Runnin’ Rebels Win With Tough Defense

When a team shoots only 36.8% in the first half and makes only 2 of 16 three-point shots, it is obviously struggling.

That applies only to an ordinary team. Nevada Las Vegas, the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, is anything but ordinary.

The Rebels had those ugly offensive statistics in the opening half of their West Regional second-round game with Kansas State Saturday at the Special Events Center.

No matter. UNLV still led at halftime, 36-27, because of the suffocating man-to-man pressure that it applies. Then, the Rebels got into a shooting groove early in the second half, went on a 12-1 run and won easily, 80-61.

So Nevada Las Vegas move on to the West Regional semifinals next Friday night at Seattle, where it will meet Wyoming.

The Cowboys beat UCLA, 78-68, in a later second-round game and, perhaps, the outcome slightly disappointed UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian, who has reportedly been yearning for a shot at the Bruins.

Tarkanian was asked before the start of the Wyoming-UCLA game about the prospect of playing the Bruins.

“In the past, it would have been a great privilege for UNLV to play UCLA,” he said. “Now the shoe is on the other foot. It would be a privilege for them to play us.”

That privilege now belongs to Wyoming.

As for Kansas State, it had some false hopes for an upset early in the game.

“In the first 13 or 14 minutes, we were doing the things we set out to do,” Kansas State Coach Lon Kruger said. “Then, Vegas’ constant man pressure broke us a few times and they’d run off six to eight points.”

Tarkanian said that defense kept his team in the game after shooting atrociously in the first half. He added that he was surprised that his Rebels, now 35-1, won so handily.

“We just took them out of their motion offense that they like to run,” Tarkanian said, “and we played excellent defense.”

UNLV’s outside shooters, guard Freddie Banks and forward Gerald Paddio, fired away to little avail. They were a combined 5 for 20 on three-point shots.

So the Rebels just worked the ball inside to power forward Armon Gilliam, who scored 24 points on 9 of 17 shooting.

“Gilliam was outstanding inside,” Kruger said. “When you’re playing Vegas, it’s like choosing your poison. They have so many ways to hurt you, so many different weapons.

“It has been said that Vegas lacks size. That’s a joke. They don’t have any seven footers, but they’re big, physical and quick. And the key is their intensity.”

Kansas State guard Steve Henson said that UNLV’s constant defensive pressure takes its toll. That was evident by the 23 turnovers that the Wildcats committed. So the season ended for the Big Eight team (20-11) and it was the consensus of the Kansas State players that UNLV is deserving of its No. 1 ranking.

“Our defense is always overlooked,” Tarkanian said. “The reason we give up so many points is that we shoot the ball quickly. I like that. If you shoot quick and play pressure defense, you get a fast tempo game.

“I’ve been coaching 31 years and I don’t know why you have to be patient. When you have an open shot, you should take it. I’d rather have us shoot an open shot from 19 to 20 feet than a contested one from 10 to 12 feet.”

Someone asked Tarkanian if he instructed his players at halftime to stop casting off from three-point range.

Tarkanian seemed surprised by the question.

“Of course not,” he said. “That’s how we got here.”

For the game, Nevada Las Vegas converted only 6 of 25 three-point shots. But the Rebels were a respectable 53.8% from the field in the second half.

Banks supported Gilliam with 15 points, while center Jarvis Basnight had 14 points. Mark Wade, Nevada Las Vegas’ clever point guard, who seldom shoots, is, however, a big factor in his team’s offense. He had 13 assists while playing 33 minutes.

Kansas State forward Mitch Richmond, who scored 34 points in a first-round win over Georgia Thursday night, settled for 19 points on 8 of 18 shooting Saturday.

As Kruger observed, Kansas State was breaking UNLV’s press at the outset of the game. The score was tied three times before Vegas pulled away to a seven-point lead at 28-21. That was expanded to a nine-point cushion at halftime.

UNLV quickly took charge at the start of the second half. Gilliam hit on a short jump shot, Banks followed with a three-point bomb, Gilliam scored again from 15 feet and then Paddio, who has been in a shooting slump, put down slam on a lob from Banks and then made a three-point shot.

It was all over with Nevada Las Vegas leading, 48-28. There were no high fives, or trash talk from the Rebels. Tarkanian says that his team is a quiet bunch.

They’re also ruthlessly efficient. And, as Kruger said, if Nevada Las Vegas doesn’t excel in one area on a given day, it simply resorts to another method of winning.

It was D-day for defense Saturday.