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March 28, 2024

Rebels basketball:

Blog: Van Vleet scores 17 as Wichita State holds off UNLV 56-50

UNLV Defeats Oregon Basketball

L.E. Baskow

UNLV guard Jerome Seagears (2) is welcomed by his teammates during their basketball game at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Friday, December 4, 2015.

Updated Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015 | 8:17 p.m.

Wichita State 56, UNLV 50

Game over

Fred Van Vleet scored 17 points in his second game back from injury and he was the difference in an ugly basketball game that saw the Shockers extend their home-court winning streak to 35 in a 56-50 win. The Rebels fall to 7-2 overall.

The teams combined to shoot 7-of-35 on 3s and 19-of-35 at the free-throw line, and most of the game was just as ugly as that suggests. Pat McCaw and Jerome Seagears combined to hit 6-of-18 while Stephen Zimmerman finished with 11 points, many of them during UNLV's primary run in the second half.

The Rebels weren't playing well enough to be in the game, yet Wichita State wasn't playing well enough to pull away so there UNLV was with just a 3-point deficit with 3 minutes remaining. The primary thing that did them in was one of the big issues all night: giving up offensive rebounds. Wichita State had eight offensive rebounds in the second half and 14 for the game, giving them crucial second-chance possessions that proved to be just enough to hold on.

UNLV returns to action on Saturday at UC Riverside. Check lasvegassun.com later tonight for a full report from the Rebels' defeat.

The Rebel Room

Rebels Ready for Road?

The Rebels (7-1) have two top-15 victories in the bag, and now they're heading to their first true road game at Wichita State. Las Vegas Sun sports editor Ray Brewer and reporters Case Keefer and Taylor Bern preview that game while looking at what has gotten UNLV to the fringe of the top 25 rankings.

The elements of UNLV’s full-court press change depending on the opponent, but things usually follow this pattern: The better the point guard, the less pressure the Rebels apply in the backcourt.

Considering the opposing lineup tonight includes senior Fred Van Fleet, who when healthy is considered one of the best point guards in the country, I don’t think we’ll see many backcourt steal attempts. And if that’s the case, it will be interesting to see where UNLV gets its offense.

UNLV (7-1) tips off against Wichita State (3-4) at 6 p.m. Las Vegas time on ESPN2. The game will feature the debut of sophomore sharp shooter Conner Frankamp, the highest scorer in Wichita high school basketball history, who’s a bit of a surprise addition, as the Kansas transfer wasn’t expected to make his first appearance until Saturday.

Ranked in the preseason top 10, the Shockers are trying to make up ground they lost with Van Fleet’s four-game absence because of an injured hamstring. Those kind of injuries tend to linger, though Van Fleet looked just fine in Saturday’s victory at St. Louis, where he scored 11 with seven assists.

One of UNLV’s full-court variations is called choke, where two players trap the ball once it’s inbounded while a third player tries to spring for a steal on a pass back to the inbounder. Against Indiana, the Rebels tried it only a few times before pulling back, and against Oregon, they eventually did the same, using some token pressure with just one man back guarding the ball-handler.

UNLV coach Dave Rice said after both games that this was because of his respect for those teams’ guards and their ability to attack the press. As long as Van Fleet is close to 100 percent — and it seems like he is — it’s likely that he would garner the same respect.

So if the Rebels mostly play half-court defense, will they be able to get enough transition possessions? UNLV is getting out in transition 28.5 percent of the time, according to hoop-math.com, and it has an excellent 68.5 effective field goal percentage on those possessions.

Overall, the Rebels have a 52.6 eFG percentage, which just shows you how much better they are when they’re running than when the pace slows down. I’m not sure UNLV is going to be able to get that pace going tonight, but I’m confident that the answer to that question will also determine how this game goes.

Prediction: Going to be fascinating to see how much Van Vleet plays and how well Frankamp is able to integrate into the team. Lots of unknowns, so good chance I’m completely wrong, but I’ll go with a narrow victory for the home team. Wichita State 80, UNLV 74

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

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