UNLV takes first step to get there from here

Good and bad. That's what you inevitably get from a college basketball game like this, from playing a team your 55-year-old head coach and his aching back just might be quicker than at most spots and one that could ultimately prove feeble enough to finish sixth in the Big Sky Conference. The good is a victory. The bad is what you might repeat from it.

If you're UNLV, you hope not much.

The Rebels began Friday night by honoring their 30-win team of last season, dropping a large red and white banner from the rafters to remind those at the Thomas & Mack Center of a Mountain West Conference Tournament title and Sweet 16 appearance.

Then the game began and reality set in. Experience has been replaced with youth, confidence with uncertainty. The Rebels are that proverbial lump of clay right now. The molding will take awhile. It's impossible to even guess at what a finished product might resemble.

UNLV beat Montana State 76-65 and looked extremely impressive doing so for 11 minutes. But unproven teams trying to discover an identity have this way of not finishing what they start.

That the Rebels allowed the margin to shrink to five with under four minutes remaining speaks to a sizeable need for improvement. That they eventually made enough plays to prevent defeat speaks to their potential. That it was a senior who finally saved them is significant on countless levels.

"To win how we did from an experience standpoint was really good for us," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "I would have liked for them not to have the run they made in the second half, but it was good to see how we responded."

You could have guessed this from a team that lost five incredibly important seniors. The Rebels went ahead 23-8 and then sort of fell into that trap of playing out long stretches of time understanding the enormous limitations of their opponent.

When that happens, the ball isn't shared as much offensively and the aggressiveness isn't as persistent defensively. You begin creating more for yourself than others. You just kind of exist as the margin balances on double digits. You go through the motions without realizing it.

The lack of offensive flow isn't a big concern given how many returning players are adjusting to different roles and how many new ones are trying to shape theirs. Marcus Lawrence will help create better chances when the sophomore point guard decides to be as serious about his academics as his next bounce pass. Houston transfer Lamar Roberson (four points in nine minutes) also could contribute once he decides to get in shape and embrace the concept of playing within a system.

What must worry Kruger most is not that Montana State rallied, but how so. The Bobcats were the far more physical side, totaling 48 rebounds (19 offensive) to 39 for UNLV. Mecklen Davis is a 6-foot-2-inch guard for Montana State who had eight rebounds by simply expending more effort. That can't happen against good teams, never mind below-average ones.

The Rebels aren't big. That's obvious. But getting controlled inside by a few Mountain West Conference teams is one thing. Appearing this physically inferior against Montana State is an entirely different matter.

"We have to learn from it and get back to work on it," Kruger said. "I'm very concerned about it."

He should awake today pleased it was Curtis Terry who made all the big shots the Rebels needed to win. Wink Adams is an all-conference junior guard who will surely be defended with the utmost concentration, given all the talent UNLV lost from last year. Adams needs a reliable sidekick to score when either his shot is off (which it was Friday when he was 5-for-16) or teams simply won't allow him to beat them.

Terry scored a career-high 26 points in 26 minutes and made nearly every important second-half basket. Young teams need seniors who take games over early in a season. To pave the way, set the example, lessen the pressure, lighten the mood when the 20-point lead becomes five.

"Ever since I have been here, different guys have stepped up when others struggle," Adams said. "Curtis did that for us tonight. We just need to slow down more when we take a big lead like that. We can't rush so much."

It's a beginning.

Predictable as it was.

Ed Graney's column is published Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.