Rebels find room to improve
A spotless record aside, UNLV coach Lon Kruger is well aware his basketball team has been far from flawless.
Kruger has a short list of concerns, one of them being the Rebels’ poor perimeter shooting.
“I told our guys, ‘We’re either going to start making shots or we’re going to start shooting fewer 3-pointers.’ It’s got to be one or the other, and they’ve got a couple more games to determine what that is. We can’t continue that,” Kruger said after Thursday’s practice.
UNLV is 6-0 and ranked 24th despite shooting 25.2 percent from 3-point range. The Rebels are attempting an average of 20.5 3-pointers per game.
The irony is it was a 3-point shot by junior guard Derrick Jasper that proved to be the game winner Wednesday night as UNLV beat Arizona 74-72 in double overtime at Tucson.
Jasper and guards Tre’Von Willis and Oscar Bellfield — the Rebels’ top three scorers — shot a combined 3-for-14 on 3s against the Wildcats.
Bellfield endured his worst shooting game by going 2-for-14, 1-for-7 on 3-pointers. But he had several shots that rimmed out.
UNLV has posted back-to-back wins over Arizona and Louisville despite shooting a combined 10-for-48 on 3s, including 5-for-26 against the Wildcats.
“It’s interesting that record-wise we’re where we are, shooting 25 percent from 3 and shooting quite a few 3s,” Kruger said. “We’ve been very effective at 2-point shots.”
Kruger said he won’t make changes in the starting lineup when the Rebels play at Santa Clara (4-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Broncos struggled early but are coming off victories over UC Santa Barbara and Fresno State.
Senior forward Darris Santee is emerging as a threat for UNLV off the bench, and sophomore center Brice Massamba, the starter in the post, continues to find foul trouble.
Santee is shooting 58.6 percent from the field and averaging 7.5 points and 4.8 rebounds.
Kruger left sophomore swingman Chace Stanback on the bench for much of the second half and for all of both overtimes at Arizona. Stanback scored nine points in the first half and finished with nine.
“I thought Chace had his best half of the year in the first half,” Kruger said. “We got into that late-game situation and I just felt comfortable with the rhythm we had developed defensively in covering Arizona’s stuff and didn’t want to disrupt that any. Sometimes you feel good about a group that’s in there and you stay with it.
“Chace knows we need more of that aggressiveness that he opened the game with and that’s what we’re looking for. I’m excited about Chace because there’s so much room for him to progress.”
Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.