Rebels struggle to ‘get up off the mat’ in 2nd straight blowout loss

“Extremely confident” was the first thing Kevin Kruger said when asked about Colorado State at the UNLV basketball team’s last practice before traveling to Fort Collins, Colorado.

Following the Rebels’ 84-62 loss to the Rams on Saturday at Moby Arena, the idea still seemed to be top of mind for the fourth-year coach.

The defeat was UNLV’s second consecutive blowout, coming on the heels of Tuesday’s 81-59 loss at Boise State. On Saturday, the first postgame question Kruger fielded was about what the team has lacked over the pair of road games.

“We’re just trying to take a punch, and it just takes us awhile to get up off the mat,” Kruger said. “Knowing your confidence is shaken a little bit, that’s something that’s one of the effects.”

Following Kruger’s boxing analogy, UNLV (9-7, 3-2 Mountain West) sparred decently to start. There were six lead changes early in the first half, but Colorado State (10-6, 4-1) went on a 9-0 run at the midway point to pull away.

That was the big blow, and the Rams never trailed again.

Close, then closed out

With 10 minutes left to play, there was a glimmer of the “fight” Kruger previously said he hoped would become his team’s identity.

Center Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry scored in the paint on back-to-back possessions, allowing UNLV to benefit from the Rams’ two-minute scoring drought and make it a two possession game at 58-52.

But that momentum didn’t last long, as the Rams went on to outscore the Rebels 26-10 from then until the final buzzer.

Point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. and guard Jaden Henley had 19 points each for the Rebels. Thomas added six assists, while Henley made four of seven 3-point attempts.

Rashaan Mbemba and Nique Clifford had 22 points each for Colorado State.

Besides Henley, the Rebels were 1-for-10 on 3s in the game, while Colorado State was 12-for-24.

The Rams also outrebounded UNLV 35-28 and had 24 assists to the Rebels’ 11.

It was yet another showing where the Rebels simply looked outmatched.

‘This is not abnormal’

It’s not surprising that the Rebels’ self-assurance would be lacking, as they have yet to notch a solid win this season.

The team’s seven losses have come against teams in the top 90 of the NCAA’s NET rankings. UNLV is ranked No. 112, and the opponents the team faced in its 3-0 start to conference play range from No. 199 to 300.

Still, Kruger emphasized Saturday that there are plenty of games to be played.

“This is not abnormal,” he said. “This is not something that is breaking news that confidence wanes and goes up and down during a season, right?”

But he did concede that the team’s outlook can be a “tricky thing” in games.

“When your confidence is low, it feels like everything that can go wrong will,” he said. “We’ve just got to focus on the little things. We got to be a little tighter … and just kind of have that reassurance amongst each other. That’s what we’re working on these next couple days for another tough challenge coming.”

The next test will be against Utah State at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

For what it’s worth, Henley said there’s no uncertainty in the locker room.

“I don’t think we lost any confidence here. I know for sure, I haven’t,” he said. “I have 1,000 percent confidence in our roster. I think we can win the Mountain West conference championship. So, I mean, two tough losses in two, very hard places to play, I think we just learn from it.”

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.