Rebels preparing for fight to snap skid against in-state rival

By Taylor Bern

Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015 | 2 a.m.

In the minutes after UNLV lost to UNR at the Thomas & Mack Center, its third straight loss in the series, freshman Rashad Vaughn was already talking about payback. In the 20 days since that defeat, the mentality hasn’t changed much.

“The whole team, we really want them,” Vaughn said Saturday after UNLV’s much-needed victory against Utah State. “We’re going to go up there excited to play them and with a chip on our shoulder.”

The Rebels and Wolf Pack tip off tonight at 7 in the Lawlor Events Center. The game will stream on ESPN3.

Since coming into the Mack and winning by two, UNR (6-12, 2-4) has lost four straight, including a 56-point loss at Colorado State that stands alone as the largest margin of victory in Mountain West history. Yet that same team was able to come into the Mack and enforce its will, particularly junior AJ West, who piled up 15 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks.

“You don't have to talk about this game to get them fired up,” UNR coach David Carter told the Reno Gazette-Journal about his team’s play in this series. “You want to play well against your rival. I don't know if we've played harder than them, but it just means a little bit more personally.”

Last time around, UNLV (11-9, 2-5) knew how good West was on the offensive glass and did nothing to stop him. West grabbed 10 in that game and in Mountain West play he’s averaging 8.3 offensive rebounds per game, which is more than every Rebel except Christian Wood (8.7) has at both ends.

“It’s phenomenal the job AJ West does rebounding the basketball,” UNLV coach Dave Rice said Monday.

During the Utah State postgame, Rice said he was already thinking about how the Rebels would block out the Brooklyn native. Listed at 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds, West, a transfer who is 3-0 against the Rebels, might not even match either of those numbers but he gets the most out of his size and positions himself perfectly to give the Wolf Pack extra possessions.

Snapping UNR’s streak has to start with handling West much better than the Rebels did last time around. It would also help if they can duplicate their turnover and free-throw shooting numbers from Saturday’s overtime win against Utah State.

UNLV committed only four turnovers against the Aggies, its lowest total since March 2012, and it’s no coincidence Saturday was also the first time in a non-San Jose State league game this year that the Rebels won points off of turnovers. At the free-throw line UNLV shot 16-of-19 in the second half and overtime, and its total percentage of 78.3 actually brought down their Mountain West-only average to 79.2, which leads the league.

Those free-throw concerns of the early season, when UNLV was one of the nation’s worst teams at the line, seem long gone, which makes it more confounding that the Rebels have managed to lose so many close games. They turned a weakness into a strength, yet failures in other areas have been too much to overcome.

That changed a bit on Saturday, because they were able to win, but the Rebels recognize that it was far from a great overall performance.

“We didn’t play very well and still found a way to win,” said senior guard Cody Doolin. “That’s something we haven’t been able to do lately.”

The Rebels are about to get what they’ve wanted since losing the first time around. The question is whether they’ll be ready for it against a team that, no matter how bad it looks against other teams, seems capable of giving UNLV its best shot.

Okonoboh expected to be available

Freshman forward Goodluck Okonoboh practiced Monday and should be available for the game at UNR, though just how much he can play is unknown, Rice said.

Okonoboh has been suffering from plantar fasciitis in his right foot since the loss at San Diego State, and after sitting out the New Mexico game he played 20 minutes against Utah State. Okonoboh was clearly limited and finished with one point, two rebounds, two steals and a block.

The X-rays on his foot were negative, so there’s no structural damage. It’s about how much pain Okonoboh can tolerate — he wasn’t able to re-enter the game at the end of regulation or overtime — and how much rest the Rebels can get him so that it might not be an issue for every game the rest of the season.

After tonight’s game, UNLV hosts Air Force on Saturday and then has the week off before traveling to Colorado State on Feb. 7.

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