Rebels win despite falling short at free-throw line

There were a whole lot of things UNLV didn’t do well during Sunday night’s 59-57 win over Sam Houston State.

The Rebels allowed too many offensive rebounds, went extended stretches without scoring and got beat to too many loose balls.

But if Dakarai Henderson’s 3-pointer from the left wing in the closing seconds had fallen and Sam Houston State would have left the Thomas & Mack Center with a victory, the blame for the loss would have been squarely focused on the free-throw line.

The Rebels shot just 12 of 27 (44.4 percent) as a team from the line.

There’s no way to sugarcoat that stat. It’s just awful.

The struggles from the charity stripe were evident all night, but were magnified in the final minute.

UNLV led 57-54 with 25 seconds remaining when Cody Doolin went to the line and missed the second of two free throws. Sam Houston State grabbed the miss and cut the UNLV lead to one on a 3-pointer by Kaheem Ransom with 17 seconds remaining.

Then it was Rashad Vaughn’s turn to go to the line, but he also went just 1 of 2 to set up Henderson’s attempt to win the game.

Those two pivotal misses, along with the 13 others throughout the game, meant the Rebels had to sweat out the flight of Henderson’s shot until it clanged off the rim.

“If we just make our free throws, we’re not in that position,” Doolin said. “Me and Rashad both have to work on our free throws. I think we both expect a lot more from ourselves.”

UNLV escaped despite all the misses on Sunday. That won’t always be the case.

“I’m smart enough to say that we’re going to shoot more free throws and get the ball in the basket at practice the next few days,” UNLV coach Dave Rice said.

It wasn’t an isolated occurrence. UNLV hit just 16 of 27 (59.3 percent) from the line in Friday night’s win over Morehead State.

The woes from the charity stripe are somewhat mystifying when considering the team is loaded with quality shooters. In fact, the Rebels went 5-for-13 from 3-point range in the victory.

Doolin, who was nearly a 79 percent shooter from the line during his time at San Francisco, thinks the problem will be rectified.

“I think a big part of it is mental and, myself included, I think maybe we’re a bit uncomfortable right now,” he said after a 2-for-7 effort from the line. “I think as the season goes on we’ll be a very good free-throw shooting team actually.”

He wasn’t alone. Vaughn and fellow freshman Goodluck Okonoboh both went just 2-for-5. Sophomore Chris Wood hit just 1 of 4 from the line.

Only Jordan Cornish and Dwayne Morgan proved immune as both freshmen went 2-for-2.

Rice credited the effort on the defensive end for the Rebels ability overcome the dreadful night at the free-throw line.

UNLV held the Bearkats to 21 of 69 from the field, which included a 9-for-36 performance from beyond the arc.

“I’ll take that every night and we’ll have a pretty good chance once we start making shots and free throws, which we will soon,” Rice said.

If not, it could be a long season.