UNLV’s Adams aims to play vs. Louisville

UNLV guard Wink Adams was a spectator at practice Friday night as he recovers from a lower abdominal strain. But he found two reasons to be encouraged.

An MRI exam revealed nothing is torn in his lower abdomen, so his recovery time from a pulled muscle will be quicker. Adams also said he was able to shoot about 50 jumpers with no pain.

He said there is about a "50 percent" chance he will play Wednesday when the Rebels (11-2) return to action at No. 19 Louisville.

"I'm going to do whatever it takes to try to play in this game," said Adams, a senior who has played in all 115 career games and made 105 consecutive starts.

"A couple days ago, I couldn't really lift my leg. I'm walking pretty good now and shooting jumpers, so it's a lot of progression every day. It feels a lot better. Hopefully by Wednesday, it's good enough for me to play."

Adams was injured Tuesday in the first half of UNLV's 73-60 victory over Southern Utah at the Thomas & Mack Center. He has received daily treatment from athletic trainer Dave Tomchek, who will have a say in whether Adams plays against Louisville.

"It's all up to him," Adams said. "Tomchek said 50 percent. That's a pretty good chance because early he was saying 15 to 20 percent. So that's good news.

"It was a lot of pain. I'm just glad I didn't tear anything."

If Adams, the Rebels' leading scorer at 14.1 points per game, cannot go by Wednesday, he should be ready for the Mountain West Conference opener against New Mexico on Jan. 3.

"The recovery has gone very well, and I think he feels much better than he could have anticipated," coach Lon Kruger said. "We'll see how he feels a couple days from now. We'll be cautious with it. We're not going to jeopardize the next few weeks."