3 takeaways from UNLV’s victory over New Mexico Highlands

Three takeaways from UNLV’s 92-66 exhibition basketball victory over New Mexico Highlands on Friday at the Thomas & Mack Center:

1. UNLV’s defense definitely got better.

The Rebels struggled in Tuesday’s 96-80 exhibition victory over Dakota Wesleyan. Coach Marvin Menzies didn’t make a secret of his disappointment, but said Thursday he was encouraged by how practices went.

He had good reason to be encouraged. It wasn’t that the Rebels spent all game locking down Division II New Mexico Highlands, but they clearly made more of a commitment to defense.

UNLV held the Cowboys to 35.1 percent shooting and forced 27 turnovers. UNLV freshman forward Troy Baxter Jr. blocked six shots, and in the first half made a steal and turned it into a breakaway dunk.

“We weren’t satisfied with how we played the first game,” senior guard Uche Ofoegbu said. “So we wanted to take it up a notch the second game. It’s all about improving on a day-to-day basis.”

2. Menzies treated this exhibition like a real game.

At least he did when it came to the rotation. Rather than trying all sorts of lineup combinations, Menzies approached this exhibition like he might next Friday’s season opener against South Alabama. Only eight players saw the court until about midway through the second half.

Menzies acknowledged he had his core set, but didn’t want to discourage his players from competing to play.

“Those eight, I wouldn’t say to this point have locked things in, because kind of seven through 11 or whatever got some minutes today,” Menzies said. “It’s all about competition. That’s what drives the engine. You can’t ever have guys practice and don’t think they have an opportunity to get in because they didn’t play in the game before.

“Obviously, getting later into the season, the rotations are set, but we’ve played two exhibition games. So I wouldn’t put too much into it right now.”

The 6-foot-8-inch Baxter was the Rebels’ tallest player, and in the starting lineup, 6-7 senior Christian Jones played the post. It’s that smaller lineup the Rebels are most likely going to have to take into the season with 6-8 junior Dwayne Morgan (hip) and 6-11 freshman Cheickna Dembele (right heel) probably sidelined against South Alabama.

New Mexico Highlands outrebounded UNLV 53-46, but Menzies said he wasn’t overly concerned about his team’s size.

“We still have Chris, who’s not 6-10 but has a man’s body,” Menzies said. “His physicality is evident. He can help us with that stopgap for a period of time. Tyrell’s (Green) playing a little bit more physical, too. He will stretch the defense. Troy has the ability to stretch the defense.”

3. The Rebels play hard.

UNLV gave great effort in the three exhibition games in August in the Bahamas, and they did so again this week.

Of course, it’s easy to read too much into that and assume the effort will be there all season, but one of the reasons for the Bahamas trip was so the team could bond.

“In my experience, being a fifth year, I think (chemistry is) really important,” Jones said. “I’ve seen not having chemistry, (the team) doesn’t do too well. I’ve seen having chemistry, you can do anything.”

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