Stage is set for UNLV’s Bennett to blossom

As a kid in Canada, where hockey is everything and college basketball means next to nothing, Bennett never had a dream of playing in the NCAA Tournament because he never watched it.

Now, he’s in the middle of it, a freshman leading UNLV onto the big stage before he moves on to the NBA. That announcement surely is coming soon.

“It’s a pretty big decision I have to make with my family,” he said Wednesday during news conferences at HP Pavilion. “But I focus on what I have to do now. We’ve got a really tough game ahead of us.”

The fifth-seeded Rebels (25-9) open against 12th-seeded California (20-11) in East Region play at 4:27 p.m. today. It’s a rematch from Dec. 9, when UNLV emerged a 76-75 winner up the road in Berkeley.

That game essentially marked Bennett’s arrival nationally. He drove the baseline for a thunderous dunk that made ESPN’s highlight reel en route to finishing with 25 points and 13 rebounds.

Bennett turned 20 last week and appears as physically mature as an NBA veteran, but he’s still a kid in terms of basketball development. He first received serious coaching at around age 14, although he started loosely picking up the game in the second grade.

“It was just shooting at the basket on outside nets,” he said.

When his family relocated from Toronto to Brampton, Ontario, Bennett’s growing passion for playing was interrupted.

“When I moved to Brampton, there wasn’t any basketball courts around, so I just had to stop playing for a couple years,” he said. “Over there, we didn’t have college basketball on TV.”

The 6-foot-8-inch, 240-pounder grew into a man-child, leaving Canada for Findlay Prep and moving on to UNLV, where he has become the team’s leading scorer (16.1 points per game) and rebounder (8.1) while turning pro scouts into not-so-secret admirers.

Mike Montgomery, who coached the Golden State Warriors before returning to college to guide the Golden Bears, talked at length about the talented player his team gets another shot at trying to stop.

“He’s a classic power forward. I think the first thing you look at when you’re talking NBA is the body. It’s silly, but that’s what the league has gotten to. They look at your body,” Montgomery said. “Do you have an NBA body with long arms, high hips, weight, strength, athletic ability? He’s got all that.

“He’s skilled. He can shoot the ball. So you’re talking about a big guy who can go in and match up and bang with big people in that league. His 3-point percentage is the best on that team, as I recall. So there’s not much not to like about him. From the standpoint of looking at him on the surface, he’s got it all.”

Montgomery said a freshman’s emotional maturity is always a question mark, and he does not know Bennett on a personal level, but he continued to praise his “physical prowess.”

Bennett’s muscular build, not to mention his versatility to play inside and out, is reminiscent of Larry Johnson, who led the Rebels to the national championship in 1990. Johnson was a junior college transfer.

“I think if we can compare Anthony Bennett as a freshman with Larry Johnson as a freshman, I think that’s a very fair comparison,” said UNLV coach Dave Rice, who played with Johnson.

Rice was asked if Bennett is capable of carrying a team deep into the tournament, similar to a Carmelo Anthony or Danny Manning.

“He certainly has the potential to do that,” Rice said. “There’s not much he can’t do on a court. He can score from the perimeter. He can score in the post. He’s a fabulous rebounder. He’s just a fantastic player, and he’s got a great future.

“Anthony is as unselfish a great player as I’ve ever been around. He has done a great job of adjusting to being the top guy on the scouting report.”

There are other key matchups to watch today — the Rebels’ Anthony Marshall against Justin Cobbs at point guard, and the Bears’ Allen Crabbe against Bryce Dejean-Jones on the wing — but Bennett will be seeing a Cal defense designed to keep the ball out of his hands as much as possible.

Montgomery is likely to throw a zone at UNLV, which tends to struggle offensively when opponents dictate a slower half-court game.

“It’s going to be a real physical game, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a real, real tough game from the jump,” Bennett said. “I’m excited; it’s my first time around. Finally being here is just a real-life experience.”

■ NOTES — The winner of today’s game advances to face either Syracuse or Montana. … The Rebels are making their 20th NCAA Tournament appearance, sixth in the past seven years. UNLV is 33-18 in the tournament but has lost its opener three years in a row.

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.