3 takeaways from UNLV’s rout of Northern Arizona

Three takeaways from the UNLV basketball team’s 110-71 victory over Northern Arizona on Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center:

1. The Rebels were active.

UNLV consistently got in passing lanes, and at one point in the first half had outscored the Lumberjacks 15-0 off turnovers. The margin was 27-6 by game’s end.

The Rebels also forced 16 turnovers while committing only nine.

Coach Marvin Menzies sets a goal of 35 deflections per game, and it seemed like his team hit that mark in the first 10 minutes. The Rebels probably came up short for the game (Menzies didn’t know the total), but they set the tone early with nine in the first 11 minutes.

“They got us out and got us the lead early,” Menzies said. “Those easy buckets we got off the defense, those were deflections. I guess Coach (Rick) Pitino taught me something.”

Just as much as UNLV picked up its defense, the Rebels made a point to hit the boards hard, outrebounding Northern Arizona 50-34.

It was quite a difference from three nights earlier when UNLV was outrebounded by 13 by Cal State Fullerton. Though the Rebels won that game 77-68, they weren’t aggressive. But no one could question their effort Tuesday.

“One of the objectives for the game that Coach always hits on is we’ve got to be the tougher team,” guard Jalen Poyser said. “Get a lot of deflections. Take away the passing lanes. Just be the more aggressive team.”

2. This looked like one of the UNLV teams of old.

One of the signs of a good team is taking care of business against inferior competition, and UNLV showed up ready to make a statement.

What does it mean going forward? At the very least, this was a confidence builder. That’s important as the schedule begins to toughen, with Texas Christian entering the Thomas & Mack on Friday.

This type of game “helps a lot,” forward Tyrell Green said. “Everyone’s confident in themselves. The coaching staff pushes us every day to become better. We watch tons of film. We’ll watch a lot of film (Wednesday) and get ready for TCU because we know they’re a good team.”

The Horned Frogs are 4-0 under first-year coach Jamie Dixon, and their point guard is former UNLV signee Jaylen Fisher, who averages 11.5 points and 6.0 assists.

Menzies said NAU used some of the same looks he expects from the Frogs.

“We didn’t handle a couple of things they did defensively,” Menzies said. “We didn’t respond the way I would’ve liked to. It wasn’t horrible.”

3. Injury concerns loom.

Menzies hopes he doesn’t take a shorthanded team into the game against TCU. Forwards Christian Jones and Cheickna Dembele are battling foot injuries, and Jones didn’t play Tuesday.

“We’re not sure of the details of his soreness,” Menzies said. “He’s under assessment right now.

“And Cheickna, he started to feel some pain, which we knew would happen. They said structurally he’s fine and was good to go and play basketball. But this was kind of unique because it wasn’t like it was starting to hurt, it was painful. So we’re going to get him checked out as well.”

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