UNLV basketball stunned in exhibition loss to British Columbia

Image

Wade Vandervort

UNLV Rebels head coach Kevin Kruger is interviewed at Mendenhall Center Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022.

Tue, Aug 16, 2022 (9:42 p.m.)

The clock is now ticking on the 2022-23 basketball season, and UNLV has three months to figure it out.

Judging by the team’s performance in Tuesday’s 79-72 exhibition loss to the University of British Columbia, there is a lot of work to be done for Kevin Kruger to get his Scarlet and Gray squad ready for real games in November.

UNLV struggled to execute on offense in the first of three exhibition games to be played in Canada this week, but the defensive breakdown was more alarming for a team that is built to win on that end of the court. UBC guard James Woods went off for 33 points, and the Thunderbirds shot 40.4% percent from the field in handing the visitors a dispiriting defeat.

Keshon Gilbert got UNLV off to a quick start with a pair of buckets, an assist and a steal in the opening minutes, and UNLV held a 28-23 lead after the first quarter. (The game was played using FIBA international rules, meaning four 10-minute quarters and a 24-second shot clock.)

Woods got hot from beyond the 3-point line and propelled UBC to a 42-40 halftime advantage, and the Thunderbirds were in control for most of the second half. A 7-0 run to open the fourth quarter pushed UBC’s lead to 69-60. UNLV closed to within three points in the final minute, but Justin Webster missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer in transition, and UBC made its free throws to finish off the upset.

Some quick takeaways:

Scary offense

All offseason concerns about UNLV’s offensive firepower may have been validated by this game. Ball movement was particularly sketchy, as they recorded just 15 assists on 28 made field goals, and the outside shooting was bad, as UNLV connected on 10-of-38 from deep (26.3%).

That resulted in several damaging scoring droughts, including a three-minute scoreless span to begin the fourth quarter that allowed UBC to pad its lead at a crucial point in the game.

The only bright spots were sophomore point guard Jackie Johnson, who used his burst off the dribble to score 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting, and junior forward Isaiah Cottrell, who knocked down two of his four 3-point attempts.

Defense can’t close

UNLV is supposed to be built to overcome a shaky offense, but that wasn’t the case in Vancouver on Tuesday.

When the Scarlet and Gray needed stops, UBC consistently found a way to generate points, mostly from beyond the arc (11-of-34) or at the free-throw line (22-of-27). The freebies were decisive, as the Thunderbirds outscored UNLV 22-6 from the stripe.

Kruger said UNLV was close to executing on defense but was ultimately unable to finish.

“I thought we had really good stretches,” Kruger said. “I thought there were a lot of possessions where we played well. We stuck to our guns, stuck to our principles, and we would kind of have one little letdown. One step in the wrong direction. And it burned us a couple times.”

Bad sign

The last thing anyone wants to do is overreact to an exhibition result in August, especially as UNLV took the court without its presumed best player (senior guard Elijah Harkless is sitting out the trip as he recovers from a knee injury). But the loss can’t be brushed aside, either.

The last time UNLV embarked on a foreign exhibition trip was in August 2016, when Marvin Menzies took the team to the Bahamas for three games to prepare for his first season as head coach. That Scarlet and Gray squad also dropped their first contest, losing to the University of Toronto. And while they recovered to finish 2-1 on that trip, it was an obvious sign of things to come for a bad team.

The 2016-17 team was simply not talented enough. That’s why they lost to Toronto, and that’s why they ended up posting the worst season in program history, eventually going 11-21 on the year and 4-14 in Mountain West play.

There is a lot of time between now and the start of the regular season, so it’s not as if this UNLV crew is doomed to a similar fate. But an exhibition loss to the University of British Columbia does underscore similar issues that faced the '16-'17 team, namely that UNLV is not going to win on talent alone. This roster isn’t going to overwhelm Mountain West opponents with its sheer physical gifts; this is a team that’s going to have to work and grind and battle every possession, regardless of the opponent.

It's a blueprint that can work. But when it doesn’t, UNLV is capable of losing to an opponent from the Canada West conference.

We’ll see if Kruger can rally his guys and coax a better showing on Wednesday against the University of Calgary.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.

Back to top

SHARE

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy