet.
“We had a great opportunity to beat a team that's, in my opinion, going to be a conference champion,” UNLV coach Kevin Kruger said “(We were) on our own floor and we played really well for a lot of the night. We’ve just got to tighten some things up and keep working on it and but I know this group will.”
It felt like the exact type of game that UNLV would have lost last season, especially when a questionable block call on Julian Rishwain with 3:55 remaining resulted in an and-one at the hands of Memphis guard PJ Haggerty, giving Memphis a 68-67 lead at that point.
A second controversial block call on Rishwain sent Memphis to the line again with 1:13 remaining, this time for the free throws that put them up 75-72 and put UNLV in a backbreaking spot.
Penny Hardaway’s Tigers entered ranked 40th in the ever-trustworthy KenPom rankings, the highest ranked opponent on UNLV’s out-of-conference schedule and second highest ranked overall behind Boise State (33).
It’s not a dooming loss for UNLV, but it’s a win they really would have liked to have when those names start to get drawn in March.
Haggerty led the Tigers with 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting, while Colby Rogers added 16. DJ Thomas led UNLV with 22 points but no assists. Jalen Hill added 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists while Jailen Bedford added 10 points.
How much of a referendum Saturday’s loss will be on Kevin Kruger and his reinforced roster of transfers around DJ Thomas remains to be seen.
While it brought back stark memories of the troubles that haunted them last season in terms of hanging on late in games, we saw how well UNLV gelled at times in conference play last season despite how bad they looked out-of-conference.
The point is, if they can avoid catastrophic losses unlike last season, which Saturday’s loss was not, they still have a puncher’s chance at a successful season. And yes, the only way this season is a success is if it concludes in the NCAA tournament.
UNLV went up by as many as 12 in the first half until a Memphis rally going into halftime brought them within 3 at the break, 34-31.
Memphis took their first lead since the opening minutes of the first half with just over six minutes remaining, the culmination of a 35-29 advantage for Memphis to that point in the second half.
In total, Memphis outscored UNLV 50-40 across the second half and 12-5 in the final 3 minutes to close out the game.
“They just got it going,” Kruger said. “We’ve got to work on doing a better job of just kind of making people miss and as we go forward and trying to turn it into a five person unit defensively that does a good job of taking away looks.”