Musselman is the right coach to boost UNR program

RENO — Eric Musselman hugged one player and high-fived another and chest-bumped another. He ran over to the edge of one baseline inside the Lawlor Events Center on Saturday night, one side of his dress shirt untucked, and waved his arms up and down at a raucous student section.

His smile reached from Reno to Lake Tahoe and beyond.

He swayed back and forth with his team while singing the school's alma mater.

He understood the importance of what his basketball team had just accomplished.

UNLV understood the gigantic opportunity lost.

I'm not sure how well Musselman will be able to recruit to UNR over the long term, how many players he might sign that can consistently win in the Mountain West, but in time the Biggest Little City in the World could have an annual conference contender under his stewardship. He has already showed signs of recruiting talented players for next season.

In a league of some fairly good head coaches in Laramie and San Diego and Fort Collins, he will fit right in.

UNR beat the Rebels 65-63 before a loud and by night's end extremely proud gathering of 11,341 clad in blue, and if you saw UNLV's opening three games of league (all losses), then you merely had to switch the opponent's name and jersey to comprehend what happened.

UNLV fell for the first time in four tries under interim coach Todd Simon because it's not near good enough to walk into anyone's building and shoot 14 of 28 from the free-throw line and turn the ball over 17 times and allow 16 offensive rebounds and make 3 of 19 attempts on 3s.

For the fourth time in conference, UNLV lost as a favorite to an opponent it had little business falling to.

But it did.

"We didn't make enough winning plays, bottom line," Simon said. "We had 10 fewer field-goal attempts than them and shot nine fewer free throws. When you spot somebody that, you're starting in an awfully big hole. Offensive rebounding, free throws, turnovers — a situation we have to remedy."

They were disjointed offensively all night in the half court, and didn't appear all that intelligent, either.

Consider: UNR forward Cameron Oliver, his team's tallest starter at 6 feet 8 inches, picked up his fourth foul with 10:32 left.

UNLV then led 49-40 after two Ben Carter free throws.

Oliver never got his fifth.

The Rebels over the final 10 minutes went countless possessions without looking inside with the intention of going at Oliver, who was giving up a good 4 inches to Stephen Zimmerman Jr.

It's true Musselman did a good job protecting his post player with help by fronting Zimmerman and putting a defender behind him, but UNLV absolutely had to be tougher there.

Tougher everywhere, really.

UNR spent most of the evening sending its small lineup of five guards to the offensive boards and far too many times came up with rebounds.

Those are effort plays. Wanting it more. Owning more desire.

"Obviously, down the stretch we didn't do enough of the things we talk about," Simon said. "We lost that game the middle part of the second half when we just gave away too many possessions. The (players) are still a confident group. They know exactly what we need to do and get back to work on.

"We just have to put the time in. It's time to buckle up. It's not going to be a very fun few days of preparation, but when you go backwards a bit in a lot of areas, that's what you have to do."

Here's what they will prepare for: Boise State at 6-1 today in conference visits the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday night, followed by first-place and 7-0 San Diego State on Saturday.

For a UNLV team that following a three-game win streak definitely had thoughts of chasing down those leaders and climbing back into conference contention, losing Saturday was a major blow to such visions.

The Rebels now sit in seventh place at 3-4.

Meanwhile, Musselman in his first season has already led UNR to more wins than it had all last year, with the Wolf Pack at 12-7 overall and 4-3 in the Mountain West, tied for fourth with Fresno State.

This was Musselman at the league's media day in October on the UNLV-UNR rivalry: "I'm not going to shy away from it. I think a lot of it is going to be up to the UNLV fans. If we win our share of games against them, I think it will be a (good rivalry). In Reno, when we play UNLV, it's a big deal. Maybe in Las Vegas right now, San Diego State is the (main basketball rival) and not us. But the one way to have a rivalry is for it to be equal winning parts."

He's 1-0 in the rivalry, already ahead of that equal business.

His team wasn't as talented Saturday night.

Just better.

Just a whole lot tougher.

— Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on "Seat and Ed" on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Twitter: @edgraney.