‘I still believe in this team’: Rebels endure another upset loss — PHOTOS
Maybe the UNLV men’s basketball team should always want to play the role of an underdog.
Yeah. It lost as a favorite again.
UNLV fell to Tennessee State 63-60 on Saturday night as part of the Jack Jones Classic at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson.
“I still believe in this team,” UNLV coach Josh Pastner said. “I told our guys that no one is going to save us and no one is going to feel sorry for us. It’s only going to get harder with (Mountain West) play coming next Saturday.
“We’re going to have to fight through it and be tough about ourselves and figure it out and find a way to get better and improve.”
They can begin with their shooting.
The Rebels shot 37 percent Saturday, including 3 of 15 on 3-pointers. Worse yet, they made just 19 of 32 free throws.
UNLV is among the worst 3-point shooting teams nationally, which means it’s imperative the Rebels make layups and free throws.
It did neither Saturday.
Eighteen turnovers didn’t help. Neither did allowing 16 second-chance points. UNLV played well enough defensively to win. Just couldn’t score.
Figure out rotation
“We just kept missing and missing and missing,” Pastner said. “They beat us (0n) points in the paint. Look, our team is a roller coaster, no doubt. We can beat anybody on any given night and lose to anybody on any given night. We’ll figure it out. It’s just part of the deal.
“Playing 10 guys double-digit minutes is a lot. We have to figure out the rotation and see how that goes.”
Redshirt sophomore forward Jacob Bannarbie (calf) and senior guard Howie Fleming Jr. (eye) were each able to go. Pastner wasn’t sure of either’s availability before practice Thursday.
The big men weren’t very good for UNLV. Emmanuel Stephen, who had such a terrific season debut of 18 points and 10 rebounds at Stanford, didn’t follow it up. He finished with four points and five boards.
Bannarbie had six points and seven rebounds.
Tennessee State was just the more physical side, is all. It never allowed the Rebels — who held a 29-20 lead in the first half — to extend such a margin.
The Tigers closed on a 10-4 run to seal the victory.
“We just couldn’t pull away and that’s a credit to them,” Pastner said. “Our turnovers were atrocious. Even in those times where we could get stops, they got second and third opportunities. But we have 10 guys healthy now and we just need to settle into what we need to settle into.”
UNLV lost earlier games as a big favorite to Tennessee-Martin and Montana. But this is the same Rebels side that has true road game wins against Memphis and Stanford.
Yeah. Kind of a head-scratcher.
UNLV held a 33-29 halftime advantage in an opening 20 minutes when neither team played particularly well.
Tennessee State offered its share of fouls, however.
The Rebels were in the bonus with 10:59 left in the half and the double bonus with 9:09 remaining.
For this, UNLV shot 17 free throws compared to nine for Tennessee State.
It didn’t stop there. The Tigers continued to have whistles pointed in their direction to the level UNLV was in the bonus with 16:38 remaining in the game.
It was in the double bonus six minutes later.
It just couldn’t take advantage of such good fortune.
‘High-level dudes’
“If you’re not making 3s, the way for us to score are layups and free throws,” Pastner said. “You can’t miss point-blank (shots). This is men’s college basketball. You have to make them. This isn’t boys basketball. It’s men’s college basketball. These guys are high-level dudes. When we have shots right at the rim, we need to make them.
“You hold a team to 63 points, you have to win that game.”
But the Rebels couldn’t and didn’t.
Another game as a favorite, another loss.
That’s three forgettable ones.
Pastner is right. Conference play begins against visiting Fresno State on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Things only get tougher from here on. Time for some consistency.
Time to make some shots.
Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.
