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Rebels avert final step off cliff of mediocrity

The forgettable journey that has become UNLV’s basketball season, some of it the fault of injury, a lot of it the fault of poor execution and again inflated expectations, nearly took one final tumble off the cliff of Mountain West mediocrity Wednesday night before the Rebels rallied to save themselves from complete embarrassment.

A loss to San Jose State, you realize, really would have messed with those at-large NCAA Tournament hopes for UNLV.

We jest, of course.

UNLV survived San Jose State — RPI 295, hasn’t won a road conference game since 2014, seemingly hasn’t won three straight overall since the Reagan administration — by a 64-61 final before a Thomas & Mack Center gathering that resembled what you might expect from a weeknight battle of seventh place against 11th place.

UNLV announced a crowd of 11,647, and barely half that was in the house, which probably is why they didn’t use those air guns to shoot T-shirts into the crowd, thinking if they just had cheerleaders throw them into the stands, at least half the folks might go home with a prize.

“Well, I guess a win is a win,” UNLV interim coach Todd Simon said. “It wasn’t exactly pretty.”

When the university decided to fire Dave Rice as its coach three games into the Mountain West schedule, two things were going to happen as the season progressed: The Rebels either would discover renewed spirit under Simon and take off to contend in what is proving to be the worst collection of Mountain West teams in league history, or things totally would fall apart.

It hasn’t reached the point of totally, but it’s teetering on the edge.

You can’t plan for your most important player to be lost with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and when junior forward Ben Carter’s season ended against San Diego State on Jan. 30, he took with him a large chunk of UNLV’s heart and soul.

Carter’s importance reached far beyond any box score. On a team with few leaders, he was essentially the player who held things together. He was really the only leader.

You also can’t expect to be the same at either end of the floor without freshman Stephen Zimmerman Jr., injured at Fresno State on Saturday and out indefinitely with a sprained knee.

Maybe he returns.

Maybe he doesn’t.

Maybe he should.

Maybe he shouldn’t.

Zimmerman is viewed a likely first-round NBA Draft pick should he leave school following this season, a kid with great upside and even higher character. Teams in the league love his future, and it would make sense for those advising him to consider all options of returning to a team that is a major long shot to make the NCAA field and would be an even bigger one to win a game once there, or to ensure he is completely healthy when the times comes to decide which route to take.

But here’s the thing: You always can control effort and energy, and UNLV is hardly good enough to offer the sort of swings — playing incredibly hard to going through the motions — that have seemed to settle within this team.

Injuries didn’t lead to UNLV trailing San Jose State by 13 at halftime, and they didn’t cause the Rebels to miss 12 free throws. What was an inspired, emotional UNLV side that rallied at Fresno State before losing in overtime three days prior was a flat, lazy, uninspired one against the Spartans.

Fact: UNLV doesn’t beat any conference team outside San Jose State and perhaps Air Force on Wednesday, and considering how many back-cuts the Rebels allowed the Spartans over 40 minutes, I assume the Falcons would have been quite comfortable.

“If I knew the answer as to why we came out (so flat),” Rebels point guard Jerome Seagears said, “I probably would have told my teammates.”

In a week when darkness engulfed UNLV athletics with the passing of two of its most treasured and loyal supporters, the Rebels sleepwalked through most of a win that transpired as much because San Jose State eventually became San Jose State as anything the home side did. UNLV intensified its second-half pressure, and the Spartans predictably wilted. That’s it.

Fred Albrecht, a longtime coach and administrator who helped create the school’s alumni program, lost his long battle with cancer at the age of 71 on Friday; Rich Abajian, as devoted a follower as UNLV football has known and general manager at Findlay Toyota, died in this sleep Tuesday evening. He was 62.

The sadness was said to be unbearable around campus, and both deaths should lend perspective to any game.

It wasn’t a good time around UNLV the past several days.

It wasn’t pretty at all Wednesday night.

“Certainly, we want to bury that first half in the backyard and not bring it back up,” Simon said. “Sometimes, you have to figure out different buttons to push to get guys riled up.”

Herein lies the problem for a depleted UNLV roster.

Riled up should be a given.

Riled up never, ever should be an option.

Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Twitter: @edgraney

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