With Saturday's game in the balance, UNLV head coach T.J. Otzelberger wanted to put the ball in Amauri Hardy's hands. The junior guard spent most of the day torturing Kansas State with dribble drives and step-back 3-pointers, so with the score tied on the final possession of regulation, Otzelberger drew up a play to spring Hardy free.
It didn't work. Hardy never quite came open, his rushed 3-pointer at the buzzer missed, and Kansas State went on to win in overtime, 60-56.
Hardy finished with 27 points, but the Rebels' inability to execute on the final play meant his scoring outburst went for naught.
Hardy credited Kansas State's physical defense for giving the Rebels a hard time throughout the game, and overall he appeared positive about UNLV's standing after going toe-to-toe with the defending Big 12 champion.
"We definitely let this one slip," Hardy said, "but [Kansas State] is a great team. Been to the Elite 8, was the Big 12 champion, and we're just getting our team together. We're not going to let this game define us."
On the final possession, senior guard Elijah Mitrou-Long used a ball screen on the right wing and drove the baseline before firing a throwback pass to Hardy (also on the right wing). Another screen was supposed to spring Hardy as he sprinted to the spot, but poor execution allowed Kansas State to smother him on the catch.
With the clock winding down and few options—certainly none better than Hardy on this day—he pulled up for a 3 from the top of the key. He missed, and the game went to overtime, tied 48-48.
"Amauri had the hot hand all game and he was really helping us stay in the game," Mitrou-Long said, "so coach drew up a pay for him to come off a down screen. Certain players didn't quite get there on a certain time, so it kind of messed up our timing and it threw us off a little bit."
In overtime, Kansas State's physical approach finally wore down the Rebels. The game was tied, 54-54, when Wildcats guard Xavier Sneed knocked in a baseline jumper to give KSU a 56-54 lead with 28 seconds to play.
The Rebels went to Hardy again on the next possession. This time he drove, but his left-handed runner was off the mark. The rebound caromed out of bounds and Kansas State was awarded possession after a replay review showed it last touched a UNLV player. KSU made its free throws from there to seal it.
Though Otzelberger came to UNLV with an offensive reputation, the Rebels; first two games have been studies in defense. On Saturday, they held Kansas State to 16 first-half points and limited their opponent to 22-of-59 from the field, including 4-of-23 from 3-point range.
The problem was, UNLV didn't shoot any better. Hardy went 11-of-23 from the field, but his teammates combined to make just 9-of-35 (25.7 percent).
Hardy said Kansas State's thoroughness on defense forced UNLV to burn time on the shot clock and forced a lot of difficult attempts with the clock winding down, including the final play of regulation.
"Coming into this game we knew that those guys defend for a long time on the clock," Hardy said, "and we knew that we'd be put in a position where we'd be in late-clock situations. On the offensive side, we've got to be more aggressive.'
After Hardy's 27, the Rebels' next-leading scorer was Mitrou-Long (10 points). Bryce Hamilton scored eight, but it took the sophomore 12 shots to get there (3-of-12 FGs). Junior guard Jonah Antonio played just 27 minutes and only hit 1-of-6 from 3-point range.
Kansas State was led by Sneed's 19 points, while Cartier Diarra posted 12 points and six assists.
Otzelberger said Kansas State switched to a switch-heavy defensive strategy during the game, and that the wrinkle threw off the Rebels' timing. The coach has been spending the majority of UNLV's practice time drilling his players on the defensive side of the court, and while he praised Kansas State as a "top five" defense in the country, he also pointed to the lighter offensive practice sessions as one possible reason for the team's failures to execute on Saturday.
"We've certainly invested a lot more time on the defensive side of the floor," Otzelberger said. "That's a choice I've made, so if we go down because we weren't as good offensively, I take full accountability for that.
UNLV is now 1-1 on the season, with road games at Cal and at UCLA coming up next week.
Otzelberger believes if his team remains committed on the defensive end, they'll have a chance to win those games.
"We knew it was going to be a physical match [against Kansas State]," he said. "I think we were out-sized at most positions, but the fight that our guys played with, I was really proud of. If we can bring that effort and energy every night out, we're going to like the outcome a lot of nights."
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
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