Rebels begin to find answers with three games in Bahamas
NASSAU, Bahamas — After a disappointing first game in which UNLV lost on three free throws with half a second left, the Rebels blew out their final two opponents in the Summer of Thunder and learned a little more about their basketball team.
But it wasn’t just the exhibition games, including Thursday’s 102-87 victory over the Providence Storm of the Bahamas Basketball Federation, that will be important for the Rebels going forward.
It also was about the two weeks of practice leading up to this trip and about beginning to establish chemistry before reconvening at the end of September.
“We learned who we have in terms of their strengths and weaknesses,” UNLV coach Marvin Menzies said. “It’s one thing to identify those in recruiting. It’s another to actually coach it.”
Some of the strengths:
• Sophomore Jalen Poyser can play either guard position and probably will do just that. He scored 28 points against the Storm at Sir Kendal Isaacs Gym and dished out five assists with two turnovers.
“He’s just a guard,” Menzies said. “He’s not a one or two or three, he’s just a really talented player who I think we’ll be able to utilize his versatility.”
• Graduate transfers Christian Jones and Uche Ofoegbu showed they will bring on-court skills in addition to veteran leadership. Jones had a double-double in all three games, including 15 points and 10 rebounds against Providence. Ofoegbu scored 15 points against the Storm and averaged 15.7 in the three games.
• Sophomore junior college transfer Kris Clyburn produced a double-double Thursday with 19 points and 12 rebounds and averaged 16.7 points and 9.7 rebounds for the week.
“His court presence obviously shows he’s been there and done that at the college level, albeit junior college,” Menzies said. “He still has gone against high-level talent.”
Plenty of questions remain, of course, especially regarding the frontcourt.
Six-foot-11-inch center Cheickna Dembele did not play because he still hasn’t been cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse, and 6-8 forward Dwayne Morgan remains out after undergoing recent hip surgery.
Their absences forced the 6-7 Jones to usually play center and 6-4 Ofoegbu to sometimes play power forward.
“Once we get our bigs back, everybody can start at their more comfortable positions,” Ofoegbu said.
Menzies also said the freshmen have learned how challenging the step is from high school to college.
“This college journey is exactly that,” Menzies said. “They’re just at the beginning. They’ve got to understand they’re going to have brighter and more interesting and more fun and intriguing chapters to come. Right now, this is a growth chapter, and they’ve got to be patient with themselves, and they’ve got to put in the work to make the rest of the book look good when it’s all said and done.”
The freshmen weren’t the only ones going through growing pains.
“The minute we stepped on the floor for our first practice, we didn’t really know each other,” Poyser said. “But now you can kind of tell that we’re playing together and moving the ball. We like playing with each other. There are no egos. We’re becoming a team.”
• NOTE — Junior college transfer Jovan Mooring, a 6-2 guard, injured a finger in Thursday’s game. Menzies said he didn’t know the extent of the injury.
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow on Twitter: @markanderson65
UNLV's keys to victory
Three keys to UNLV's 102-87 exhibition victory over the Providence Storm on Thursday:
1. Jalen Poyser got hot, making 10 of 15 shots, including 5 of 10 3-pointers. He finished with 28 points.
2. UNLV owned the boards, outrebounding the Storm 47-25.
3. Even though Poyser stood out, it was a team effort, with four other players also scoring in double figures. Kris Clyburn (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Christian Jones (15, 10) had double-doubles.
