Rebels on rise but stay humble

The Rebels (5-0) appeared in the national rankings Monday, checking in at No. 21 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll and No. 24 in the Associated Press poll.

Getting there was no easy task for UNLV. Staying there is the next challenge.

“You want some kind of respect around the country, and that’s all our ranking is. But we’re not caught up in the ranking,” Willis said. “We’re 5-0, but we’re focusing on the sixth game. It’s very tough to win on the road. It’s going to be a hostile environment against a good team.”

The Rebels return to the underdog role when they face Arizona (3-2) at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Tucson.

UNLV led by as many as 19 points Saturday in a 76-71 win over Louisville at the Thomas & Mack Center. The loss dropped the Cardinals from 16th to 20th in the AP poll.

In a quiet hallway after the game, Louisville coach Rick Pitino made interesting remarks about how the Rebels might respond to the win.

“The main thing is that they don’t embrace this victory and go on the road and lose,” Pitino said. “The arrogance of success sometimes, you think you’re good and then you lose the next game and maybe it wasn’t worth beating Louisville.

“You just have to stay humble, which I know they will, and they’ll get better and better because they’re young … and because they’re deep. I like teams that play hard, so I like all their guys.”

Sophomore guard Oscar Bellfield said the UNLV players are not spending time reflecting on the upset of Louisville.

“We still have other big games coming up,” Bellfield said. “Each game I think we’re getting better and better. The chemistry is building up each day, and even in practice you can see it.”

Bellfield scored eight of his 17 points after the Cardinals tied the game 62-62 with just over five minutes left. Willis finished with 16 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Derrick Jasper scored 12 points.

“It’s definitely tough to guard me, Oscar and Derrick on that perimeter,” Willis said. “Our guards are very tough.”

The Wildcats, who lost two of their three games in the Maui Invitational last week, are led by senior guard Nic Wise and talented forwards Derrick Williams, Solomon Hill and Jamelle Horne.

This is the fourth consecutive year UNLV has played Arizona. The Wildcats won the first two meetings before losing 79-64 in December in Las Vegas.

The Rebels were last ranked after finishing 30-7 in the 2006-07 season, placing No. 14 in the final coaches’ poll and No. 19 in the AP poll. UNLV appeared in the November rankings for the first time since the 1992-93 season.

“If there’s rankings, it’s great to have your name in there,” coach Lon Kruger said. “But you still have to do the same thing in practice, and that is to get better. Our guys do understand that we have a lot of areas that we have to improve in a great deal.”

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