For greater than a decade, the Mountain West tournament hasn’t supplied a trigger for pleasure to followers of UNLV men’s basketball.
The final time the Rebels superior to the championship recreation was in 2013, once they misplaced the title to New Mexico. UNLV’s final look in the semifinals was in 2014.
First-year head coach Josh Pastner, who led his former groups to 5 NCAA Tournament appearances as a head coach over 14 seasons at Memphis and Georgia Tech, needs to change that.
“This is a great opportunity for us. Everyone starts 0-0, and you get kind of a renewed, fresh season in a sense,” Pastner stated. “Obviously, the goal is to win the tournament and keep playing in the NCAA tournament.”
A turnaround like that from a season that largely teetered round .500 can be a feat for the ages, however Pastner realizes that he and his No. 8-seeded workforce can’t get too far forward of themselves.
The path begins Wednesday in opposition to No. 9 Wyoming for the Rebels, a matchup that has the workforce’s full consideration.
“You can’t get to the end if you don’t win the first game,” Pastner stated. “So we understand how important this first game is.”
No matter what occurs in the tournament, the Rebels’ roller-coaster season not less than confirmed a powerful proof of idea.
UNLV is averaging 80.2 factors per recreation, which is the highest since the 2017-18 and second-highest since 1999-00. The workforce’s tempo this yr, the velocity at which the Rebels performed, is forty eighth in the nation, per KenPom rankings — one other greatest since the 2017-18 marketing campaign.
Pastner stated he obtained emails and cellphone calls when he was employed from followers asking him to restore the spirit of the classic “Runnin’ Rebels.” He’s proven that he can lead a workforce that performs quick and scores.
“Our style of play is an exciting brand to watch, and we’ve got to be better defensively. I’ve said that a bunch,” Pastner stated. “But there’s also been a lot of positives, so hopefully we can keep extending it.”
Accolades and adversity
Even the accolades garnered by Pastner’s overhauled roster as the Mountain West introduced postseason awards Tuesday confirmed enchancment.
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn was named the newcomer of the yr and earned first-team all-conference recognition, whereas Jones was chosen to the all-defensive workforce and obtained an honorable point out all-conference nod.
Gibbs-Lawhorn’s is just UNLV’s second Mountain West newcomer of the yr award winner, and the first since Mike Moser landed the honor in 2012.
Jones is the first true freshman to be named to the league’s all-defensive workforce since 2019. He led the league with 2.0 blocks per recreation, the first UNLV participant to achieve this since the 2014-15 season.
The Rebels made a number of instances for the league participant of the yr award to go to Gibbs-Lawhorn, who stated he thought Jones ought to’ve been defensive participant of the yr.
Gibbs-Lawhorn stated the awards, together with the Rebels solely being given a 3 p.c likelihood to win the Mountain West tournament by a number of nationwide shops, add up to nothing for the workforce.
“It’s really not a factor,” Gibbs-Lawhorn stated. “I’d say almost everyone that isn’t us counted us out throughout this whole season. So it’s got to the point we really don’t care what anyone thinks.”
Guard Howie Fleming Jr. didn’t earn any league recognition however he etched his title in the document books with two triple-doubles in a 10-day span this season, becoming a member of Stacey Augmon as the solely two gamers to notch two such performances in their profession. Fleming is the solely Rebel to do it twice in the identical marketing campaign, and he completed the common season as one in every of solely three gamers in the nation with two triple-doubles this season.
“We have caught our stride,” Pastner stated. “You don’t come in here and have guys immediately understand the culture. It takes a little time… I don’t want this season to end.”
There’s one energy that may assist preserve the Rebels’ season alive, and it lies inside the reply Fleming and Gibbs-Lawhorn each gave when requested individually what comes to thoughts once they replicate on the common season: adversity.
“When you face adversity as a group of people or even with a certain person, you find out whether you guys really love each other or you guys hate each other,” Gibbs-Lawhorn stated. “And I feel like everyone can agree that during the adversity and the hard times we faced, we grew a lot closer.”
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Callie__Fin on X.
Up subsequent
Who: No. 8 UNLV vs. No. 9 Wyoming
What: Mountain West males’s tournament
When: Noon Wednesday
Where: Thomas & Mack Center
TV: Mountain West Network (streaming)
Radio: KWWN (1100 AM, 100.9 FM)
Line: UNLV -3½; whole 154½
