Rebels know what they’re up against in balanced, 14th-ranked Utah

By Taylor Bern

Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014 | 2 a.m.

The question was meant to get responses along the lines of, “We’re excited to play in Las Vegas and in this great venue, the MGM Grand Garden Arena.” And UNLV coach Dave Rice gave that kind of answer, eventually. But sitting among the coaches for two MGM events at a press conference five months before Saturday’s MGM Grand Showcase he first provided a minute-long scouting report on the Rebels’ opponent, Utah.

“I was well aware they would be a good team,” Rice said Friday, “and these are the kind of games we need to play.”

Back in July, Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak could only shake his head. After Rice rattled off the strengths of Krystkowiak’s rotation, the Utes coach had to admit he didn’t know much about the Rebels yet. Honestly, how could he?

Both coaches are in their fourth seasons at their respective schools, but they took drastically different routs to this year’s rosters. While the Rebels (7-2) brought in a top-3 recruiting class to help replace all five regular starters, the 14th-ranked Utes (7-2) are the result of years of building.

Five of the team’s top six scorers were on the team last season and they’ve continued to develop, particularly senior Delon Wright, who ranks top 10 in the Pac-12 in points (16.2 per game), assists (4.8), steals (2) and field-goal percentage (58.9). Utah has also had a big impact from a couple of freshmen, particularly 7-footer Jakob Poeltl (10.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg).

“Didn’t know about Poeltl at the time, but he’s just added to how good their basketball team is,” Rice said. “I knew they’d be an NCAA Tournament-caliber team.”

In their first-ever game on the Strip, the Rebels meet the Utes in the nightcap of a doubleheader that starts with No. 15 Oklahoma vs. No. 16 Washington at 6 p.m. The first game, featuring former UNLV coach Lon Kruger’s Sooners against four-year Findlay Prep point guard Nigel Williams-Goss (14.6 ppg, 6.9 apg, 5.4 rpg) and the Huskies, will air on ESPNU while UNLV is expected to tip around 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

UNLV has won three straight since a 22-point smackdown at Arizona State, and things were even worse against their previous Pac-12 opponent, Stanford. A big problem in that Stanford loss that reared its head again in Wednesday’s overtime victory against Portland was a slow start.

“You can’t come out trying to ease your way into the game,” said senior guard Cody Doolin. “You have to come out balls to the wall, if you will.”

Will they? Low energy to start the halves has been a consistent issue for Rice’s teams over the years, and this is a game where they’re going to need a lot to go right just to have a chance.

The Utes are very balanced, ranking top 20 in effective field goal percentage on both offense and defense. Their rebounding margin is nearly plus-10 and it’s not like it’s all come against pushovers. Utah’s two losses were narrow defeats at San Diego State and against Kansas in Kansas City, Mo., and the Utes have victories against Wichita State and at BYU.

Utah has a couple of other things on its side. It’s possible, though still unlikely, that second-leading scorer Jordan Loveridge could return early from knee surgery, and with the football team playing in the Las Vegas Bowl earlier in the day the Utes won’t be short on support.

“It sounds like with the number of Utah fans that will be there it will be at best a neutral site game,” Rice said.

As of Friday afternoon, tickets were still available starting at $37.55. No matter the outcome, the Rebels won’t have much time to dwell on it.

Over the next 16 days they play three teams ranked in the top 15 for the first time in school history, plus a home game against Southern Utah and a road trip to Wyoming.

“I think this next couple of weeks is going to really show us where we stand,” Doolin said.

The Rebels are hoping that starts with a strong showing Saturday. And if it doesn’t, Rice won’t be able to say he didn’t know what they were up against.

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