The Rebel Room
UNLV-BYU preview featuring Jason Franchuk
Ryan Greene welcomes in Jason Franchuk from the Provo Daily Herald to talk about Saturday's monstrous meeting between UNLV and BYU at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Reader poll
UNLV vs. BYU
UNLV Rebels (18-4, 6-2) vs BYU Cougars (22-2, 7-1)
Where: Thomas & Mack Center
When: 1:00 p.m.
Coaches: Lon Kruger is 130-57 in his six seasons at UNLV and 448-290 in 24 overall seasons; Dave Rose is 119-36 in his five seasons at BYU, which is his first head coaching job.
Series: UNLV leads 16-14
Last time: BYU won, 77-73, on Jan. 6 in Provo.
Line: UNLV by 1
TV/Radio: Versus/ESPN Radio 1100-AM
THE REBELS
G Oscar Bellfield (6-2, 180) 9.3 ppg, 4.8 apg, 2.5 rpg
G Kendall Wallace (6-4, 190) 6.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg
G Tre'Von Willis (6-4, 195) 17.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.0 apg
F Chace Stanback (6-8, 210) 10.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg
F Brice Massamba (6-10, 240) 4.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg
Bench: F Darris Santee (6-8, 225) 4.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg; G Justin Hawkins (6-3, 190) 3.6 ppg; F Matt Shaw (6-8, 240) 7.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg; G Anthony Marshall (6-3, 200) 4.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg; G Steve Jones (6-1, 220) 1.8 ppg.
What to watch: Chace Stanback is a completely different player compared to the first time these two teams met. How much does the new Stanback affect the outcome?
THE COUGARS
G Jimmer Fredette (6-2, 195) 21.5 ppg, 4.9 apg, 3.0 rpg
G Jackson Emery (6-3, 185) 12.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.0 apg
G Tyler Haws (6-5, 200) 11.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg
F Noah Hartsock (6-8, 215) 6.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg
F Chris Miles (6-11, 235) 5.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg
Bench: F Jonathan Tavernari (6-6, 215) 9.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg; G Charles Abouo (6-5, 210) 4.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg; G Michael Loyd Jr. (6-1, 170) 3.6 ppg.
What to watch: Jimmer Fredette's illness affected him greatly in the first meeting this year. But even when healthy, the Rebels always have found ways to contain him. The key to BYU ending its drought at the Mack is him breaking that curse.
Related Sun Content
After knocking off TCU, 79-70, Jan. 23 in Fort Worth, UNLV junior guard Tre'Von Willis wasn't much in the mood for basking in the glow of the Rebels' 7-1 record in true road games.
Instead, he first mentioned the one that got away Jan. 6 in Provo, Utah.
"They're always up there in the league, and you look back, look at the standings right now, and they're one (game) ahead of us (in the league standings)," Willis said following Friday's practice. "That's why that one hurt so bad and it definitely stuck with us."
The Rebels (18-4 overall, 6-2 Mountain West) can finally rid themselves of that sour aftertaste in the second of two regular-season meetings with the 12th-ranked Cougars (22-2, 7-1) at 1 p.m. today in front of what is expected to be a sell-out crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center.
In what will be the first game for both teams in the second half of the MWC schedule, the Rebels have a chance to even the race for the regular season crown heading into the final seven games.
Another loss, though, will make the hole only deeper.
In the 77-73 road loss just after the calendar turned, UNLV fended off several BYU comebacks before letting a six-point lead late in the second half slip away thanks to poor offensive execution down the stretch and costly turnovers.
Plus, the second-chance points UNLV allowed off of a slew of offensive rebounds helped keep the Cougars within range long enough to strike.
UNLV outplayed its biggest league rival for 34 minutes before foundering in the final six.
"They played harder when it counted," sophomore forward Chace Stanback said. "And that was the outcome of the game."
Since then, UNLV has shown great appreciation for how slim the margin of error can be not just on the road, but against Mountain West foes in general.
A major piece in the Rebels' continued maturation has been Stanback.
In the Rebels' next time out after the BYU loss, he truly broke out in a 74-62 victory at New Mexico with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Since the game in Provo, in which he grabbed eight boards but had only three points on 1-of-6 shooting, Stanback is averaging 15.4 points and six rebounds a game.
"After that game, coach demanded me to be more aggressive," said Stanback, who was still adjusting after a year away from game action following his transfer from UCLA. "I've been looking for my shot more, and it's been successful for me."
Stanback's confidence continually has grown since then, and everyone has benefited in one way or another around him.
"It opens it up for a lot of other players, and with his creation, teams are gonna focus in on him," sophomore point guard Oscar Bellfield said of the versatile, 6-foot-8 Stanback. "With him being aggressive, it makes us a better team."
BYU will also be a different team this time around.
In the first meeting, star guard Jimmer Fredette was in the midst of a bout with mononucleosis. On the heels of a 49-point outburst in a win at Arizona, he scored just seven points on 2-of-10 shooting against the Rebels. He played only 25 minutes and spent much of the second half on the bench after his illness clearly affected his stamina.
Back at full strength, Fredette is the league's top scorer this season at 21.5 ppg. However, in conference play, Willis is the Mountain West's top scoring threat at 21.6 ppg. It will be a showdown between the top two candidates at midseason for Player of the Year honors.
With that said, Willis's contributions on the defensive end will be just as important as his scoring. He'll surely see time helping out on Fredette, who in his three-year career has made a habit of struggling to score big on the Rebels.
"You've got to fight him. There's really no one way you can play him," Willis said. "You've got to make him try to take tough shots, be physical with him, don't go for pump fakes and make him shoot over you. He will take tough shots; he will force the issue. That' show we look at it, and we feel like we should be fine if we can contain him and the shooters."
While the league's preseason Player of the Year is back at full strength, the Cougars are dealing with other ailments.
Athletic freshman forward Brandon Davies, who played a key role as a reserve in the first meeting, is out after undergoing an emergency appendectomy earlier this week.
A potential x-factor, however, for the Cougars could be freshman guard Tyler Haws, who is third on the team in scoring (11.8 ppg) and second in rebounding (4.7 rpg). He was limited to just 12 minutes in a blowout victory Tuesday against TCU, but is well enough now to play against the Rebels.
He scored 12 points, had six boards and gave out three assists earlier against UNLV.
With all of that taken into consideration, plus other threats in a deep BYU rotation, UNLV's current six-game winning streak over the Cougars at the Mack and what is sure to be one of the best home atmospheres in recent memory, the Rebels were relaxed across the board Friday morning.
That's one area in which UNLV has shown the most consistency this season, as they looked the same in preparing for Wednesday's 78-50 victory over lowly Wyoming as they do in getting ready for the first leg of a crucial three-game stretch which also includes a home date with No. 15 New Mexico on Wednesday and a trip to face San Diego State next Saturday night.
"This group's really prepared for each game the same way," coach Lon Kruger said. "That's contributed to them making consistent progress throughout the year, as they've done. When you get into the middle of the conference play and two teams atop the standings are playing each other, it's naturally a big game.
"I don't think you prepare any differently for it."
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