UNLV not looking NCAA worthy

SALT LAKE CITY -- Every game and opponent is different. Lon Kruger is correct on that part. He was also accurate in saying a major reason his UNLV basketball team dropped games at home against New Mexico and at San Diego State last week had as much to do with opposing talent as anything else.

But that wasn't the case Wednesday night. Far from it.

The Rebels needed to beat an inferior Utah team for all sorts of important reasons and couldn't.

"That's a moot point," Kruger said. "Any time you lose a ballgame and fail to put one in the right column, it's disappointing. I don't know what else can be said about that."

On this defeat, plenty.

The Rebels are still an NCAA Tournament team in the cyber world of bracketology, but they aren't one on the court right now. Not a dangerous one, anyway. They would still be rewarded a berth if invitations were dispensed today, but they would frighten any opponent like a poodle would a coyote.

Put it this way: If the Rebels remain a No. 7 seed when the next projections come out, the competence of those predicting such things needs to be immediately questioned.

UNLV has lost its way, and if it wasn't apparent before Wednesday, it certainly was after a 66-61 loss to a Utah team that struggled to get out of its own way much of the evening. This is one of those times when a team with NCAA Tournament aspirations like UNLV thanks the heavens its conference has a television package that a majority of the selection committee probably doesn't get.

The Utes had 16 turnovers and at times appeared to have never in their lives attacked a trap. But credit Utah. It made plays to win. It shot better than UNLV, rebounded better, attacked better.

It is also 12-13 overall, 5-6 in the Mountain West Conference and owns a Ratings Percentage Index in the 160 range for a reason.

It's not very good but swept the season series from UNLV.

Which, for the Rebels, is really bad.

This is by far the worst of three straight losses for UNLV and should send the Rebels this message: This is not the time to take anything for granted when it comes to NCAA berths and what others outside a selection committee think.

The way it is playing today, UNLV will be fortunate to finish third in league, which means anything less than advancing to the conference tournament final on its home floor would afford the committee reason -- a legitimate one at that -- to keep the Rebels out.

Here's the thing about UNLV's next four games: The Rebels should finish with wins against Colorado State, Texas Christian, at Air Force and Wyoming, but their RPI will suffer from such success against worse teams.

Think about it. In terms of good wins for an NCAA resume, the next one UNLV could possibly get would be in a conference tournament semifinal, and that is assuming the Rebels don't completely ruin their at-large chances by dropping one of the next four.

"This is very frustrating," UNLV guard Tre'Von Willis said. "It's more frustrating, you know, that we don't fight for a whole 40 minutes. We came out so flat."

Just wondering: How in the world is that possible?

How in the three games following UNLV's rise to a tie for first place in conference do we continue to hear from players about things like not being on the same page and not playing hard for entire games? Kids look for reasons when they lose. I'm not even sure any truly believe that effort has been an issue, but they are asked questions and do their best to answer.

But while the Rebels are injured in spots, so too is it clear they have no one outside Willis (32 points Wednesday) who consistently produces offensively, better athletes (which Utah doesn't own) almost always cause them problems on the boards, and with less scoring flow has come more defensive breakdowns.

You can explain away losses to New Mexico and San Diego State.

Not this one. Not this late in a season with NCAA Tournament talk beginning to pick up its annual steam. This was a bad loss to a below-average team.

"It was a gritty effort in the second half to get back into it," said Kruger, whose team trailed by eight at intermission but never led. "We have to take positives from that and build on it."

Here are your positives today: It will be an upset if the Rebels don't win their next four games against mostly weak teams, and if the bracket were announced today, UNLV is an NCAA Tournament team on paper.

It's just not one on the court right now.

It wouldn't scare a fly.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618.