It was an egregious, reprehensible, deplorable, humiliating, inconceivable, embarrassing loss for UNLV’s once-proud men’s basketball program. But it’s only one loss.
UNLV Basketball
There certainly is merit in the heart UNLV showed Thursday under coach Kevin Kruger despite the unforgiving outcome that sabotaged an exhilarating comeback.
UNLV’s women’s basketball team is NCAA Tournament bound for the first time since 2002, courtesy of three wins in three days during the conference tournament at Thomas Mack Center.
Keith Whitfield as university president is now taxed with replacing Desiree Reed-Francois, who departed for Missouri of the Southeastern Conference.
Fresno State waltzed into a subdued Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday, made 15 of 29 3-pointers, limited UNLV to 3 of 15 on 3s and left town with an 83-65 victory.
The fair point now is that you can’t change now. Or shouldn’t. Not those who understood from the beginning what this season would mean for UNLV basketball.
For all the consequences to come from the Lady Rebels engaging in a fight during the third quarter of an overtime win against Utah State on Saturday, so too was an implicit message sent to the men’s program. Simply, develop more toughness.
Duke and UNLV have taken separate, very different journeys through the college landscape since that Final Four game in 1991, when Bobby Hurley as the Blue Devils point guard helped guide his team to an upset that was viewed as improbable as it was historic.
The preparation now is for three exhibition games in a popular cruise-ship stop. But the work that probably will define how UNLV fares under first-year coach Marvin Menzies began in earnest last month.
UNLV officially has its coach and you couldn’t have hoped for a better opening message from him, one about building and winning and sustaining a level of success all the right ways, that the goal is not to get things done quickly but rather correctly.
Several times a hero in March, Steve Alford is a goat this time. The UCLA coach leaned back in his chair, rolled his eyes and watched his team get rocked by rival Southern California for the third time this season.
College basketball seasons develop in stages, from closed-door scrimmages to exhibitions to home and neutral matchups. To the most important games of all.
Mountain West coaches cut the media out of voting for the all-conference team this year — and neglected to tell the writers. Don’t expect to learn who the coaches nominated or voted for.
hope Khem Birch listens to the right people. I hope he takes his time and clearly examines his options and understands the NBA will not suddenly disappear in a year’s time.
The Rebels today are a team stranded at sea with a giant hole in the raft, not enough life jackets and a radio transmitter engulfed in water. They are as disjointed off the court as they are on it, helplessly searching for reasons why they can’t beat average teams at home.