LAS VEGAS — For centuries, doctors and scientists and even a few sportswriters have tried to figure out what causes schizophrenia.
Why do individuals or teams perform at a high level one day, then turn around and go into hiding the next?
Sometimes, you wake up in the morning not ready to perform and you mail it in. Or you’re under the weather and simply can’t compete at a high level. Or maybe the opposition is simply too good on a given night.
I’m guessing Kevin Kruger has been wondering what it is that plagues his UNLV basketball team. How can they look so good in beating Utah State and San Diego State, then struggle in losing to Wyoming? If it’s a mystery to the Runnin’ Rebels’ coach, it sure as hell a head-scratcher for those that still find it worth their while to come to the Thomas & Mack Center. What used to be one of the most intimidating basketball venues in the country has long since stopped being that. So we shouldn’t be surprised when a team like Wyoming can come in as was the case Tuesday night and leave with a W.
And if Wyoming wasn’t intimidated, New Mexico, the best team in the Mountain West, certainly wasn’t afraid. Richard Pitino, who has managed to restore the Lobos’ strong homecourt advantage at the venerable Pit in Albuquerque, got his team to keep the Rebels in check long enough and get a little lucky at the very end to leave Vegas with a 75-73 win and stay at the top.
When we see New Mexico back here come mid-March, it’ll likely be as the top seed in the conference tournament. And they’ll bring a ton of fans with them instead of the smattering that were seated behind their bench as part of the paltry crowd of 6,158 Saturday afternoon. They’ll show what UNLV what a real home court advantage is like.
As for the Rebels, this Jekyll-and-Hyde routine they’ve been running in conference play can’t be sitting well with anyone. Between the empty seats, the empty possessions and the middle-of-the-pack record in conference play, not to mention being consistently inconsistent, athletic director Erick Harper must be wondering whether he needs to make a change in men’s basketball like he did in football.
And speaking of football, Dan Mullen, UNLV’s new coach, came out to Saturday’s game and gave those in attendance a quick pep talk during a time out, imploring them to get loud, and, by the way, whip out those credit cards and secure season tickets for Rebel football at Allegiant Stadium this coming season.
Right now, Kruger is just trying to keep things on an even enough keel and win enough games in order to build momentum come mid-March. At 11-9 overall and 5-4 in the Mountain West, it’s going to come down to three or four days of getting hot and earn the conference’s automatic bid if UNLV is to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.
“You can play hard but sometimes it doesn’t always go your way,” Kruger said afterward.
However, a win Saturday would have certainly helped.
Two of the best players in the league were showcased and New Mexico’s Donovan Dent was able to outdo Dedan Thomas Jr. Dent finished with 34 points but an airball 3-point try with 23.4 seconds to go gave Thomas and the Rebels one last shot to either win it in regulation or force OT. And when Thomas was fouled with 5/10ths of a second left and had OT in his hands, he missed the second of two free throws.
He took responsibility for it but it wasn’t all him. His teammates made enough mistakes to share in yet another bitter loss. Of the six UNLV players who attempted a free throw Saturday, each of them missed at least once.
“Just bad decisions down the stretch,” said Thomas, who finished with 18 points and seven assists.
No one should fault the efforts this week. And while the win three, lose two, win two, lose two scenario is no doubt frustrating to all concerned, the fact is these Rebels are not a bottom feeder. But they’re not championship timber either. It’s a program that’s middle-of-the-pack in a conference which will in all likelihood have just two bids to the NCAAs come Selection Sunday. Yes, they’re 5-4 in league play and tied for fifth with Boise State, which kicked the snot out of them, 81-59, on Jan. 7. But as the second half of the conference is coming, so too is the need to find some consistency and put together enough good things over 40 minutes.
Right now, that’s not happening. But hey, they managed to cure Sybil. Maybe someone can fix UNLV.