3 takeaways from UNLV’s win over Illinois

Three takeaways from the UNLV basketball team’s 89-82 victory over Illinois on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena:

1. Don’t expect these kinds of calls in Reno or San Diego.

Yes, UNLV was the more aggressive team. And, yes, Illinois players didn’t set their feet properly and reached in a lot to try to make steals.

But the Fighting Illini were hit with 36 fouls, double what UNLV was given. Two Illinois players fouled out. Five others had four fouls.

That’s a little on the ridiculous side.

UNLV shouldn’t expect that to happen again.

Give the Rebels credit for this, though. When they saw how the officiating was going, they took advantage and penetrated to force more blown whistles, resulting in shooting 48 free throws. They made 33 of them.

“They called it tight, and rightfully so,” Rebels coach Marvin Menzies said. “The emphasis from the officials nationally is this whole freedom of movement deal, and we had an experienced crew, so they called it like they saw them. Most of them were correct, I would imagine, and they don’t care who wins. It worked out for us in our favor tonight.”

2. UNLV isn’t that deep — at least not yet.

Three starters played more than 30 minutes against Illinois, and Shakur Juiston would have seen that much time if he hadn’t been in foul trouble. Juiston still played 23 minutes.

The Illini’s bench outscored UNLV’s 44-18.

But there have been flashes from the reserves, including against the Illini. Amauri Hardy has played 41 minutes in the past two games and scored 17 points. Anthony Smith is one of the Rebels’ most athletic players, and he flew in for a dunk against Illinois. Tervell Beck took advantage of Juiston’s foul trouble to score nine points over 16 minutes.

UNLV will need about an eight-man rotation when it gets to Mountain West play so the starters don’t get worn down by the end of the season. Which could mean more production from those three substitutes and fewer games in which the opposing bench outscores the Rebels’ backups by nearly 30 points.

3. Enjoy the holiday season until Dec. 30.

That’s when Boise State visits the Thomas & Mack Center for UNLV’s first conference game. Until then, the Rebels play at Pacific on Saturday and host Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 20 and Northern Colorado on Dec. 22.

There should be little drama in those games. If there is, then that’s a story.

The Rebels, though, did what they had to do in beating Illinois to improve to 8-2 and set themselves up to match their victory total for all of last season before the Mountain West schedule begins.

“This is one we knew we had to get,” said Jovan Mooring, who led UNLV with 27 points. “We knew if we didn’t get it, it would hurt, so it was about grinding it out and doing whatever it took to get the win.”

More Rebels: Follow all of our UNLV coverage online at reviewjournal.com/Rebels and @RJRebels on Twitter.

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.