Runnin’ Rebels fall to South Alabama in season opener, 76-68
This figured to be a difficult first season for Marvin Menzies as UNLV’s basketball coach.
It could be really bad.
At least it will be if the Rebels don’t improve on what happened Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.
In his first regular-season game since taking the job in April, Menzies watched his Rebels fight from behind most of the game, but they failed to catch South Alabama in losing 76-68.
“We needed to be more ready than we were tonight to get the win,” Menzies said. “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.”
UNLV guard Kris Clyburn, who played through a minor knee injury, said the team is keeping a positive attitude.
“It was tough” in the locker room,” Clyburn said. “But everybody’s keeping their heads up.” .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }
South Alabama never trailed after going up 21-18 with 8:50 left in the first half. UNLV even got a favorable whistle, shooting 34 free throws to nine for the Jaguars.
The Rebels made several runs to try to regain the lead, but every time they had a chance to catch South Alabama, either a UNLV player didn’t capitalize or a Jaguar made a shot.
Georgi Boyanov, in particular, made three momentum-killing 3-pointers during about a five-minute stretch late in the second half.
“It was really frustrating going down and trying to get back in,” UNLV forward Christian Jones said. “We would score and they would score, we would score and they would score.
“We needed those stops.”
This figured to be a difficult game for UNLV, which returns only three players from last season. South Alabama brought back its top four scorers, and four of its starters are juniors or seniors.
“That was pretty evident in the scouting report when we gave them specific directives,” Menzies said. “It was like we went right against the directive.
“That’s experience to be able to follow a scouting report, and our freshmen were (wide-eyed) and the (other) new guys, the guys that had not played Division I basketball. I don’t think they played up to their capability.”
At the postgame news conference, Menzies said he probably didn’t have time to go into detail on all the negatives, but he didn’t have to. They were spelled out in the box score.
UNLV committed 16 turnovers to 12 assists. South Alabama’s bench outscored the Rebels’ reserves 29-3. UNLV shot 36.8 percent overall, 13.3 from the 3-point arc and 70.6 percent from the free-throw line. The Jaguars scored 46 points in the lane.
Menzies was asked about the team’s interior defense.
“Inferior or interior?” Menzies asked, laughing before rubbing his eyes. South Alabama’s players “were bigger and stronger, and I thought they played more aggressive on the interior, and I thought they worked harder earlier to be in good positions, and I thought they outplayed us.”
There were some positives for the Rebels. Jones scored 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting and totaled 13 rebounds. Three other players also scored in double figures, with Jalen Poyser finishing with 17 points.
Don MuepoKelly led the Jaguars with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Menzies insisted UNLV will get better as the season goes along, and the Rebels next chance is Wednesday when UC Riverside visits.
“I’m not overly concerned that we won’t be much more competitive as the games unfold, even in the nonconference,” Menzies said. “I felt like we took a step back, and it wasn’t just because of the competition. It was because of how we play.”
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.