Detour doesn’t deter Rebels

But it is the first time Marshall has been part of such a highly ranked UNLV basketball team, and he’s learning that a No. 11 ranking puts a bull’s-eye on a team’s back.

“We’re going to get the opponent’s best shot, and we’ve got to be prepared for that,” he said. “We expect a challenge. To get where we’re trying to go, these are the teams we’ve got to beat.”

After escaping with two overtime victories on the road last week, the Rebels (21-3, 5-1) are preparing to get tested again by Wyoming (17-5, 3-3) at 1 p.m. today at the Arena-Auditorium.

But just getting to this remote campus was a challenge in itself, due to a snowstorm that blanketed parts of Colorado and Wyoming.

Instead of taking a scheduled flight to Denver International Airport, where hundreds of flights were canceled Friday, the UNLV team took Allegiant Air to Casper, Wyo., and bused 150 miles south to Laramie.

Rebels coach Dave Rice watched the weather forecast and decided Thursday to take a detour.

“With the blizzard hitting, we changed our travel plans,” Rice said. “As long as we can make it there in time for the game, we’ll be ready to play.”

Everything went according to the changed plans, and the team arrived late Friday. Rice makes no excuses, but he said the tough travel is “one of the advantages” the Cowboys have at home, where the altitude is 7,200 feet.

None of that bothered San Diego State, which defeated Wyoming 52-42 on Jan. 24, after the Aztecs’ charter flight to Laramie was grounded by snow in Utah and delayed their arrival by 17 hours.

The Mountain West appears to be a three-team race, with UNLV and San Diego State tied for first and New Mexico a close third. The Aztecs and Lobos already own wins at Wyoming.

For the Rebels to stay on pace, they need to play at a higher level than they did last week in overtime victories at Air Force and Boise State.

“As a team, we’re old enough to know we’ve got to play better. The way we performed last week is not going to get it done,” Marshall said. “We didn’t get up and defend the ball, and we really didn’t run our offense smoothly.

“With how we’re playing and being who we are at the moment, it adds something for every team. Anytime you get a game against a top 15 opponent, or just a ranked opponent period, it adds something to it. Those are the consequences of being who we are now.”

The Cowboys, who finished 3-13 in the league last season, are displaying dramatic improvement under new coach Larry Shyatt, who inherited his starting five from UNLV assistant Heath Schroyer.

After a seven-game losing streak, Schroyer was fired on Feb. 7, 2011, during his fourth season as Wyoming’s coach. Rice took over the Rebels in April and added Schroyer to his staff.

“I told Coach Schroyer he did too good of a job recruiting,” Rice said.

The Cowboys’ top two scorers, junior forward Leonard Washington and junior guard Luke Martinez, sat out last season as redshirts. Washington, a transfer from Southern California, is likely to defend UNLV’s leading scorer, Mike Moser.

“They are playing really well. Larry is doing a really good job with them,” Schroyer said. “We thought that this year and next year we were going to be able to make a run. But you know, things in life sometimes, even with the best intentions, don’t work out all the time.

“It’s unfortunate, but I’m really happy for those kids. I love those guys. I’m looking forward to saying hello to all of them. For me, it’s a tough team on the road, and it puts us one step closer to our goal if we’re lucky enough to come out of there with a win.”

The Rebels, who have won five straight and 12 of 13, were lucky to win twice on the road a week ago, and Rice would prefer not to bank on luck against a Wyoming team that leads the league in scoring defense.

“What we need to do on the road is play better offense and not go through scoring droughts,” Rice said. “I’ve always believed that success on the road starts with defense, but the real key is to score consistently.”

■ NOTES — Rice said he’s “optimistic” that sophomore forward Carlos Lopez, who has missed the past two games with a sprained right ankle, will play today as a reserve. … The Cowboys have lost 19 consecutive games to ranked opponents.

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