Blog: Rebels run away from Utah State for 80-68 victory

By Taylor Bern

Published Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016 | 5 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016 | 8:03 p.m.

UNLV 80, Utah State 68

Game over

UNLV came out of halftime on a 21-2 run and Utah State could never recover as the Rebels finished off an 80-68 win for their third straight victory. The Rebels are back on the road Saturday at UNR.

Derrick Jones Jr. led the way with 20 points on 10-of-15 shooting, but it was really all of the post players that did the work necessary for UNLV to control this game most of the way. Utah State led at halftime, but the Rebels were always running better offensive sets, and minus the backdoor cuts they were giving up the Rebels' defense was solid the whole game, too.

Once UNLV cut off those backdoor cuts, Utah State was all too happy to keep taking long jumpers, which played right into the Rebels' hands. UNLV led fast-break points 23-2 and points in the paint 46-28.

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

I’m fascinated by a lot of things that could happen tonight, but first and foremost I’m interested to see if the Rebels’ newfound confidence can travel with them on the road.

UNLV (11-7, 2-3) tips off at 6 p.m. Las Vegas time against Utah State (11-6, 3-3) in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The game will stream on ESPN3.

Last year the Rebels came here at the tail end of a difficult season and got stomped by 18. They never had a real chance in the second half.

Class is back in session at Utah State, where the Aggies have the same Mountain West title aspirations as the Rebels so the Spectrum should be a fun environment. The student section has a reputation as one of the best in the conference, but they’re 1-for-2 in my trips here after a mostly no show two years ago.

Almost every Rebel on the roster showed some level of improvement this week, which many have attributed to the weight of Dave Rice’s departure leaving their shoulders. The entire team was tense because they knew what was at stake, they said, and once what they feared actually happened, there was a sudden sense of freedom because in a way, it’s not like things could get worse.

That move plus some of the changes interim coach Todd Simon has made in practice and games, plus the fact that one of the games was against a really bad Air Force team, has resulted in a great on-court product for two games. I expected UNLV would win both games, though not by those margins, but the real question to me when Simon was introduced is how the team would look starting tonight on the road.

And now there’s another wrinkle, courtesy of this rather cryptic tweet from assistant coach Stacey Augmon yesterday:

Augmon has yet to follow up with any more information, and since he almost never talks to media your guess is as good as mine as far as who he will soon be talking to. The perception is that Augmon, one of UNLV’s all-time great players and the longest-tenured assistant, is upset about being passed over for the interim job, though that might not be quite accurate.

Some of the internal politics behind the scenes amongst the coaching staff aren’t staying internal, but it’s hard to parse rumor from fact. Simon, understandably, is trying to focus on basketball and making the most of this opportunity this season, but Augmon isn’t making that easy.

When it was announced on Sunday, Augmon’s wife sent some tweets that referred to Simon as a snake, and at the New Mexico game, Augmon didn’t come out to the court until the national anthem and then breezed right past Simon after the game. There’s clearly drama, and instead of handling it within the coaching offices it’s spilling over into the public eye.

Will that affect the team? We’re about to find out.

Prediction: The Rebels follow up this road game with a trip to Reno. I think they'll go 1-1, and I've got the victory coming tonight. UNLV 74, Utah State 72

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