Effort is there, but transition defense buries UNLV again in loss

LOGAN, Utah

Fact: You can lose a basketball game by double digits several ways.

You can do so and look slow and unfocused and miserable and, a few days later, suffer the same result while appearing more engaged, more energized, more intent on competing.

Sometimes, the other team is better and you wave the white flag from the opening tip.

Sometimes, the other team is better, although not exponentially so, and you fight like crazy to overcome it.

UNLV knows this truth, understanding now how such a difference in perception can occur within the reality of defeat.

The temperature outside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Saturday never rose above 3 degrees, but rare was the Utah State shooter who appeared the least bit chilly.

The Aggies sent UNLV back up a snowy Interstate 15 to Salt Lake City to board its charter home a 79-63 loser, having turned a close game midway through the second half into a runaway built beyond the 3-point line.

UNLV looked nothing like the side that was beaten 77-59 at home by Boise State on Wednesday, by far the Rebels’ worst performance of the season when it came to effort.

They tried hard enough Saturday. They dived for loose balls and sat in defensive stances longer than a blink and had active enough hands to collect 10 steals.

They just can’t, for the life of themselves, defend transition. Many issues have led to UNLV having an overall record of 8-9 and a Mountain West mark of 1-3, but few as glaring and costly as the inability to find shooters and not allow open jumpers.

Utah State, ranked in the bottom half nationally of tempo and whose average offensive possession lasts 17.1 seconds, had 34 transition points — different from fast-break points — according to numbers tracked by UNLV coaches.

Or think of it this way: Utah State scored 79 points, and only six came from the free-throw line. Of those possessions the Aggies didn’t turn the ball over, they scored on roughly 60 percent of them.

You don’t score that easily without a bunch of open looks, which translates to brutal defensive recognition by the Rebels.

They aren’t skilled enough to guard most anyone in man for long stretches, so they have chosen to employ a 2-3 zone and hope it can create enough missed shots and forced turnovers that UNLV might stay in games if converting enough offensively.

But the problem arises in that quick and incredibly important segment when the other guys are running and you need to identify shooters and play man for a breath or two before transitioning into zone.

How bad is UNLV’s transition defense in this breathe-or-choke instant? Virginia would run like maniacs on these guys. Holy Cross suddenly would be pushing tempo like Kentucky.

“I’m not sharing any secret scouting information to say if you are a Division I coach and watch tape, you say, ‘This is what we have to do to expose them,’” UNLV coach Marvin Menzies said. “I do think we can fix those things.

“Utah State took quick 3-pointers. They’re usually a little more methodical with their offense, but when you scout us, you go, ‘We can really run on them.’ And they did. They picked it up in the second half and said, ‘Let’s take open shots with our shooters.’ They got wide open looks down the stretch.”

It’s not easy guarding so many players capable from distance, and the Rebels aren’t savvy enough defensively to keep up against a side that is this efficient from deep.

The Aggies rank third in conference in shooting and have three starters making better than 41 percent from 3, which doesn’t allow you even the slightest pause when trying to decipher who’s open and where the first pass is headed.

Two of those starters are freshmen, and one, guard Koby McEwen, torched UNLV for 28 points while making 5 of 7 from 3.

Worse yet, 11 of his school freshman scoring record came in the final 7:26, when the Aggies turned a competitive game into a blowout, leaving UNLV players to trudge off the court and into a blanket of white while traveling down I-15.

“Huge difference in energy and effort when compared (to Wednesday),” Menzies said. “We needed to check that box, and we did. People will see the score but not have watched the game and say, ‘God, they got beat good.’ But we had a lead in the second half (48-47 with 11:38 left).

“We played hard but not smart. Guys were fighting. We just have to find some things like that and grab onto them and build from there. At least we played hard, and that’s where it all starts.”

Actually, it starts with getting a lot more stops.

Right now, UNLV isn’t skilled or savvy enough to do so.

Contact columnist Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.