Depleted Rebels heading to home away from home for St. Katherine

By Taylor Bern

Friday, Dec. 5, 2014 | 2 a.m.

The next opponent is exactly what UNLV needs, because on short rest with two players doubtful and another looking for his next school, anything more than St. Katherine (1-7) could be trouble for the Rebels (4-2) right now.

UNLV tips off against the NAIA school playing its second year of basketball at 7 p.m. in the Orleans Arena. This is part of the Rebels’ annual rodeo road trip as they hit the road and change their home locale when the National Finals Rodeo takes over at the Thomas & Mack Center. After this game it’s a week off before traveling to South Dakota on Dec. 13.

St. Katherine’s enrollment is a little more than 100 and most of the students play sports (read more here). This year’s roster includes Basic High grad Jaylen Rose.

Even without freshman Rashad Vaughn and senior Jelan Kendrick — both are doubtful with injuries — UNLV should have no issues getting the victory. The combination of injuries, opponent and depth could actually work out well for one Rebel as freshman Dantley Walker should get the first significant minutes of his college career.

“If those guys can’t go then Dwayne Morgan and Dantley are the first off the bench,” Rice said.

Honestly, it’s not like UNLV has much in the way of options. The Rebels started the year with a shorter bench than most because three of their scholarship players — Daquan Cook, Ben Carter and Jerome Seagears — are redshirting, and now they’re down to nine because sophomore Kendall Smith decided to transfer.

Throw in the injuries and UNLV’s available rotation tonight might number only nine total, including walk-ons Barry Cheaney and Charles Rushman. Vaughn left Wednesday’s loss midway through the second half because of back spasms while Kendrick went in hampered by a back injury from the Albany win and aggravated his groin against Arizona State. They’re both day-to-day.

If Vaughn and Kendrick don’t play, which seems likely since their long-term health is the primary concern, freshmen Pat McCaw and Jordan Cornish would make the first starts of their careers. That duo actually had good numbers in Wednesday’s 77-55 loss at Arizona State, though that matters little when the margin of defeat is 22.

On Thursday the team watched film on Wednesday’s debacle but didn’t practice. The quick turnaround and the injuries made court time less of a priority, plus, “it turned out there was plenty of film to watch,” Rice said.

After watching the game again, two things were encouraging, Rice said.

“We were absolutely ready to play,” he said. “We guarded, we moved the ball, we got good shots and we made them.”

The other thing was the Rebels’ response at the end of the first half. ASU took its first lead with 6:25 remaining, only six and a half minutes after the Sun Devils trailed by 15, and UNLV recovered to keep it even going into halftime.

Of course, from there everything unraveled. The problems that led to ASU’s first run — “We took too many quick shots, didn’t screen well, didn’t move well,” Rice said — persisted the rest of the game.

Rice said all the right things about respecting the opponent and treating this like any other regular-season game, but there’s clearly a difference. That difference is important right now for the Rebels, who have a lot to figure out about playing at the level most of their schedule requires.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.