UNLV learns that running isn’t easy

So now that UNLV's basketball team has survived being swept away in a Siberian river, and frostbite in Alaska, and that pack of feral dogs in Tibet, or whatever laborious journey many ridiculously defined as six games away from the Thomas & Mack Center, the Rebels can focus on a more important task.

Continuing to adjust to the tempo of others.

This is how it's going to be most nights, and why not? UNLV might have built an entire marketing campaign around the theme of "Let's Run," but it doesn't mean opponents have to embrace it.

Texas-El Paso didn't on Wednesday night and for it the Rebels had to grind out a 65-54 win, not the most attractive victory but one in which UNLV played well enough defensively to avoid what would have been an awful loss against a near 18-point underdog.

It was an 11-point margin.

It was more like a five-point game.

"Teams are really concerned about our offensive transition," UNLV coach Dave Rice said. "We're going to have to guard for longer possessions and do a better job. ... It's probably not an offensive film we'll send to the Hall of Fame."

Not unless they have space in Kansas City, Mo., for a plaque honoring teams that shoot 31 percent in the first half and miss eight free throws against a 2-5 opponent that lost to Stephen F. Austin by 18.

It would be easy to glance at UNLV's offensive struggles, which included making three of its first 19 shots and scoring just 24 first-half points, and not credit UTEP. That would be wrong.

The Miners are very young and, even while being completely healthy for the first time this season, not good at all. But they refused to run with the Rebels and forced Rice's team into not only defending for the length of a shot clock time and again, but into second-half adjustments that ultimately saved UNLV.

Greatness does not exist inside for the Rebels. Most nights, the trio of Brice Massamba, Carlos Lopez and Quintrell Thomas at center are serviceable at best. Lopez offered more Wednesday and it was a major difference.

He made 5 of 7 shots and while he seemingly can't sink consecutive free throws to save his life, Lopez is active and almost always engaged. He is a work in progress and yet owns the most upside of anyone manning the middle.

UNLV needed him to beat UTEP as much as it needed Mike Moser's 11 rebounds and Anthony Marshall's season-high 20 points.

It needed Lopez because the Rebels made a conscious effort to go inside during the second half and Massamba (two points, three fouls in 10 minutes) offered little. Thomas (two points, two rebounds, three blocks in nine minutes) didn't see the floor after halftime.

The Rebels also adjusted in regard to Marshall, getting him the ball at spots more favorable for his strengths, which is to say where he can attack off the dribble. But the Miners rightly dared him to shoot, and Marshall made them pay with two late 3-pointers after missing his first four from distance.

It was a night where Rice searched through constant substitutions for any lineup that might produce an offensive flow, and yet whatever five players were on the floor for UNLV remained focused defensively. UTEP had 20 turnovers and many were the result of quicker, better Rebels players.

It is good to win this way, good to not be at your best and not be able to run and not make shots and still earn a 10th victory against just two losses.

Good to know you can succeed at a pace others will continue to set.

"Teams think slowing it down gives them the best chance to win," Lopez said. "It's not easy (defending) for the whole shot clock. It's tough. We need to get better at it. There is a lot of room for improvement."

UNLV's next chance to show some is against No. 19 Illinois in Chicago, a second consecutive Saturday against a Big Ten opponent. Finding enough energy shouldn't be an issue, now that UNLV has again enjoyed the comforts of a Thomas & Mack setting.

Three of the six recent road games were at a place (Orleans Arena) where the Rebels could have made a walk over part of their pre-game stretch, so let's not get carried away with the supposed logistical difficulty that was an early December schedule.

That said, the Rebels needed all of the 11,805 cheering and countless defensive stops to win Wednesday. Being home for this one didn't hurt.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.