Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

UNLV BASKETBALL:

UNLV-Kentucky notebook: Deficit too deep to dig out

Not So Lucky in Kentucky

In Tuesday's first round match-up against Kentucky, UNLV's rally falls short, as the Rebels are eliminated from the NIT 70-60.

From Rupp Arena, With Love

Tuesday's first round game between UNLV and Kentucky was held at Memorial Coliseum, instead of Rupp Arena, but the campus gym still shares in the Wildcats' rich history.

Have Fans, Will Travel?

With 1,700 miles separating Las Vegas from Lexington, UNLV fans had to come out of the woodwork to support the Rebels at Memorial Coliseum.

The Rebel Room

UK POSTGAME: And that's that ...

Ryan Greene and Rob Miech take a closer look at a performance in the first round of the NIT typical of UNLV's second half of the season -- close at the end, but not enough to get over the hump. The guys discuss what made for a historic, unique and insane atmosphere at Memorial Coliseum, what the Rebels learned from the season and its finale, plus some other tidbits from the final trip until next fall.

UNLV vs. Kentucky NIT

Brice Massamba battles for a rebound as UNLV takes on the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington, Ky., Tuesday night in the first round of the NIT. The game was played in Memorial Coliseum. Launch slideshow »

UNLV vs. Kentucky - Before the game

The University of Kentucky campus on Tuesday afternoon.  The Rebels face the Kentucky Wildcats in the NIT. Launch slideshow »

Box score

Beyond the Sun

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Senior guard Wink Adams sat on the floor of UNLV’s locker room inside Memorial Coliseum and picked at a post-game sandwich.

He had kicked off his white sneakers. His teammates wore red-and-black Nikes for the Rebels’ NIT opener against Kentucky. He prepped an iPod for the plane ride home.

After a 70-60 defeat to the Wildcats ended UNLV’s season at 21-11 and capped the careers of Adams and four other seniors, Adams wasn’t in a mood to hang his head.

“We knew it would be tough,” Adams said. “Every road game is tough. Plus, Kentucky has some of the best fans. We knew it would be a hostile environment.

“But I’m proud of my team. We came out and fought, they just hit some shots down the stretch.”

In the second half, UNLV put together a 25-8 run to get within 60-57 of the Wildcats.

Adams hit a 3-pointer from the right side with 9:23 left to cut UK’s lead to 56-47 and force Wildcats coach Billy Gillispie to call a timeout.

Adams hit another 3-pointer, from the top of the key, less than a minute after play resumed to continue the roll, and his pair of free throws cut the Kentucky lead to 60-54.

But when the Cats failed on three consecutive possessions, the Rebels also misfired. Adams committed a turnover on one and missed a 3-point shot on another.

Joe Darger’s 3-pointer cut UNLV’s deficit in half, to 60-57, but the Rebels had nothing left.

Wildcats star guard Jodie Meeks sank a free-throw-line jumper with about three minutes left that pumped UK’s advantage to 63-57, and the Cats kept the Rebels at bay.

“Jodie is a good player,” Adams said. “He hit some shots at the end that hurt us. And down low, they have some big dudes in (Patrick) Patterson and (Perry) Stevenson. They’re athletic and they really move.

“The crowd got quiet when we cut it to three points. People were nervous. We hit shots and got stops. If we had hit some shots and got some stops down the stretch, it probably would have went the other way.”

But …

“But that’s what we’ve been saying, and it finally bit us,” Adams said. “The season is over. But we fought hard.”

Adams finishes his career with 1,849 points, seventh on UNLV’s career scoring chart. Armon Gilliam remains in sixth with 1,855 points.

“You always want to play against a big-name team and get a win, especially at their place,” Adams said. “We went to Louisville (on New Year’s Eve) and played well.

“We just got down by a little too much. It was hard to come back.”

We go where?

They didn’t accomplish their goal of playing in a third consecutive NCAA tournament, but the Rebels were enthused about having another game to play.

Even if it involved a 1,700-mile trip to play one of the game’s most celebrated programs in a 59-year-old bandbox it hadn’t played in for 33 years.

“It was just another opportunity to play,” said UNLV senior swingman René Rougeau. “It was a great atmosphere. Kentucky has a lot of great fans. They came with it.”

UNLV senior power forward Joe Darger was a bit puzzled by the draw.

“I didn’t think we’d be on the road for our first game,” he said. “I thought we’d have a higher seed and be home for the first game, but that’s the way it rolls sometimes.

“We came in there and fought pretty well, for the most part.”

UNLV spiraled in the second half, when Kentucky had a pair of 20-point leads.

“Our shots weren’t falling,” Darger said. “And we had a few lapses on defense. We missed a lot of shots and had our heads down on defense a little. But when you’re missing shots, you have to fight harder on defense to make up for it.

“We picked it up. But, hopefully, the guys next year will learn from it and get better.”

Take that

Adams never did dunk as a Rebel, but UNLV fans saw sophomore guard Tre'Von Willis convert a strong two-handed jam on the right side early in the second half.

It was UNLV’s first points of the half and cut its deficit to 42-26.

However, it was one of the few bright spots of Willis’s night. He missed his other six field goals, including five 3-point shots, and finished with four rebounds, two assists and a turnover in 25 minutes.

It was his lowest scoring output since he tallied only two points at Air Force 11 games ago. For only the second time in his past eight games, he failed to dish out at least three assists.

He sustained a variety of nicks and bruises during his first full Division-I season, but the 6-foot-4 guard who transferred from Memphis has been most hampered by a slightly separated right shoulder.

That’s an old football injury from high school, and he needed two cortisone shots during the season to relieve pain.

He’ll have it examined in the offseason and would like to avoid having surgery, but it hasn’t healed so far with treatment.

Free throws

For the fifth time this season, UNLV attempted at least 30 3-pointers Tuesday night. It hit 10 of them. Going 7-for-16 (43.8 percent) from beyond the arc in the second half helped the Rebels cut a 20-point deficit to three, then they didn’t have enough for the final four minutes. In those five games, with at least 30 3-point shots, UNLV won three of them … the Rebels attempted 688 3-pointers this season. In 2006-07, they tried a school-record 802. Last season, they launched 796 … Willis’s 0-for-5 effort from 3-point range meant he ended his first season as a Rebel hitting only four of 24 3-point attempts over his last seven games … Darger and Adams, by the way, finished tied for fourth on the school’s all-time 3-pointers chart with 206. Darger trailed Adams, 204-203, entering the game. Darger hit three against UK and Adams had two … it took nearly 15 months, but Rougeau –- barely –- got the second 3-pointer of his career. With 16 seconds left against the Wildcats, Rougeau drilled a bomb from the right side for UNLV’s only points in the final four minutes. His first came on Dec. 28, 2007, against Kennesaw State at the Thomas & Mack Center … UK sophomore Patrick Patterson, a mid-first round draft pick by a consensus of projection sites, recorded his 15th double-double of the season against the Rebels with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

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