Five takeaways from UNLV’s loss to UNR on Saturday night

Five takeaways from the UNLV basketball team's 65-63 loss at UNR on Saturday:

1. This is who the Rebels are. They will have games where they look as strong as any team in the Mountain West. And then there will be inexplainable losses like this one.

2. Firing coach Dave Rice on Jan. 10 makes even less sense now than it did at the time. UNLV played the same kind of tentative game against the Wolf Pack that it did in games leading up to Rice's dismissal. Firing him in mid-season created chaos and caused dissension on the staff, and UNLV isn't catching San Diego State and Boise State in the Mountain West race anyway. The Rebels' season ultimately comes down to at least three games in March in the conference tournament.

3. What UNR coach Eric Musselman could do with UNLV's talent. He has somehow found a way to get 12 victories out of a Wolf Pack team that is decent, but doesn't have top-level talent. This is not a shot at UNLV interim coach Todd Simon, but Musselman showed why he coached two NBA teams. Can't imagine his stay in Reno will last longer than a couple of years.

4. It's always been evident, but this loss solidifies that UNLV needs to do a national coaching search. Simon got out-coached by Musselman, and he's still learning on the job. Maybe the Rebels get hot and Simon earns a serious look, but this job is too big to limit the field.

5. Expect a focused UNLV team this week with Boise State coming to town on Wednesday and San Diego State on Saturday. That doesn't mean the Rebels will win, but there's no reason why they can't be competitive with those teams.

— Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65