Rebels relish test run on road

OTTAWA, Ontario - A fire alarm started blaring through the Marriott hotel just after 4 a.m. Friday, prompting UNLV junior Mike Moser to evacuate to a downtown street and post a Twitter photo of trucks arriving at the scene.

Life on the road was tough on the Rebels in February and March. If they needed a reminder, they got one on the first day of their exhibition tour of Canada.

Freshman guard Katin Reinhardt tweeted about a "long day" that included a flight to the Eastern time zone that was delayed by two hours, followed by a 124-mile bus ride from Montreal and a late-night fire scare.

"I've never been out of the country," Moser said, "so I think it's going to be an adventure."

Fortunately, the fire turned out to be a false alarm, nothing more than an unwanted wake-up call, and coach Dave Rice worked on returning his team's focus to basketball.

UNLV is set to play four exhibition games in four days, with Carleton University first up at 4 p.m. today at Fenn Gymnasium.

"We're not going out to sightsee or take a little vacation," senior guard Anthony Marshall said. "Our goal is to win ballgames."

Led by Marshall and Moser, the Rebels finished 26-9 last season, but went 0-5 away from home down the stretch. So Rice said he hopes this trip provides valuable lessons.

The game against Carleton, the two-time defending Canadian Interuniversity Sport champion, shapes up as UNLV's biggest challenge. The Ravens led the nation in scoring (94.9 points per game) and 3-point shooting (44.7 percent) en route to a 34-0 record last season.

Rice, who brought 10 scholarship players, said he will start Marshall and senior Justin Hawkins at the guard spots, with Moser, senior Quintrell Thomas and junior Carlos Lopez in the frontcourt.

"I will more than likely start four different lineups in the four games," Rice said.

Reinhardt is one of four freshmen on the trip, along with Daquan Cook, Savon Goodman and Bishop Gorman High School product Demetris Morant. Sophomore wing Bryce Dejean-Jones, a transfer from Southern California, also will debut today.

UNLV is without freshman Anthony Bennett, who is from Brampton, Ontario, and transfers Khem Birch and Roscoe Smith. Bennett figures to start at power forward in November, but the NCAA did not certify his eligibility in time for summer school.

"We're definitely going to miss all three of those guys, but the show must go on," Moser said.

"We would love to get beat up on a little bit and be challenged, and let our freshmen kind of see what college basketball is all about. We're going to go in there without scouting reports and try to wing it."

Rice guided the Rebels through a noon practice Friday at a local high school, but he had no scouting report of Carleton and said his only concern is his own team. He does know the Ravens like to run, and that style obviously suits the Rebels.

The exhibitions will be played with a 30-second shot clock, unlike 35 seconds in college games. During recent practices at the Mendenhall Center, Rice often put 9 seconds on the shot clock to get his players accustomed to firing shots at a faster pace.

"I would like to see the college game go to a 30-second shot clock," he said. "I just would like to shorten the shot clock a little bit, especially for what we go through with teams trying to hold the ball against us.

"One of the goals, especially early on, is to try to get our guys to play at a pace that is almost a little bit uncomfortable for them, so they have to make decisions and they have to make plays at a speed that is faster than they are comfortable playing."

As much as UNLV attempted to run and gun last season, Rice is planning to crank up the pace even more for his second season.

"Our guys will learn how to play fast and play together," he said. "It's just one of my beliefs that the teams that play the fastest and yet can make decisions at that speed are the ones that have the best chance for success."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.