‘I had to step up’: Guard’s 3-point spree helps Rebels end losing skid
Last Saturday, the UNLV men’s basketball team suffered a blowout loss at Creighton, extending its losing streak to three games.
With a week to learn from what went wrong in Nebraska, the Rebels got back in the win column with a 72-65 victory over Pacific on Saturday, part of the Jack Jones Classic at Lee’s Family Forum.
After being held to 10 points against Creighton, sixth-year guard Julian Rishwain hit his season high with 21 points, including 16 in the second half, and made 5 of 7 3-pointers.
“As a sixth-year player, I thought I had to step up and hit some big shots and make big plays to keep our energy up,” Rishwain said.
Sophomore guard Dedan Thomas Jr. added 16 points for the Rebels (5-4).
Pacific (5-7) trailed by five at halftime, but went on a 13-4 run to take a 44-40 lead with about 12 minutes to play.
Thomas then scored eight of his 10 second-half points in a four-minute span to propel UNLV on an 11-1 run to regain the lead at 51-45.
Pacific wouldn’t go away and stayed within five points for the majority of the second half.
With UNLV’s lead down to 58-55 with under five minutes to play, Rishwain took over, hitting back-to-back 3s to blow the game open.
Rishwain’s confidence in his 3-point shot matched the confidence that his teammates had in him.
“There was one play where I handed the ball off to (Rishwain), and he heard me and the bench all yell, ‘Shoot,’” Thomas said. “I ran back on defense, I didn’t look at it, and it just went in.”
UNLV recorded only 27 assists during its losing streak, including just seven against Creighton. The Rebels had nine in the first 20 minutes against Pacific and finished with 16 assists on 26 made field goals.
Coach Kevin Kruger said that although his players developed an “itch” to play a game after six days of practice this week, the break was beneficial as conference play approaches Dec. 28.
“I am excited for this group once we get into a rhythm of games and get out there against someone else,” Kruger said. “You can get used to practicing against each other, so it’s good to get into a flow these next three games before conference play.”
UNLV next plays at Dayton at 4 p.m. Tuesday, then hosts UC Riverside on Dec. 21 to complete the nonconference schedule.
“We kept harping on the fact we’ve lost the last three in a row, and having this break to reset was important,” Thomas said. “We talked a lot about bringing the intensity because we knew we couldn’t lose this game.”
Elias Ralph led Pacific with 19 points.
In other games in the Jack Jones Classic tripleheader, Santa Clara (6-5) earned an 84-74 win over Bradley (8-2), and Virginia Commonwealth (9-2) picked up a 76-68 victory over Colorado State (5-5).