Here’s what the UNLV Rebels said after beating New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — What the UNLV basketball team said following its 71-66 victory at New Mexico on Tuesday:

COACH MARVIN MENZIES

“You’ve got to keep teaching them. It’s all about getting better. Getting better sometimes equates to wins, and that’s what happened tonight. We took a step up. I thought we had a lot of energy and effort against Utah State in Logan (79-63 loss on Saturday), and we did that again. We were a little bit better defensively tonight.”

On Jovan Mooring starting at point guard: “I think it helped the overall point guard position in general. JP (Jalen Poyser) had a chance to settle a little bit and be out on the floor without overthinking in the first few minutes, and then he slid over there. They were 11 assists and two turnovers between the both of them. It was great point guard play. It wasn’t just Jovan. … But Jovan was really, really good, obviously. He was good tonight, but he can be better. He took a couple of bonehead shots and did some things he would be the first tell you, ‘That’s my fault, my bad.’ So that’s good. Good to see good play and room for growth.”

On getting week-long break before playing San Diego State on Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center: “It enables some of the staff to get out and do some recruiting and some of the guys to mend up a little bit. We’ll give them one day off, and then we’ll get back at it. It’s a good break from a physical standpoint, and it ended on a high note. Now you can be into them really tough in practice. When the guys win, you can be a little more demanding.”

GUARD JOVAN MOORING

“Every possession is critical, and I know getting charges is like getting an extra possession. That’s an extra two points. Just try to get as many possessions throughout the game as possible. I can take (the pain of charges). I don’t worry about being hurt. I just go out there and play.”

GUARD UCHE OFOEGBU

“It’s a big win. We talked about how we’ve been in games and let it go at the end, so it was a great time. The coach challenged us to get a win on the road and pull it out together. We know in conference so far we’ve been right there, so we’ve been waiting for our opportunity and for it to click, and tonight we got it going and everything worked out.”

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