Three things to like, three things to dislike about Rebels’ play in Maui

LAHAINA, Hawaii — They came to paradise, as much for anything, to learn about themselves. What they do well. What they need to improve. What they are today. What they might become tomorrow.

UNLV's basketball team headed home late Wednesday having answered some of those questions a 3-0 start against inferior opponents presented.

The Rebels are 5-1 today and claimed a victory against No. 13 Indiana in the fifth-place game of the Maui Invitational. They went 2-1 at the Lahaina Civic Center, with the lone loss coming to UCLA by a basket.

That qualifies as a successful trip.

"That was our goal coming into this tournament to play against great competition," UNLV junior forward Ben Carter said. "It was good for us to beat a ranked opponent. Obviously, this is just the beginning, because we have a lot more tough teams coming ahead in our schedule. But it was a great test for our team, and we responded well."

Looking back at three games in three days:

THREE THINGS TO LIKE

1. Stat stuffer and Mr. Everything.

It's obvious sophomore guard Patrick McCaw is going to offer consistent numbers and that Carter is going to do whatever is needed to win. McCaw didn't play nearly as well as his stats suggested against UCLA in the opening round Monday, but he did average 22 points, three rebounds and 4.1 assists over three games while shooting 50 percent. Carter went for averages of 10 points and 6.6 rebounds, but his presence won't always be seen on a stat sheet. I'm guessing that when winning is on the line this season, Carter will be on the floor and his father (Mike) will be dancing in the aisles while holding his breath.

2. Finding a way.

This is a big part of creating a winning atmosphere and something the Rebels haven't been good at in a long time. I'm sure Rice would have preferred his team coast to a double-digit win against Indiana on Wednesday, but when you consider all that went wrong for the Rebels over the final two minutes — a five-second call when leading by four, five missed free throws, an unforced turnover up three with 3.8 ticks remaining — and the fact UNLV managed to walk away a winner says something about its ability to overcome and survive. Once you own that trait, repeating such success becomes easier.

3. Defense to offense.

UNLV's pressure produced mixed results over three games, but most of it was positive. The Rebels scored 76 points off 62 turnovers and were able to speed things up against some pretty good athletes. It was also important that UNLV was able to press less against Indiana — mostly because of Hoosiers point guard Yogi Ferrell and his ability to advance the ball — and still win. Dwayne Morgan averaged four points, 5.6 rebounds and 17.6 minutes for UNLV in Maui, and the sophomore forward's energy made a big impact in the Rebels dictating tempo for long stretches. The press is working.

THREE THINGS NOT TO LIKE

1. Zone offense.

It's not very good. The Rebels were so confused against UCLA, they ran a 2-3 zone offense against a 3-2 zone defense. They never got off the point, never reversed the ball to an opposite corner to make UCLA's bigs move on the baseline and their wings cover the weakside, never aligned themselves in gaps. They failed Zone Offense 101 against, if we're being honest, a pedestrian zone defense. UNLV was better against the small sample of zone that Indiana played because, well, the Rebels were actually attacking a 2-3 this time.

2. Free-throw shooting.

This is one of those areas where coaches always promise things aren't as bad as they seem and that numbers will improve over time. They need to for UNLV. The Rebels are shooting just 61 percent from the line through six games. They were 14 of 22 against UCLA and lost by two. They were 11 of 20 against Indiana and won by three, but allowed the Hoosiers to have late life by not closing things out at the line. Stephen Zimmerman Jr. is shooting 44 percent on free throws. So is Ike Nwamu. Of those nine players averaging at least 15 minutes, only three are shooting better than 62 percent. Ouch.

3. Reacting to fouls.

The Rebels made a lot of faces in Maui. Whined a bit too much. They played at times as if not yet understanding the concept that officials have been mandated to blow more whistles this season, and what is a foul today will probably be one next week and the following one and so on. Every game is different. Every officiating crew is different, although it was interesting the Bill Clinton-lookalike (Eric Curry) worked all of UNLV's games in Maui instead of being on the campaign trail. Either way, UNLV players need to begin adjusting to how games are called, because some of those faces are really unbecoming and won't score points with the guys wearing stripes.

— 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