UNLV’s Jovan Mooring (30) runs into Leo Vincent (5) as the Runnin’ Rebels take on the Southern Illinois Salukis at the Thomas & Mack Center Monday, Dec. 19, 2016.
Monday, Dec. 19, 2016 | 9:30 p.m.
During a holiday Teddy Bear Toss at halftime of UNLV’s game Tuesday night against Southern Illinois, an ambitious fan attempted to throw his stuffed animal through the hoop from about 20 rows up in the stands.
The baby Baloo rimmed out and fell to the Thomas & Mack Center floor. It was one of the rare shots missed by anyone in UNLV gear all night.
The Rebels used a soft-shooting touch to subdue Southern Illinois 68-61 and improve to 7-5 in their penultimate nonconference game. They shot 57 percent from the floor led by a 9-for-13 performance from senior forward Tyrell Green.
The margin should have been far more decisive if UNLV didn’t appear on a charity mission of its own to give away possessions. The Rebels committed 23 turnovers to keep the Salukis, which had only nine turnovers, alive until nearly the final minute.
It wasn’t until Green drained an open 3-pointer set up by junior guard Jovan Mooring with 69 seconds to go that UNLV pulled away for good. The game-winning points fittingly allowed Green to tie his career high with 23 points.
Green further solidified himself as this green UNLV team’s go-to guy, not only playing 36 minutes but also playing harder than anyone else on the floor for those 36 minutes. He also led the Rebels with seven rebounds, and the rest of the team seemed to feed off of his energy.
But that’s been the book on this year’s team: They’ll play hard, but they oftentimes don’t have the talent for the effort level to matter. Someone seeing the Rebels for the first time this season — like me — could have been fooled by the second part.
Even if it will remain a battle to be competitive this season, there were several signs that UNLV was poised for a bright future against Southern Illinois. Three freshmen were arguably the three most impressive Rebels behind Green.
Troy Baxter Jr. showed flashes of why he was so highly recruited in scoring six straight points in the first half. That was followed directly by five straight points from Zion Morgan, who swished a 3-pointer after using his quickness to convert an open jumper.
Cheickna Dembele was huge down the stretch, contesting Southern Illinois inside and making back-to-back layups off of pick and rolls with junior guard Jovan Mooring inside of six minutes. Mooring had four of the worst offenses of the turnover parade by being out of control, and Green saved him from a fifth by scrapping for a loose ball, but locked in when it mattered.
He had two steals and four points in the final minute, stuffing the stat sheet by also going for six assists and six rebounds.
The victory meant the Mountain West Conference salvaged a 5-5 split in its challenge with the Missouri Valley Conference. Say what you will about the contrived series of games, but this ended up as a solid matchmaking for this year’s sixth edition.
UNLV and Southern Illinois are both once-proud programs — they both made the Sweet 16 in 2007 with only one NCAA Tournament win between the two of them since — in a state of disarray this season and likely to finish in the bottom half of their conferences. That being said, Southern Illinois isn’t much worse than almost all of the teams UNLV will face in conference play.
This victory was more telling of where the Rebels stand than its 49-point loss to Duke or its 20-point loss at Oregon. There’s going to be another a blowout to add to that list Thursday when UNLV finishes its trio of games against national title contenders by hosting Kansas.
If Monday’s sparse turnout was any indication, UNLV might be even be at a home court disadvantage against the Jayhawks. But at least the 3,000 or so fans who showed up were in a giving mood with all the teddy bears.
Most of the furry, flying animals even made it onto the court instead of clocking other fans in the back of their heads.
All of UNLV was on target for the Southern Illinois game.
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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