Lack of toughness puts lid on UNLV’s ceiling

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- You need heart to win NCAA Tournament games. You need leadership on the basketball court. You need to play together. You need, above all, mental and physical toughness.

So it's no surprise that UNLV today finds itself one-and-done from March Madness yet again.

For 30 minutes here Thursday night, the Rebels had none of the above.

Don't kid yourself. This is worse than Ali Farokhmanesh or an Illinois beat-down, worse than anything the Rebels could have imagined given the advantages presented them here.

The fact they climbed within two points of Colorado with just over four minutes left is of no consequence in the big picture of a season now finished, not with how they fell behind by 20 early in the second half of a game they never led.

Consider the 68-64 loss a conglomeration of all that kept UNLV from winning a Mountain West Conference title this season or advancing here, a perfect portrait of the deficiencies that never allowed the Rebels to consistently play beyond their ceiling.

"We wanted to continue on," UNLV coach Dave Rice said. "We felt like we had a team that could have played a little longer ... We'll learn from it. We're bitterly disappointed, but we've got a good group that works hard and will try to make sure it never happens like this again."

Then he better figure out a way to toughen some kids up.

The Rebels proved to be one of the softest UNLV teams in some time, and that's saying something, because it's not as if Lon Kruger annually trotted out squads ready to take on the Pittsburghs and Michigan States of college basketball. They never could handle expectations all that well. They never were that team to put an opponent on his behind just, well, because.

Still, it was all there for NCAA advancement this season. A favorable No. 6 seed. A positive destination for fans to travel and support. An opponent that wasn't all that terrific at much of anything, except being a lot tougher at everything.

And the Rebels came out and were pounded early.

Pounded on the glass.

Pounded off the dribble.

Pounded on the scoreboard.

They stood around and allowed 6-foot guards to corral offensive rebounds and convert. They missed open shots. They didn't guard well.

Rice said afterward it's an offseason goal for UNLV to discover a go-to player. I'm hoping he meant a go-to leader. If the Rebels proved anything this past month, it's that even a team with lots of basketball skill can't reach its goals when no one is willing or able to step up and lead.

I'm not sure UNLV even knows who its leader is. The Rebels have a ton of guys who like to shoot, who when they haven't had an attempt in a few possessions, are going to get theirs, even if it means waving off hot hands in favor of driving wildly to the rim for nothing.

The comeback offered life. The full-court press was an interesting twist given how little UNLV did of it all season. The fact it wasn't a final margin of 20 or more at least allows UNLV's departing seniors a sense of pride.

But the Rebels turned the Buffaloes over 23 times in an NCAA game and lost. That's almost impossible to do. You know, the losing part.

There is nothing tough about UNLV. No swagger. No attitude that worries even the most average of opponents.

UNLV won 26 games, and a few weeks from now, as the sting of the program's third straight opening-round tournament loss begins to fade, Rice's first season as coach unquestionably should be viewed as a success.

He ran a system with players not recruited to execute it at an optimum level and did things like beat then-No. 1 North Carolina and earn the Rebels' highest NCAA seed in 20 years.

But there are blemishes Rice must hope can be removed either by those recruits sitting out a transfer season or those arriving from high school.

This team, desperately and without hesitation, needs a leader.

It needs someone to knock heads around just, well, because.

"I don't think we have all the answers right now," Rice said. "I just know that we've got a team that's very disappointed and determined. I've always said that when you are in the NCAA Tournament and get knocked out ... you feel that somehow you should still be playing."

UNLV shouldn't be.

Not with what it offered for 30 of 40 minutes Thursday.

The only thing it deserves is that plane ride home today.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from noon to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday on "Gridlock," ESPN Radio 1000 AM and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.