‘You’re watching a young team grow up in a hurry’

A new look, is right.

It’s not just about players with UNLV’s basketball team this season, about fresh faces strewn throughout the lineup, about different names and skill sets than last year.

The style will be as dissimilar from recent seasons as those running it some nights.

That can be a good thing.

It was for the Rebels when opening their season Friday evening, when UNLV survived Morehead State, 60-59, before 12,582 at the Thomas &Mack Center.

I’m not certain on percentages over the first three years of Dave Rice’s time as head coach, but there is no question the Rebels played more significant possessions of zone defense Friday than they have during his tenure.

It won them a game in which they trailed by as many as 11 in the second half.

It allowed them to be 1-0 today.

That’s the point about this team, at least until all roles are defined and weaknesses strengthened. There are several of the latter, but nothing matures a team quickly like winning games as lessons are taught.

“Anytime you can win scoring 60 points, those are the ones you really have to grind out,” senior point guard Cody Doolin said. “When you win those games, you could potentially be a pretty good team if you can play that kind of defense. It was a great way to start off.”

You can’t compete with many of the non-conference opponents UNLV will face and definitely not for a Mountain West title without serious length. The Rebels have their share this season, a major reason their zone was effective enough to hold Morehead State to 31 percent shooting.

UNLV isn’t all that big, but those with size are quick and long, able not only to cover corners as passes are swung against the zone, but also to clean things up at the rim. Goodluck Okonoboh is a freshman who had seven blocks; Chris Wood is a sophomore who had four.

Khem Birch would have been proud.

“We’ve worked on the zone extremely hard,” Rice said. “We can cover a lot of ground in it. I told our coaching staff that the zone is going to win several games for us this season. This is one. Morehead State is a terrific basketball team.”

Kentucky is a terrific team. Arizona is a terrific team. Wisconsin is a terrific team. Duke might become a terrific team.

Morehead State has a chance to be a really solid team.

But how the Rebels beat the Eagles was as impressive as the victory itself. That on a night UNLV shot just 22 percent on 3s and 59 percent from the free-throw line, a night in which the Rebels over the first 20 minutes fell back into that familiar bad habit of having no idea how to attack a zone on the offensive end, it managed to make the critical plays that secured success.

It was much better against zone in the second half, led by the player (Doolin, seven assists, one turnover) who is expected to lead. It also found the team’s most dynamic scorer (freshman Rashad Vaughn, 26 points, seven rebounds) for the game’s biggest shot.

Vaughn’s 3-pointer with 1:06 remaining proved to be the difference and in one swish of a net, supported the belief that he will unquestionably be UNLV’s first option in such stressful moments.

You need fortune to win such games. UNLV got every imaginable call, being whistled for just 14 fouls to 25 for the Eagles and attempting 27 free-throws to 14 for Morehead State.

But that’s what happens at home, especially during non-conference play. You take advantage of it, knowing full well it likely won’t be that way on the road very often.

More importantly, it appears UNLV improves each time it steps under the lights, something that definitely happened from the time it was whacked at UCLA in a closed-door scrimmage last week to this opening win.

Rice wondered on Friday why news of just the first two periods against the Bruins were leaked publicly — when you’re up 30-plus, how interested is UCLA in the third period, anyway? — and insisted his team carried over its improved play in the latter stages against the Bruins to Morehead State.

It showed. It wasn’t perfect. Far from it. But for a team that suited up six players on Friday who hadn’t competed in a regular-season Division I game, UNLV did more good than bad.

“It’s amazing in sports what one point or one stop can mean,” Rice said.

“We have to get a lot better. We know that. Our execution needs to be much better. But we found a way to win. You’re watching a young team grow up in a hurry.”

The style will differ as roles are defined.

This time, it was a competent and at times very active zone defense that allowed UNLV to survive.

“It was amazing to play in front of all those fans,” Vaughn said. “It was a blessing. It was fun.”

It was a successful beginning.

New look and all.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on “Gridlock,” ESPN 1100 and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.