The ghosts of the UNLV Rebels’ past might be starting to haunt the current team.
“Settle down,” Rebels coach Kevin Kruger said when told his Rebels are the first at UNLV to open a season 10-0 since 1990-91. “We’re not doing that.”
The 1990-91 Rebels, who won the NCAA Tournament the year before, took a 45-game winning streak into the Final Four before losing to Duke.
“We understand now that it (the 10-0 starts) is starting to get a little attention,” said Kruger, whose Rebels are ranked No. 1 in this week’s Nevada Appeal Mountain West rankings. “Every game is going to be a bigger challenge. Hopefully we’re excited and hungry for that opportunity and those eyeballs because it should be fun.”
The Rebels, leading the Mountain West in scoring margin at plus-17.7 points a game, had fun last week, beating Hawaii, 77-62, and Washington State, 74-70. The Rebels, who haven’t lost a game since the Mountain West Tournament in March, got 25 points from Keshon Gilbert against Washington State and 18 from Luis Rodriguez against Hawaii. Gilbert, who mainly came off the bench last year as a freshman, also had 13 against Hawaii.
“The mood and reputation of the team is starting to form a lot to the way Keshon plays,” said Kruger of his 6-foot-4 sophomore guard.
Gilbert, who played at Durango in Las Vegas his first three high school seasons before moving to St. Louis, is averaging 15.5 points, 3.7 assists and 2.1 steals a game. His 25 points against Washington State was a career high.
“I don’t think there’s anybody I’d rather have as the embodiment of the way our team plays,” Kruger said.
No. 2 New Mexico (10-0) and No. 3 Utah State (8-0) are the only other remaining undefeated teams in the Mountain West.
New Mexico rallied to beat San Francisco, 67-64, on Monday night to stay perfect this year. Jamal Mashburn scored 23 points, including the Lobos’ final four points in the last 1:46. Morris Udeze had 18 in a 102-63 win over Western New Mexico last Tuesday and 24 in a 94-76 win over Texas-San Antonio on Saturday. Jaelen House had 21 against UTSA and 17 against USF.
Udeze, who played four seasons at Wichita State before joining the Lobos his year, hasn’t made a 3-pointer this season and is still second in the Mountain West in scoring (18.1 points a game). Mashburn is third (17.2) in the conference and House is fifth (16.5).
“We are playing terrific offensive basketball,” New Mexico coach Rick Pitino said after the win over UTSA. “We are efficient, unselfish and exciting in the half court.”
Utah State beat Loyola Marymount on Saturday, 79-67, in Las Vegas. Max Shulga had 18 points for the Aggies, 11 from the free-throw line. Utah State held Marymount to 23 percent shooting (6-of-26) in the second half.
No. 4 Boise State (8-2) beat St. Louis, 57-52, and Eastern Oregon, 90-54, last week. Tyson Degenhart had 19 points and Max Rice had 11 points and nine rebounds against Eastern Oregon. Chibuzo Agbo, a 6-7 transfer from Texas Tech, had 18 against St. Louis.
The Broncos, who lead the Mountain West on defense (allowing just 57.8 points a game), have won seven games in a row.
“We have some things we’re not great at and not up to our standards,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “We’re good at those things but the most damaging words in the English language are ‘good job.’ We’re doing some things at the good-job level but for us to be where we want to go, we have to get great.”
No. 5 San Diego State beat Kennesaw State, 88-54, on Monday to improve to 8-3. The Aztecs also lost to Saint Mary’s, 68-61, on Saturday in Phoenix.
The loss to Saint Mary’s, though, didn’t disturb Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher all that much.
“We played this year in a loss (to Saint Mary’s) better than we did last year in a win,” Dutcher said. “For the most part we executed pretty well.”
San Diego State was 3-of-15 on threes against Saint Mary’s.
“What’s wrong with the offense?” said San Diego State’s Keshod Johnson, who had 12 points against Saint Mary’s. “Nothing. The shots just didn’t fall. That won’t continue forever.”
No. 6 Nevada beat Pepperdine, 85-77, and lost to Oregon (78-65) in a pair of road games last week. Kenan Blackshear had 42 points combined in the two games. Jarod Lucas, fourth in the Mountain West in scoring (17.2), had 34 in the two games.
Nevada (8-3), which hosts San Diego on Wednesday at Lawlor Events Center, leads the Mountain West with 208 successful free throws and is second in field goal defense (.378). The Wolf Pack, though, is also last in offensive field goal percentage (.424) and rebounding margin (minus-1.0).
No. 7 San Jose State (8-3) beat Santa Clara, 75-64, on Saturday behind 24 points from Omari Moore and 18 points and 12 rebounds by Sage Tolbert. The Spartans also beat Bakersfield, 58-48, last Tuesday despite just one player (Alvaro Cardenas with 10) scoring in double digits.
No. 8 Colorado State (7-4) lost to Colorado, 93-65, on Thursday, getting out-rebounded 42-23. The Rams also whipped Peru State, 115-72, on Sunday as Isaiah Stevens had 24 points and 10 assists. John Tonje made all five of his 3-point attempts. The game was an exhibition game for Peru State, a NAIA Division II school from Nebraska.
No. 9 Wyoming (5-5) crushed Louisiana Tech, 92-65, on Saturday as Brendan Wenzel had 20 points and five threes. Noah Reynolds had 20 points in 33 minutes off the bench and also had 30 points in 30 minutes off the bench in a 91-76 win over Texas A&M-Commerce on Tuesday.
Reynolds, a 6-3 sophomore, has scored 75 points in 90 minutes over his last three games combined, all off the bench. He had just 46 points in 94 total minutes over his first six games this year.
No. 10 Air Force improved to 7-4 by beating Arkansas State, 80-55, and South Dakota, 79-58, last week. Jake Heidbreder had 16 points in 22 minutes against Arkansas State and 27 on five threes against South Dakota.
No. 11 Fresno State (3-6) beat Northridge, 65-56, on Wednesday as UNLV transfer Donovan Yap scored 17 points in 23 minutes off the bench. The Bulldogs, though, also lost at Pacific, 76-72, on Saturday.
“Disappointed, very disappointed,” Fresno State coach Justin Hutson said after the loss at Pacific. “We had too many lapses again. That’s not a Fresno State basketball team. That is not common for us. It was out of character.”
The Bulldogs did outscore Pacific, 43-38, in the second half, going on a 13-0 run to tie the game at 62-62 with 5:15 to play. Fresno State also shot over 50 percent (27-of-52) in a loss for the first time since a 102-92 loss at Nevada on Jan. 21, 2018, when it shot 58 percent (32-of-55).
The Nevada Appeal’s Mountain West men’s basketball rankings for the week of Dec. 12:
1. UNLV (10-0, 0-0): Last week: Beat Hawaii, 77-62 (Dec. 7) and Washington State, 74-70 (Dec. 10). This week: vs. San Francisco (Dec. 17).
2. NEW MEXICO (10-0, 0-0): Last week: Beat Western New Mexico (Dec. 6), 102-63 and Texas-San Antonio, 94-76 (Dec. 10). This week: Beat San Francisco, 67-64 (Dec. 12), vs. Iona (Dec. 18).
3. UTAH STATE (8-0, 0-0): Last week: Beat Loyola Marymount, 79-67 (Dec. 10). This week: vs. Westminster (Dec. 15).
4. BOISE STATE (8-2, 0-0): Last week: Beat Eastern Oregon, 90-54 (Dec. 6) and Saint Louis, 57-52 (Dec. 10). This week: vs. New Orleans (Dec. 13), vs. Oakland (Dec. 18).
5. SAN DIEGO STATE (8-3, 0-0): Last week: Beat Troy, 60-55 (Dec. 5) and lost to Saint Mary’s, 68-61 (Dec. 10). This week: Beat Kennesaw State, 88-54 (Dec. 12).
6. NEVADA (8-3, 0-0): Last week: Beat Pepperdine, 85-77 (Dec. 6) and lost to Oregon, 78-65 (Dec. 10). This week: vs. San Diego (Dec. 14).
7. SAN JOSE STATE (8-3, 0-0): Last week: Beat Bakersfield, 58-48 (Dec. 6) and Santa Clara, 75-64 (Dec. 10). This week: at Pacific (Dec. 17).
8. COLORADO STATE (7-4, 0-0): Last week: Lost to Colorado (Dec. 8), 93-65, and beat Peru State, 115-72 (Dec. 11). This week: at Saint Mary’s (Dec. 18).
9. WYOMING (5-5, 0-0): Last week: Beat Texas A&M-Commerce, 91-76 (Dec. 6) and Louisiana Tech, 92-65 (Dec. 10). This week: at Dayton (Dec. 17).
10. AIR FORCE (7-4, 0-0): Last week: Beat South Dakota, 79-58 (Dec. 6) and Arkansas State, 80-55 (Dec. 9). This week: vs. Tarleton State (Dec. 18).
11. FRESNO STATE (3-6, 0-0): Last week: Beat Northridge, 65-56 (Dec. 7) and lost to Pacific, 76-72 (Dec. 10). This week: vs. Sacramento State (Dec. 17).