UNLV tunes up for Mountain West play with 56-point win
UNLV basketball coach Kevin Kruger has playing experience at Cox Pavilion from when he played with the Orlando Magic’s NBA Summer League team in 2008.
While most of his UNLV players had never played a game at Cox, they made themselves feel right at home Tuesday.
Seven UNLV players scored in double figures as the Rebels rolled to a 112-56 win over Bethesda University, a private Christian college in Anaheim, California. Guards Dedan Thomas Jr. and Luis Rodriguez led UNLV (7-5) with 16 points each.
The game was added a few weeks ago to UNLV’s schedule after its Dec. 6 game at Dayton was canceled because of the shooting on UNLV’s campus that killed three professors The 12th nonconference game was added during what would have been a five-day break in its schedule before its Mountain West opener Saturday at San Diego State.
Kruger said the game accomplished his goal of getting his team more reps.
“We were already a game short on the schedule because of the way the opportunities laid out in preparation for putting the schedule together,” he said “This is a game to get reps, get guys out there going and playing together, and to kind of chop up the break in our schedule a little bit.”
Guard Jackie Johnson added 13 points, forward Keylan Boone scored 12 while grabbing 17 rebounds, and forward Isaiah Cottrell had 11 points and 11 rebounds. UNLV grabbed 68 rebounds to 25 for Bethesda (0-16).
The Flames shot 30 percent from the field and made 5 of 22 3-pointers.
“We played well. With games like this, it’s keying in on the little things, and we did a good job of that,” Johnson said. “(The coaches) wanted us to stick to our principles, not give up rebounds and get out and run on offense.”
UNLV’s pace and size were too much for Bethesda. The Rebels’ lead jumped to double digits less than six minutes into the game.
They put the game out of reach with a 17-0 run over 6:38 midway through the second half. They closed the game on a 19-4 run in the final six minutes.
“We made sure to have a concentrated effort throughout 40 minutes,” Kruger said. “We accomplished some of those goals, whether it be running back, communication in certain areas, getting good spacing.”
UNLV’s bench scored 65 points, led by forward Rob Whaley Jr.’s 12 and guard Shane Nowell’s 11. UNLV shot 52.9 percent and cleaned up its first-half mistakes with six second-half turnovers after having 12 in the first 20 minutes.
“We want to improve, and having the game is an opportunity to show it,” Kruger said. “The guys have done a good job battling and preparing. There isn’t any question that we’ve gotten better the last couple of weeks.”
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.