Bellfield might sit out
Freshman point guard Oscar Bellfield has been developing into a smooth operator of UNLV’s offense. But he was not running anything during Monday’s practice.
Bellfield was flat on his stomach in the training room while receiving treatment for a right hamstring injury, raising questions about his status for the Rebels’ game at Colorado State on Wednesday.
“I’m not sure right now,” he said. “That’s the whole goal, to heal up and get ready to play.”
UNLV coach Lon Kruger was optimistic and said a decision on Bellfield could be made after today’s practice.
“It was just precautionary,” Kruger said of Bellfield sitting out practice. “He felt a twinge, and there’s no need to aggravate it at this point. We would expect him to play Wednesday, but don’t know that for sure.”
Bellfield was injured in the second half of the Rebels’ 80-73 loss at Texas Christian on Saturday. He went for a steal, pulled up lame and asked to be taken out with 11:45 to play.
The Horned Frogs were six points into a 15-0 run when Bellfield left the floor. He returned with about seven minutes left, but played only 19 seconds and did not return.
“It was a sudden stop. I felt it right when it happened,” Bellfield said. “It kind of felt that I pulled it a little bit.”
Bellfield, averaging 7.1 points and 3.5 assists, has made eight consecutive starts.
Kruger used a four-guard lineup against TCU, starting forward Joe Darger with Bellfield, Wink Adams, Rene Rougeau and Tre’Von Willis. Junior forward Darris Santee, who started the first 15 games, played only six minutes off the bench.
The results of the smaller lineup pleased Kruger, for the most part, but he was displeased with UNLV’s defense and rebounding. The Rebels were outrebounded 32-23 and allowed the Horned Frogs to shoot 56.6 percent from the field, including 14-for-22 (63.6 percent) in the second half.
“Offensively it was good,” Kruger said of the four-guard lineup. “It didn’t change anything defensively. We’ve got to do more things defensively.
“We’ve got to still look for whatever might give us a chance to rebound it better, and play with a little bit more activity defensively. We haven’t got it done to this point. We’re looking for someone to do that.”
UNLV finished with season highs in 3-pointers made (15) and attempted (34), but its defensive performance was the poorest of the season.
“We got the shots we wanted,” said Willis, who will run the point Wednesday if Bellfield is unable to play. “Defense was really our weakest point.”
The Rebels (13-3, 1-1 Mountain West Conference) cannot afford another slipup against the Rams, who dropped to 5-11 and 0-2 after an 86-60 home loss to Brigham Young on Saturday.
Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.