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Rebels brace for first test of season in Eastern Washington

Updated November 16, 2017 - 11:06 pm

Some teams play cupcakes to ease into the season. UNLV chose to snack on A&Ms for two easy wins.

Now the true tests begin for a Rebels basketball program that is coming off an 11-win season in Marvin Menzies’ first year as coach.

UNLV (2-0) will host an Eastern Washington team at 7 p.m. Friday at the Thomas &Mack Center that is coming off a 67-61 win at Stanford on Tuesday.

The game should provide an early measuring stick for a young UNLV team with surging expectations after blowout victories over Florida A&M and Prairie View A&M.

SHORT DESCRIPTION (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

“We’re excited to play them,” Menzies said. “Stanford had a few guys out, but still to win on the road against a Pac-12 team is a good win. They shoot the ball from a lot of different positions, and they have some bigs that can pick and pop.

“They’re going to be a challenge for us.”

The challenge starts with All-Big Sky pick Bogdan Bliznyuk, a 6-foot-6-inch senior wing from the Ukraine who is averaging 20.3 points. He scored 23 against Stanford.

Bliznyuk is one of several international players who give the Eagles a unique look, as almost everyone on the floor can handle the ball and score from outside.

“We’ve got to challenge every 3 with them,” Menzies said. “They’re multifaceted with their bigs. They challenge you from a lot of different positions and have a lot of guys that have played that European style. They can just shoot it. That’s a challenge. The way their system is set up, they feed off each other.”

Eastern Washington has played in the postseason the past three seasons and is coming off a 22-win season that ended in the College Basketball Invitational. Former California and Fresno State guard Shantay Legans took over as coach this season when his boss, Jim Hayford, left for the Seattle job.

The transition has been smooth. The Eagles, who start Clark High School alumnus Sir Washington at point guard, are 2-1, having lost by 10 at Washington.

UNLV hasn’t been tested, with a 42-point win over Florida A&M and 35-point victory over Prairie View A&M.

The Rebels aren’t getting caught up in the gaudy results, though.

“I don’t read too much into that,” senior guard Jovan Mooring said. “We gave up 40 points in the first half (to Prairie View A&M), so I wouldn’t say we buried them. We’ve got a lot of things to fix, and we have another one on Friday, so they just keep coming. We’ve got to continue to progress.”

Menzies said he was disappointed in some defensive breakdowns against Prairie View A&M. There also were 18 turnovers and 19 missed free throws.

Still, the lopsided wins look pretty good compared to a year ago when the Rebels dropped their opener at home to South Alabama before bouncing back with a 12-point win over UC Riverside.

“There’s a lot of energy in the locker room,” Mooring said. “Guys are excited. I think we’re just playing a lot harder than we did early on last year.”

Note

Menzies was named on Thursday to an ad hoc committee formed by the National Association of Basketball Coaches to address issues facing the sport in the wake of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that has resulted in indictments of several assistant coaches.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.

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