Rebels need to show UNR victory wasn’t a fluke

UNLV’s 86-78 victory at No. 23 UNR on Wednesday was a night to remember for the Rebels.

But how much did it mean?

That can only be answered by what happens going forward. The victory will mean quite a bit only if the Rebels build on it and make a substantial impact on the Mountain West standings.

The first hint will be at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Thomas &Mack Center when the Rebels (17-7, 6-5 MW) play Wyoming (16-8, 7-4). CBS Sports Network will televise the game, and UNLV is a 6½-point favorite.

Beating UNR “means we can play with anyone in this league,” UNLV guard Jovan Mooring said. “I don’t think anyone’s better than us.”

Wyoming will try to prove otherwise, and the Cowboys come off an 83-65 victory over Utah State, a team that beat UNLV 85-78 on Jan. 6. Wyoming has won five of its past six.

The Cowboys are led by Justin James (18.5 points, 6.4 rebounds) and Hayden Dalton (17.8 points, 8.2 rebounds).

“This is a significant challenge,” UNLV coach Marvin Menzies said. “This is one of the better teams in the conference. They’ve got a lot of experience. Wyoming does a phenomenal job of scoring in transition, so we’ve got to do a good job of getting back and trying to get it in some five-on-five defense.”

Since a rough early stretch in conference play, UNLV has won three of its past four. And the one loss was a 93-91 overtime defeat at Boise State, which leads the Mountain West.

“For overall growth of the program, I’m happy with the direction,” Menzies said. “You always want a few more wins. We haven’t had a double-digit loss yet, so we felt like we’ve let a few get away. Then we’ve had close ones that we won that could’ve went the other way, too.”

In each of those past four games, including the Boise State loss, the Rebels made a regular habit of responding to opposing runs.

The end of the game at UNR was nothing but runs. In the final 8½ minutes, the Rebels answered a 10-point UNR run with an 11-point spurt and an eight-point Wolf Pack run with eight of their own.

“They’re understanding how to compete,” Menzies said. “They’re understanding that the game is a game of ebbs and flows and runs. You’re not going to be successful unless you can sustain runs both defensively and offensively and also combat them when they’re thrown at you. That’s what our guys are doing, but let’s keep it in perspective. It was one game. We’re going to play Reno again (Feb. 28).

“We’ve got a really good team coming in with Wyoming on Saturday, and we need our fans there. It’s got to be an environment that can help us win that game. We’ve to keep building from where we are now and moving forward.”

Every game the rest of the way is important for positioning for next month’s conference tournament. The top five teams avoid the first-day play-in games, and UNLV sits in sixth place, half a game behind Fresno State and New Mexico.

“We glimpse at (the standings), but every week they change,” Menzies said. “How important is it after each game? I think it’s not as important as improvement and letting it kind of fall where they may.”

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