Clyburn helps lift Rebels to 96-80 win over Dakota Wesleyan

By Jesse Granger

Published Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016 | 9 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016 | 10:15 p.m.

Fans got their first glimpse of the new-look Runnin’ Rebels Tuesday night, as UNLV basketball pulled away from Dakota Wesleyan late to win the exhibition match 96-80 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Early in the second half, with Wesleyan still hanging tough, Kris Clyburn intercepted a pass at the top of the key, dribbled it coast-to-coast, and slammed home a dunk through the defender’s outstretched arms.

Clyburn stood over the defender and exchanged words, earning himself a technical foul.

After the game he said he couldn’t remember what happened, but no one else forgot the play.

With a team full of new faces — none of the 5-star prospect variety as in recent years — fans looking for a player to latch onto found a likely candidate in Clyburn.

The junior college transfer from Detroit led UNLV with a double-double, including 22 points on 11-of-14 shooting, 11 rebounds and 5 steals.

“I just let the game come to me and didn’t force shots,” Clyburn said. “I took shots when they were open, got to the basket and rebounded, and everything else just came to me.”

The Rebels led the NAIA Division II team by only six points with 10:36 to play in the game but used a 25-15 run to pull away late.

“It’s kind of mixed feelings,” said coach Marvin Menzies. “It always feels good to come away with a win even in an exhibition game. … I thought we were a little bit further along defensively so I was a little shocked. But at the same time we did some really good things on the offensive side of the ball, so it’s a little give and take.”

With big men Dwayne Morgan and Cheickna Dembele sitting out nursing injuries, 6-foot-6 Clyburn stepped into the role down low.

“We had the big guys out, so I knew one of the main things we would have to work on is rebounding, so I put the pressure on them to going to the glass,” Clyburn said. “If they are going to let you get offensive rebounds you have to take them because they’re easy points.”

Clyburn grabbed six offensive rebounds, including two that led to easy put-back layups to get UNLV going early in the game.

“Kris is one of those guys that does so many different things well,” Menzies said. “He’s just an even-keel kind of guy. He’s not too high with the highs and not too low with the lows, so I like that about him.”

The battle at point guard gained a bit of clarity, with sophomore Jalen Poyser leading the way.

“I just have to play within the offense because we have great shooters out here and mismatches because we are a pretty big team, even excluding the guys that are injured right now,” Poyser said.

Poyser led the Rebels with six assists, and added 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

The Rebels’ biggest deficiencies were on the defensive end, surrendering 80 points to a Division II team.

“There were times when we had miscommunication,” said senior forward Tyrell Green. “I feel like we will get better and get rid of some of the mishaps.”

The Tigers finished the game 7-of-34 from 3-point range.

“There was a lack of communication and guys were out of position,” Menzies said. “When you guard guys that can shoot the three you start playing huggy-face a little bit even on the weak side and that hurt us.”

Trae Vandeberg led Dakota Wesleyan with 18 points and seven rebounds.

“We were just kind of laying back and letting that guy attack us rather than us dictating with defense, and we had some bad footwork,” Menzies said. “The positives are that a lot of the errors are very correctable.”

Menzies expects a much better showing in Friday’s final exhibition against New Mexico Highlands, especially on the defensive end.

“I want more tenacity and more aggressive play defensively in terms of the fundamental part of it,” Menzies said. “Not just playing hard, but I would like to be able to press a little more and do some things that we didn’t get a chance to do.”