Margin for error too thin to zone out for Rebels

If you think about those No. 2 pencils used for grade-school exams, you get the idea how thin a margin for error UNLV’s basketball team has.

Not just against those elite opponents that dot the schedule, but the good-to-average ones as well.

Texas Christian is within the latter group and yet Friday night represented the best opponent UNLV has faced this young season, a team picked dead last in the Big 12 but one certainly capable enough that the Rebels would have to play well.

They didn’t, and TCU left the Thomas & Mack Center with a 63-59 victory in a Global Sports Classic semifinal before an announced gathering of 9,815, an outcome UNLV could have reversed had it not embraced such sloppy and inefficient ways for long stretches.

As much as both will doom the Rebels most nights, and they did against TCU, a lack of depth might hurt even more. UNLV was missing forwards Christian Jones and Cheickna Dembele because of injury, limiting its rotation and leading to the Horned Frogs collecting 34 bench points to two for the Rebels.

This was the average TCU and yet UNLV never allowed itself to overcome such a fact, turning the ball over 19 times and making only two of its final 11 shots.

The Rebels gave away far too many possessions in what turned into a tossup game, given the Horned Frogs only scored 11 points off those 19 miscues.

“We talk about winning time, but tonight that was losing time,” UNLV coach Marvin Menzies said. “TCU did a good job being physical with us, but some of those (turnovers) down the stretch, we just threw the ball right to them. Give them credit for catching it, but we have to take care of the ball.”

What they have to do is play a lot better zone offense.

Jamie Dixon is TCU’s new head coach, having left Pittsburgh after 13 successful seasons and 328 wins to assume control of his alma mater’s program. His teams typically embrace man-to-man defense.

But film doesn’t lie and it’s no secret UNLV’s lack of a true point guard has shown in spots, meaning more teams than not are going to show zone and make someone on the Rebels assume control and execute correct decisions at critical times.

UNLV didn’t more often than not Friday, again appearing slow and at times lazy against the zone. The Rebels throw entry passes against the zone far too often from the top too early in possessions without first swinging the ball to a wing and the corner. Every player, beginning in grade school, is taught to attack it that way.

“We obviously struggled offensively and didn’t have any rhythm or tempo against the zone,” Menzies said. “To be honest, we hadn’t worked on it much. You have to pick and choose with just so many hours (of practice) out of the day and having to give days off. I guess I chose the wrong thing to work on, because our zone offense was lacking.”

And still, what was an exercise in ineffectiveness on both sides for most of the evening was there for the taking.

It wasn’t a mess on the boards as some might have predicted given UNLV’s thin front line, but the Rebels were still out rebounded 42-39 and never located Kenrich Williams enough. The junior wing had 18 boards for TCU.

The booing you might have heard throughout was aimed at TCU freshman point guard Jaylen Fisher, who had signed a scholarship agreement with UNLV before Dave Rice was fired last January and assistant Ryan Miller departed for TCU following the season.

Miller was the lead recruiter on Fisher and once it was decided his time with the Rebels was up, so too was any chance Fisher would honor his commitment to UNLV.

Fisher finished with seven points and three assists in 27 minutes, not starting for the first time in five games after having become ill a few days before the trip to Las Vegas. He would touch the ball and the crowd would boo, which says something for UNLV fans being involved enough to keep it up for 40 minutes.

Menzies has preached learning from losses, an opportunity UNLV has when it plays Western Kentucky in a third-place game Saturday at 5 p.m. The Rebels are now 3-2 under their first-year coach, still fighting way too many bumps and bruises, still battling way too many lapses in execution.

“I’m always proud when we play hard, so I will take an ‘L’ and try and turn that pain into passion to get better,” Menzies said. “Just keep growing. When you lose, take it up a notch. We just have to go back to work. In the big picture, all is well.

“The frustration comes from in winning time, that is where maturity is developed and we took a step back tonight. We have to turn it into a positive. We had a chance to win the game. In my opinion, we should have won that game. (TCU) is a good team, but I felt like we gave it away. It is what it is.”

It’s this: The margin for error is pencil thin, and UNLV isn’t sound enough to make this many mistakes and beat a good — but definitely not great — team.

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.