Marvin Menzies gives his word on UNLV’s basketball season

The stress of the season for UNLV first-year coach Marvin Menzies is most evident after games, as he often rubs his forehead before addressing the media.

He has been like a patient on a psychiatrist’s couch, offering a candid assessment on how a particular game played out.

The Rebels (10-16, 3-10 Mountain West) don’t play again until 1 p.m. Sunday at San Diego State, so this brief break is a good time to review Menzies’ quotes in better understanding how UNLV’s basketball season got to this point.

Nov. 11 — UNLV loses its season opener 76-68 to South Alabama: “We needed to be more ready than we were tonight to get the win. But the way the guys were in the locker room, I was inspired by their pain. I felt more for them than myself. I mean, they were hurting. You would’ve thought they just got eliminated from the Mountain West tournament.”

Nov. 25 — UNLV loses 63-59 to Texas Christian: “We talk about winning time, and tonight’s winning time was losing time. I thought TCU did a good job of being physical in forcing some of those, but down the stretch, I think that was on us.”

Nov. 26 — UNLV wins 71-61 over Western Kentucky: “I thought their bounce-back was really good, not the fact that we won, but how they handled themselves. They were a little down. Obviously, they lost (to TCU). I would’ve been a little disappointed if they weren’t down.”

Nov. 30 — UNLV goes on the road for the first time and wins 89-81 at Southern Utah: “I was probably more concerned about the game than I think the players were. I know how tough it is on the road. So to have success here is hopefully something we can refer back to.”

Dec. 3 — UNLV loses 97-73 at Arizona State: “We ran into a buzz saw. We had something to do with it, and they did, too. They did a great job shooting the ball. Their first few looks for the 3 were wide open, and they just got hot. They got going from a lot of different positions.”

Dec. 10 — UNLV loses 94-45 to Duke at T-Mobile Arena: “I know I have better players than that. I don’t know if they were rattled. I’m not quite sure what the answer is. I know what I need to do in reference to getting back to evaluating film, talking to the guys, continuing to educate them, getting better.”

Dec. 17 — UNLV loses 83-63 to Oregon in Portland: “This team is going to continue to get better throughout the season. I feel like we made some progress, but not enough to beat Oregon tonight, even without (the Ducks’ Chris) Boucher.”

Dec. 22 — UNLV loses 71-53 to Kansas: “We went with one of the best teams in the country head to head for 20 minutes. Just losing does not feel good. We don’t play this game to play them close.”

Dec. 28 — UNLV loses 91-77 at Colorado State in the conference opener: “We need to share the ball and be a tighter fraternity on the court and get more connected. That starts with communication. We were real quiet. Some of it’s personality and some of it is I’ve got to demand more, I guess. I am confident we will get there. I’m just hopeful it will be sooner than later.”

Dec. 31 — UNLV wins 81-75 over Wyoming: “That was really enjoyable, and not just because we won. Even had things not finished up with us not having the most points at the end of game, I still would have been very, very proud of our effort and bounce-back in our play.”

Jan. 10 — UNLV wins 71-66 at New Mexico: “The thing these guys hung their hat on is they really stayed together through some adversity, through some injuries, through missing some guys. They’ve hung in there through it all. Every once in a while when you do the right thing, you get the verdict you worked for.”

Feb. 4 — UNLV loses 69-49 to Colorado State: “In the second half, the dam broke. Sometimes when you don’t make shots at your end, you don’t defend with the same intensity. That’s a maturity thing. That’s an experience thing. I expect more from these guys to fight for a full 40 minutes, and we played hard for 20 defensively.”

Feb. 8 — UNLV loses 104-77 at UNR: “Rivalries, man, they’re tough games if you’re not in tune with the significance of them. As much as we tried to explain it to our guys and show them videos, they got hit in the mouth the first half and didn’t recover. We came back and threw some punches and swung a little bit, but just not a very good overall effort.”

Saturday — UNLV loses 76-74 to San Jose State: “I can’t remember a time as a head coach I’ve been in a situation we’re losing this (many) close games. We’ve got to find a way to overcome.”

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