UNLV ends season with promise despite missing out on NIT

UNLV basketball coach Kevin Kruger wanted one more game.

“I would love for the NIT committee to take notice and invite us,” he said. “We would absolutely be very proud of it, earning a postseason bid.”

But when Sunday’s National Invitation Tournament bracket was revealed, UNLV was nowhere to be found. A 59-56 loss to Wyoming in the Mountain West tournament quarterfinals Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center was the final game of the season.

Kruger’s first season is over. Royce Hamm Jr.’s and Michael Nuga’s one-year adventures at UNLV are done. Bryce Hamilton’s four-year odyssey in Las Vegas is probably complete.

The Rebels (18-14) haven’t played in a postseason tournament since the 2012-13 team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Utah State received the Mountain West’s only NIT berth, even though the Aggies finished with a worse record than the Rebels, overall and in the conference.

UNLV’s slow start to the season probably had something to do with its exclusion from the NIT. The Rebels lost convincingly to Michigan and UCLA, as several new players adjusted to their roles.

Kruger’s new system, with an emphasis on 3-point shooting, didn’t get off to a great start in the Mountain West, either, and a COVID-19 break halted the season. UNLV played .500 basketball after returning from a stretch of six games in 11 days, which culminated in an 80-55 loss to San Diego State.

But losing to the Aztecs seemed to spark the Rebels. Missing junior Donovan Williams, Kruger shuffled his lineup. He inserted Nuga and junior forward Victor Iwuakor, who had missed most of the nonconference schedule with a shoulder injury, into the starting five.

Nuga, senior Jordan McCabe and junior Justin Webster shot better, and the spacing they created gave Hamilton room to erupt. He scored a career-best 42 points in a victory at Colorado State, and the Rebels won five of their final eight games before losing in the tournament.

“We talked from day one about having a sense of pride, a sense of ownership and putting a team out there that the city and the community and alums and the athletic department would be proud of,” Kruger said. “We told them if we can do that, we’ll be all right. Without a doubt they’ve done that.”

UNLV is in an interesting position. Every member of Kruger’s rotation improved as the season progressed and the team got comfortable with his style of play. The forwards — junior David Muoka in particular — showed a lot of progress. But Kruger will have to replace Hamm, whose rebounding and spacing were key.

Then there’s the matter of replacing Hamilton, who averaged 21.8 points, on the wing. Williams was slowed by a knee injury midway through the season, but showed flashes of being capable in that role.

UNLV’s guards were a mixed bag, but the late-season emergence of freshman Keshon Gilbert and Webster are good signs. Despite missing a potential game-winning shot against Wyoming, Gilbert’s defense got UNLV back into that game.

McCabe seems likely to return for a fifth season. The West Virginia transfer never found consistency from 3-point range, but was UNLV’s most consistent distributor.

This season was a solid start for Kruger. Getting more shooting via the transfer portal should put his team in a strong position for next season.

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.