Rebels’ Kruger has knee, team on mend
Knee surgery has sidelined the leader of UNLV’s basketball team. It’s no cause for panic, though, because coach Lon Kruger said he’ll be fine in a few days.
Kruger went in Tuesday for a procedure to repair cartilage in his right knee, and he is under doctor’s orders to keep his leg elevated. At the same time, he’s trying to lift the Rebels’ performance and spirits after a disappointing Christmas.
UNLV finished its nonconference season 12-2, and when analyzing the good and bad behind the record, Kruger said, “There’s a lot of things to like.”
What he did not appreciate was the Rebels’ ugly 67-56 loss to Southern California in the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic on Friday in Honolulu.
The only positive from the sound defeat was the all-around aggressive play of sophomore point guard Oscar Bellfield, who scored 17 points and had three assists and one turnover in 32 minutes.
Bellfield has matured into a reliable floor leader. He is UNLV’s No. 2 scorer at 11.1 points per game, has 54 assists to 28 turnovers and leads the team with 26.5 minutes per game.
But Bellfield returned from Hawaii unhappy.
“That’s something that’s really going to be deep inside of us, knowing we lost the championship game against USC. That’s something we can take and use as motivation,” he said. “The record is fine. But we’ve got a lot more things we can improve.”
The Rebels are in the midst of going 11 days between games, leaving a lot of practice time before the Mountain West Conference opener at Brigham Young on Wednesday.
BYU (13-1) embarrassed Arizona 99-69 on Monday at Tucson. After the trip to Provo, Utah, UNLV hits the road to face No. 19 New Mexico (13-1) on Jan. 9.
As if that start isn’t tough enough, the Rebels host San Diego State (10-3) on Jan. 13. The Aztecs beat UNLV three times last season.
“A lot of people sleep on it, but the Mountain West is a great league,” Bellfield said. “It’s going to be great games throughout the whole second half of the season.
“We’re learning what our weaknesses are, and it’s really competing against physical teams.”
The Rebels’ highlights include victories over Louisville, Arizona, UNR and Southern Illinois.
But they were pushed around by USC and in a 95-80 loss to Kansas State on Dec. 12, and those games raised red flags about the team’s toughness.
“That’s what we can’t allow to happen,” Kruger said. “We’re not a big, physical group by any means, but we still have to figure out how to play in those games.”
UNLV lacks interior strength, with Matt Shaw, Darris Santee and Brice Massamba rotating in the post. The team rebounding has improved, but inconsistent 3-point shooting (30.1 percent) has been problematic.
The Rebels shot poorly from the perimeter and the offense broke down in several areas in the two losses.
On the bright side, Bellfield, Tre’Von Willis, Chace Stanback and Derrick Jasper provide a variety of scoring options to lead UNLV’s 11-man rotation, which Kruger said he will continue to use in MWC play.
“We’re starting to shoot the ball better, and we’re starting to rebound better. The guys have made progress in all the areas,” Kruger said. “This group has still got a lot of upside, and that’s the exciting thing about it.
“Most importantly, we’ve got to keep making progress to compete in the league. We can’t feel like we’re OK, and now we just play out the league schedule. You’ve got to keep getting better in this league.”
Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.