UNLV desperate for victory against New Mexico

When all was going well for UNLV through November and into mid-December, Quintrell Thomas was in the middle of it. He was a starting forward for a team making progress.

Lately, he has been seated in the middle of the bench, and sometimes buried at the end of it.

Not that one is the strongest correlation to the other, but Thomas faded from coach Lon Kruger's rotation and the Rebels have fallen from grace in the aftermath of the second-worst home loss in Kruger's seven seasons.

"The mess hit the fan," Thomas said of UNLV's 78-63 loss to Colorado State on Wednesday. "We're one of the bottom teams in the conference right now. We never expected that. We need to get back to where we were."

So, what's wrong with the Rebels? The answers are many, and Thomas had some to offer.

"Everybody was hyped and raring to go when the season started. But I think we got a little complacent, and now we're paying for it," he said.

UNLV (14-5) is 2-3 in the Mountain West Conference as it meets similarly slumping New Mexico (13-6, 1-3) at 1 p.m. today at the Thomas & Mack Center, where the Rebels were booed three days ago.

Senior guard Tre'Von Willis, who has missed UNLV's past two games with a sore right knee, was able to practice on a limited basis Friday and will be a game-time decision.

Willis is the team's second-leading scorer at 12.0 points per game, but his absence was not the reason for the collapse against the Rams.

It was a game of reckoning that seemed to be coming for a while. The Rebels have played mediocre basketball in all phases for a month.

"We would like it to be where it was in November, from the standpoint of the results we were getting," Kruger said.

Several players are struggling with shooting, including Willis, junior forward Chace Stanback and guards Oscar Bellfield and Derrick Jasper. UNLV has shot 12-for-73 (16.4 percent) from 3-point range in the past four games.

Kruger's team is in search of its identity. When the Rebels opened the season 9-0, they were shooting high percentages and turning up the heat defensively with full-court pressure. None of that has been evident in recent weeks.

"Coach Kruger has been saying it since we were on our big run. We're slacking on defense a little bit," Thomas said.

Good shooting through the first nine games covered some of UNLV's flaws, Kruger said, but he offered no excuses for the lackadaisical effort against Colorado State.

"You don't expect a team to come in and outfight you and outwork you, and I don't know that we saw that coming. We have to fight and compete and get stops and get loose balls. That needs to be the identity, because we can control that part," Kruger said.

Thomas, a 6-foot-8-inch sophomore transfer from Kansas, was supposed to fortify the Rebels' weak frontline. He started the first 13 games and performed well in spurts.

In late November, when UNLV won the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif., Thomas shot 15-for-17 from the field in the three victories. But by the end of December, Kruger benched Thomas in favor of junior center Brice Massamba.

Thomas played a total of only nine minutes in league losses to Brigham Young and San Diego State. Against Colorado State, Massamba had three points and no rebounds in 15 minutes, and Thomas had seven points and six rebounds in 16 minutes.

The Lobos, off an 82-72 loss at Utah on Wednesday, are athletic and tall up front with 6-11 Alex Kirk, 6-9 Drew Gordon and 6-8 A.J. Hardeman.

Another setback today could send the Rebels spiraling toward their second National Invitation Tournament trip in three years.

"Certain people aren't scoring the ball the same way they used to, and people are a little banged up as the season is wearing on," Thomas said. "Coach told us that people are just kind of thinking about themselves. It's bringing everybody back together and realizing that the goal is beyond the individual.

"Now we have a couple of bad losses on our resume, so the sense of urgency is great now. Nobody wants to go to the NIT."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.