55°F
weather icon Clear

Injuries leave Rebels short-handed in the middle

UNLV interim basketball coach Todd Simon went down the depth chart at center when meeting Tuesday with the media.

Dwayne Morgan, a 6-foot 8-inch forward, now is No. 1, followed by 6-7 forward Derrick Jones Jr., 6-6 guard Jordan Cornish and 6-7 guard Patrick McCaw.

What, no 6-2 players?

The fact that McCaw, the point guard for most of the game Saturday at Fresno State, is even on the list speaks to the Rebels’ dire situation.

Most likely, however, McCaw will find himself back up top — and possibly as the starting point guard — when San Jose State visits the Thomas & Mack Center at 7 p.m. today.

The Rebels (13-11, 4-7 Mountain West) are 15½-point favorites over San Jose State (8-15, 3-8) in the game that will be streamed on ESPN3.

“Pat can play one through five (positions),” Simon said.

McCaw has played both guard positions throughout the season, and what his role will be against the Spartans hadn’t been decided by Tuesday afternoon.

That’s because starting point guard Jerome Seagears aggravated his bruised right hand in a 111-104 double-overtime loss at Fresno State. He originally suffered the injury Jan. 30 against San Diego State, but it wasn’t thought to be serious.

Seagears practiced Tuesday, so chances are he will be the point guard.

When McCaw was asked to step into that spot against the Bulldogs, he came through with 28 points and 16 rebounds.

“If I’m the point guard or not, I’ll do what I do each and every game and contribute to what the team needs me to do defensively and offensively and just be a leader,” McCaw said. “Coach Simon was stressing he wants me to lead more, not necessarily scoring but getting guys involved.”

UNLV needs all the healthy bodies it can get given its attrition inside.

Goodluck Okonoboh left the team in November, though he apparently hasn’t enrolled in another school.

Ben Carter tore his left anterior cruciate ligament against San Diego State, and at Fresno State, Stephen Zimmerman Jr. sprained his left knee. Carter is done for the season, and Zimmerman is out indefinitely.

No wonder Simon is scrambling to find help inside.

“You start the year with three 5-men,” he said. “Now it’s a situation where we have zero 5-men.”

He addressed that problem against the Bulldogs by playing a 2-3 zone for most of the game. UNLV outrebounded one of the Mountain West’s best teams in that category 60-51.

Simon said the zone will be back tonight, but it won’t just be the 2-3, and don’t be surprised if the Rebels return to man-to-man defense at times to keep San Jose State guessing.

“It’s going to have to be a collective effort,” Simon said. “We’re going to have a different style of play. We’re going to have four different zones out there trying to get stops, and we’re going to have to rebound like we did as a group against Fresno.”

UNLV had one game to learn the zone, so the Rebels at least have some experience with that defense before meeting the Spartans.

“We hadn’t really been working on it prior to going into it during the game, but we did a decent job of it,” Ike Nwamu said. “Now having some practice time to be able to tweak some things, sharpen up some things, there’s a lot more comfort in it.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65

 

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST