Rebel Report Card: UNLV vs. Fresno State

That was not the way UNLV wanted to start Mountain West play.

The Rebels dropped a 69-66 decision to Fresno State at home on Wednesday night in a game in which they had every opportunity to win.

UNLV trailed much of the second half, but led late only to see Fresno State tip in a missed free throw with 25 seconds left to change the complexion of the final possessions.

It was a tough night all around for the Rebels.

Backcourt: D

Patrick McCaw, usually the stalwart of the group, struggled to have much of an impact due to foul trouble. He picked up two in the opening minutes and had to temper his aggression when he was on the floor. He never found a rhythm, largely evidenced by consecutive terrible possessions where his turnovers led to Fresno State runouts early in the second half. Jerome Seagears had decent numbers. That didn't tell the whole story though. He took an ill-advised 3-pointer as UNLV had momentum during the second-half comeback and committed too many key turnovers down the stretch. McCaw and Seagears each committed five turnovers to set the tone a team that turned it over 21 times in all. Ike Nwamu had 11 points and four rebounds, but just got abused by Marvelle Harris on the defensive end several times as Fresno State seized control of the game early in the second half. All of the mistakes by the backcourt, and perhaps more troubling their inability to force Fresno State errors, led to the Bulldogs outscoring UNLV 33-7 off turnovers. That's just not acceptable.

Frontcourt: C+

Dwayne Morgan is really just a starter in name at this point. The sophomore did post two points and seven rebounds in just 18 minutes, though. Ben Carter was very good in stretches. He made 10 of 12 from the line and finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. He also took two charges in big spots, creating momentum down the stretch that probably should have translated into a victory. Both players were pivotal in helping UNLV to a 43-31 rebounding edge.

Bench: C

This is a tough grade to give because Jalen Poyser was just so good down the stretch. He hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final minutes, one to give UNLV the lead and another to extend the advantage to four. After Fresno State rallied, he hit a layup to put the Rebels back in front. The freshman had 11 points, four rebounds and an assist in 21 minutes of action. Stephen Zimmerman was solid with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but it was a crucial missed block out on a missed Fresno State free throw in the closing seconds that led to the biggest basket of the game. Jordan Cornish was just 1 of 5 from the field and Derrick Jones was out of sync for most of the eight minutes he was on the floor. Daquan Cook returned to the team, making a 3-pointer on the only shot he attempted in his three minutes.

Coaching: D-

This was a bad loss. Not only did UNLV fail to hold serve on its home floor in the first league game, but it was another example of the Rebels imploding early in the second half of a game it led at the break. The Rebels squandered a 33-27 halftime lead almost immediately after the break and found themselves down by nine points just a few minutes later. UNLV coach Dave Rice and his staff need to find a way to address the slow starts coming out of the locker room and they need to do it quickly. UNLV put a lot of focus on winning the rebounding battle in this matchup and was able to do so, but the Rebels struggled in too many other areas. Again, the offense got far too stagnant at times. That's another problem that continues to surface. Late in the game, Fresno State put a lineup on the floor where all five players had four fouls, yet UNLV couldn't find a way to exploit the issue. After calling touch fouls all night, the referees appeared to not want to blow the whistle once the Bulldogs were in that situation. But the Rebels also needed to find a way to force the issue and they never did so. UNLV had a week off before this game and knew Fresno State would be up for the challenge. There was no excuse to commit the amount of turnovers they did on Wednesday night.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj