Rebels suddenly stuck in reverse

Two nights before Christmas, in one of Dave Rice’s finest moments, UNLV was a basketball team on the rise. Rice gave a passionate speech about progress, and he had proof to back up his talk.

The Rebels had just knocked off No. 3 Arizona when Rice declared everything was moving in the right direction. And there were no arguments then.

But there are arguments now, with the proof coming in the first three-game losing streak during his four years as coach. The holiday season is over. It’s back to reality.

UNLV (9-6, 0-2 Mountain West) already is falling from contender status as it prepares to host San Jose State (2-13, 0-3) at 7 p.m. today at the Thomas & Mack Center, where a struggle in the conference cellar does not figure to draw a captive audience.

“In conference play, every game is going to be tough,” Rice said. “This is a grind. This is a long season.”

If this is not an easy game for the Rebels, something is terribly wrong. The Spartans, decimated by player suspensions for part of the season, are winless against Division I opponents and lost their league road games by 22 points to Air Force and by 28 to Utah State.

UNLV is a 21-point favorite over San Jose State, which is led by sophomore guard Rashad Muhammad from Bishop Gorman High School, and a win today proves nothing. This is the softest spot remaining on the schedule.

But this also is a new beginning of sorts for Rice, who realized this week his team had become too soft. The Rebels were roughed up on their home floor in a 64-62 loss to UNR on Wednesday, when the Wolf Pack’s third straight win in the rivalry put Rice on thin ice with angry fans.

UNLV played well for long stretches in its previous two defeats at Wyoming and Kansas, and progress still was there to see. But it was lost on one dark night against UNR. “It was absolutely a step back,” Rice said.

What ails the Rebels?

▶ The up-tempo offense Rice promised four years ago shows no signs of developing.

Most coaches in the Mountain West stress defense and half-court offense. That’s the best approach to playing UNLV, arguably the league’s most talented offensive team. The Rebels are most dangerous when they can run in transition, but they were held to four fast-break points against the Wolf Pack.

Rice needs to force opponents to play faster by implementing a pressing and trapping defense, but his eight-man rotation is not ideal for that style. Senior point guard Cody Doolin is a defensive liability, and on the offensive end, Doolin has shown a reluctance to push the pace and a preference for setting up an offense that consists mostly of isolation plays to exploit individual matchups.

The Rebels are rarely running. Tossing out a 113-point performance against Saint Katherine, they averaged 64.7 points in the other 14 games.

“This is not a conference that is big in tempo, but absolutely there are opportunities to run more,” Rice said. “We have to do a better job of forcing tempo on the defensive end.”

It’s easy to say and tough to do. But if UNLV continues to allow opponents to dictate slower-paced games, it will continue to struggle against teams with less talent such as UNR.

▶ Defensive execution errors are killers.

The Rebels have just two players — freshman guard Patrick McCaw and freshman forward Goodluck Okonoboh — who display solid all-around defensive skills.

Okonoboh and sophomore forward Chris Wood are putting up impressive shot-blocking numbers, but they also get a lot of chances to swat shots because UNLV’s guards are poor at stopping dribble penetration. Rashad Vaughn, the team’s leading scorer, often plays one end of the floor.

Vaughn is a freshman, and the team as a whole is inexperienced. The makeup of the roster is not changing this season, so the defensive lapses on the perimeter are unlikely to be cured.

▶ Defensive effort, especially with rebounding, is lacking.

Kansas totaled 17 offensive rebounds, and UNR grabbed 22. Wolf Pack forward AJ West aggressively outworked the Rebels in the paint while hauling in 10 offensive rebounds.

“It’s unacceptable. We cannot allow that to happen,” Rice said. “I was disappointed with our toughness. It’s got to start with defensive rebounding.”

The coach must set a tougher tone in practices by running more rebounding drills and challenging players to work harder or take a seat on the bench.

“It has to come from me,” Rice said. “We are doing more toughness drills. If you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing, the consequence has to be playing time. We have guys who are going to be tough moving forward.”

▶ Senior guard Jelan Kendrick is not resembling a former McDonald’s All-American.

In the past two games, Kendrick shot 4-for-15 with two rebounds in 43 minutes. Rice is hoping for more offensive production b McCaw and freshmen Dwayne Morgan and Jordan Cornish, but he should expect more scoring and rebounding from a veteran such as Kendrick.

▶ A tough stretch in the schedule took a toll.

UNLV played two ranked opponents — Utah and Arizona — before Christmas and then took a taxing road trip to Wyoming and Kansas. Rice said “the younger guys did hit a wall” and the UNR game was an emotional flat spot, but that also could be considered a lame excuse.

The good news for Rice is it’s only two games into a long league season, and the Rebels get another shot at the Wolf Pack on Jan. 27 in Reno.

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.