Freshman thrusts himself into conversation as nation’s best player

Dave Rice talks to Anthony Bennett daily, talks about basketball, about team, about expectations, about life.

"The best thing I can say about him - because his talent speaks for itself - is how unselfish he is," Rice said. "His only agenda is helping the team win."

UNLV will continue to do so often if Bennett plays as he did Wednesday night.

He is among the nation's best players.

It's not a stretch to suggest as much.

The Rebels played as complete a 20 minutes over the first half against Northern Iowa as they have all season and were never threatened in a 73-59 win at the Thomas & Mack Center.

They were beyond good before intermission, a level you expect from a team that hasn't moved from the Top 25 rankings since polls were released last month.

Bennett went for 20 points and 12 rebounds in 28 minutes, again efficient in how he scored and the level of energy he brought. More impressively, it followed his first real struggle of a freshman season, which came at Texas-El Paso on Monday.

It appears he's also great at bouncing back.

It's the sort of problem any coach would gladly embrace and Rice has, a player whose national recognition seems to increase daily, who continues to open eyes and accumulate hype and make news.

Name an elite college team today. Sorry. There isn't one. There are some very good teams. Duke is very good. Michigan is young, but very good. Syracuse has been very good in spots.

But there isn't a dominating side, a Kentucky of last year, someone better than everyone else by a country mile.

There are a handful of terrific teams at the top and perhaps as many as 20 to 30 (including UNLV when it plays as it did Wednesday) that can beat anyone on a given night.

It's the same with individual players. Eleven games into what will likely be his only collegiate season, Bennett is in the conversation as the country's best player. So are 10 to 12 others.

Rice knew he had something special when signing Bennett, but he couldn't have predicted this kind of beginning, couldn't have imagined Bennett averaging 20 points and close to nine rebounds while shooting 57 percent this early.

Or could he?

"Anthony is so coachable, mature beyond his years, which has so much to do with how his mother, Edith, raised him," Rice said. "He is so much about the team, which is why all the success he is having makes his teammates so happy for him."

The talk about Bennett nationally is most often about the future, about where in the NBA Draft lottery he could fall, about how he would fit in a pro system, about if he can succeed in the league as an undersized power forward, about who he could guard and how well his game might adapt.

That's all fine and well, publicity that does nothing but help UNLV and Rice's future recruiting efforts.

It's also something that won't play out for nearly six months.

For now, at least on nights such as Wednesday, Bennett is a pro playing against college kids, one who really hasn't had to exhibit much of a post-up game to consistently deliver numbers thus far.

That, too, will -must - come in time.

He is, after all, only 19.

"I wouldn't say it's difficult (ignoring the hype) because the rest of the guys just tell me to focus on the now and not worry about what's going on or what people are saying or writing," Bennett said. "I'm not a big fan of doing that stuff, anyway, so it's not very hard for me."

He shoots it well, handles it well, is a mismatch when drawing opposing post players farther from the basket. He does a wonderful job defending without fouling, evidenced by the fact Bennett has yet to be whistled for more than three fouls in a game and seven times has been called for two or fewer. That's notable for a senior who is as much a part of things as Bennett; it's fantastic for a freshman.

"We just tell him not to read into anything because the same people who glorify you after one game will crucify you after a bad one," said senior guard Anthony Marshall, who I'm sure was referring to those crusty, negative minions of the Twitter universe and not your everyday, friendly, positive sports columnist. "With (Bennett) being such a high-profile prospect coming in here, he had already dealt with that stuff. He's humble about all of it, so we really don't have to say much to him."

Words aren't needed.

To this point, his play has said everything.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on "Gridlock," ESPN 1100 and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.