Nothing in Mountain West is going to be easy

Dave Rice wasn't joking Wednesday night. He stood outside the visitor's locker room in Albuquerque, dejected about with his basketball team's five-point loss to New Mexico moments earlier, and looked to the future.

"We're going to have 15 more of these," he said.

I'm not sure he was convinced there would be that many.

He might be now.

When others talk about how tough a league the Mountain West is this season, how it has risen as high as No. 2 in the Ratings Percentage Index, how winning on the road will be more difficult than finding a unanimous opinion on raising the debt ceiling, it's wise to listen.

The league's true strength will be evaluated in March, when the NCAA Tournament arrives and Mountain West teams need to do a better job of winning games rather than talking about it.

For now, there are few breathers not named Fresno State.

UNLV discovered this in a 76-71 overtime win against Air Force on Saturday before 14,723 at the Thomas & Mack Center, where the Rebels had to survive opposing shots at the end of regulation and again in the final seconds of overtime.

"Our guys never quit playing," Rice said. "This is a huge, huge win for us. There were a lot of things we could have done better, but it's pretty self explanatory - this is a pretty competitive league."

Air Force, in seasons such as this when it is good, is also pretty tough to guard.

It's the basketball version of the school's football wishbone, an offense of high-speed cuts that are impossible to simulate in practice. UNLV chose to switch all screens and contest as many 3-pointers as it could.

You pick your poison and hope the Falcons miss enough shots.

They did. Barely.

It's funny. Many will see the score and believe the Rebels underachieved against a team of lesser skill, lesser size, lesser quickness. But the difference in winning a game like this and losing can be immense in the weeks that follow. UNLV next plays at San Diego State on Wednesday and at Colorado State on Saturday, and a victory such as the one against Air Force creates the type of momentum needed before entering such hostile venues.

This just in: The last thing UNLV wanted was to show up in San Diego with an 0-2 conference record.

You can notice things developing through all the missed free throws (13 by the Rebels, 12 of them after halftime) and defensive breakdowns and poor offensive possessions against zone.

There are flashes of, well, something special.

The league's best frontline of Mike Moser, Anthony Bennett and Khem Birch started its first game together Saturday. A few months from now, it could be among the nation's best.

Bennett went for 22 points and 16 rebounds while playing ill, and Moser had 14 and 11 while still recovering from a dislocated elbow and tending to a sore back. Birch blocked three shots in 21 minutes.

But any game ball that was handed out should have gone to Anthony Marshall, the senior whose time at point guard this season hasn't always produced the best decisions.

He played a team-high 43 minutes and took one shot. Read that last part again. Marshall had 12 assists to two turnovers, and it was his willingness to think pass first, second and third that ultimately swayed things UNLV's way.

Does he remember the last time he attempted just one shot in a game?

"Not really," Marshall said.

Maybe never?

"Probably. But by me playing this way, everyone else is going to get better. There have been games where I've had a lot of assists and games where I have taken a lot of shots. But this is how I need to play for us to be successful, to get other guys in position to score."

It's a UNLV rotation that just works better, one that brought sophomore Bryce Dejean-Jones off the bench. His is a risk-reward type of game, much like that of San Diego State junior Jamaal Franklin. There can be a lot of very good and, well, a share of really bad.

The good came Saturday. Dejean-Jones makes more sense as a reserve, able to bring energy and scoring into a game in progress. He had 18 points, including 10 in overtime and the winning jumper with 12.8 seconds left.

"A great team win," Rice said. "We understand the challenge going down to San Diego State. They're a terrific team that plays so well at home. Franklin is as tough a guy as there is to guard in our league. It will be a big game for both teams. I know we'll be ready."

It's the next in line of those "15 more," he spoke about Wednesday.

There's no such thing as a bad win.

In this league, times 10.

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.