Marvin Coleman leads UNLV to fourth straight win: ‘We’re rolling for sure’

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020 | 9:50 p.m.

Less than a month ago, UNLV was beaten on its home court by Pacific; the defeat dropped the Rebels to 4-8 on the season and spurred first-year head coach T.J. Otzelberger to rip into his team's effort after the game.

For all intents and purposes, 2019-20 looked like a lost season.

Instead the Rebels took Otzelberger's message to heart and have since reeled off four consecutive wins, including Saturday's 71-59 victory over Air Force. UNLV is now back to 8-8 on the season and a surprising 3-0 in Mountain West play.

The turnaround has been powered by the team's renewed intensity, especially on the defensive end. Air Force came into the game as the nation's No. 2 offense in terms of efficiency, but UNLV held the Falcons to 34.6 percent from the field. After Air Force made its first five 3-pointers, the Rebels limited them to 5-of-22 from beyond the arc the rest of the way.

The poster boy for the revitalized Rebels has been sophomore guard Marvin Coleman. The former walk-on hustled his way to six points, 10 rebounds and six assists against Air Force, earning Otzelberger's praise once again for his team-first attitude.

Otzelberger said the rest of the team is drawing confidence from the way Coleman plays.

"I think when you have a guy like Marvin Coleman, who is the head of the snake right now, he just really wants to win," Otzelberger said. "Tonight it's 10 rebounds, six assists, one turnover, a key basket at a key moment. I think the confidence is really important and we can see it growing with our guys."

All four wins during the current streak have come by double digits, though the Rebels had to show some resiliency on Saturday. Air Force started hot and took an early 19-10 lead. UNLV clamped down defensively, however, and went on a 17-0 run toward the end of the first half. The Rebels led, 34-27, at the break and led by as much as 20 points in the second half.

Though the team appears to have turned a corner, Coleman said the Rebels aren't content with their current level of play.

"We're rolling for sure," Coleman said, "but we're just scratching the surface of how good we could be. We're showing glimpses here and there...obviously it's good to have four wins, but we're hungry for more and more and more."

Amauri Hardy finished with a game-high 21 points, while Bryce Hamilton scored 15 off the bench. Junior center Mbacke Diong played another superb all-around game and posted 12 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

The UNLV defense held Air Force's top-scoring tandem of Lavelle Scottie and Ryan Swan to 11-of-25 from the field.

The Rebels will attempt to improve to 4-0 in the Mountain West when they head to Boise State on Wednesday. After that UNLV will go to Wyoming (Jan. 11) and then host San Jose State (Jan. 15). As unlikely as it may have sounded after the Pacific debacle, those now look like winnable games.

Tillman benched again for lateness

In the midst of all the good vibes surrounding the Runnin' Rebels right now, one grey cloud is the continuing saga of Donnie Tillman's truancy. The junior forward did not play against Air Force, and after the game Otzelberger confirmed it was a punishment for being late to the team shoot around earlier in the day.

That marks the third strike for Tillman. He was pulled from the starting lineup against Cincinnati for being late to a team event, and then again a few weeks later against Pacific for the same reason. Tillman eventually did play in both of those games, unlike Saturday when he rode the bench for the entire 40 minutes against Air Force.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.