Blog: Rebels hold on for 74-72 victory against Cal Poly

By Taylor Bern

Published Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 | 6 p.m.

Updated Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 | 9:22 p.m.

UNLV 74, Cal Poly 72

Game over

It wasn't easy and it wasn't pretty but it was a win, and one game into the season that's what matters most. UNLV led by as much as 13 in the second half and then it came down to the wire with Jerome Seagears sinking a pair of free throws for the 74-72 victory.

Pat McCaw led the way with 15 points, Stephen Zimmerman Jr. had 12 points and nine rebounds and Seagears finished with 11 points and five assists. Turnovers and fouls were the Rebels' big issues in the first half, leading to a 40-37 deficit, and those got better during their big run to start the second half. However, UNLV ended up with 19 turnovers and eight missed free throws in the second half, two things that helped Cal Poly pull itself back to tie the game.

UNLV returns to the Mack on Monday for New Mexico Highlands, a game that should go down much easier than this one, and in a little more than a week it's the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. UNLV has a lot to figure out before it meets UCLA in Hawaii.

Check lasvegassun.com later tonight for a full report from the Rebels' victory.

Is the full-court press going to work? For all of the different things we’ve talked about regarding this team throughout the offseason, the Rebels’ success or failure ultimately comes down to getting the desired result from their new pressure style. So what is that desired result?

"The way we press, if teams want to throw it over the top and go shoot a semi-contested 3-point shot, we’re fine with that,” said coach Dave Rice. “We just don’t feel like over the course of a game, over the course of a season that teams can make enough hurried 3-point shots in transition to beat us."

At its essence, UNLV is using the press to try to get opponents to take shots the Rebels want. In this case that’s “hurried” 3s, meaning that Rice is trusting his guys in 2-on-1 or more often 3-on-2 defensive situations to protect the basket and close out hard to at least offer a little resistance to an otherwise open 3-point attempt.

UNLV has the athleticism and depth to try to tire teams out in the new 30-second shot clock, but for that to work the Rebels have to be good enough on the defensive end. Giving up open layups in a full-court press is a given, but those lapses have to be minimal and a lot of the time UNLV isn’t going to give up the quick shot it wants, so the half-court defense and particularly defensive rebounding have to be solid.

Between the new shot clock and the new style there should be several more possessions per game for the Rebels, which overall will be a positive. Those are more opportunities to wear down and pester opponents.

Tonight’s season opener against Cal Poly tips off at 7 p.m. and will stream on UNLVRebels.com.

Prediction: The Mustangs’ slow-it-down defensive style and experience are going to frustrate the Rebels, as are the fouls calls. Ultimately, though, I think we’re going to see an indication of how tiring it is to play these Rebels and UNLV will eventually pull away. UNLV 78, Cal Poly 68

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