Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Menzies, Rebels find ‘relief’ in securing first victory

UNLV Versus UC Riverside BB

L.E. Baskow

UNLV forward Tyrell Green (3) breaks free for an open dunk over UC Riverside late in their game at the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016.

UNLV Beats UC Riverside

Young UNLV fans get some love from players as they ready to face UC Riverside at the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. Launch slideshow »

Marvin Menzies earned his first win as head coach at UNLV with a 74-62 victory over UC Riverside Wednesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

For Menzies and his team, the post-game emotion was not a shout for joy, but instead a sigh of relief.

“It was a little more relief than celebration, which is OK,” Menzies said. “Honestly, I probably will not be able to enjoy it until later. Plus it’s Wednesday so it’s not like I’m going to go out and party. Or I won’t tell you if I do.”

Menzies, who never lacks a sense of humor when speaking with the media, was even more jovial than usual after the win.

“I got a couple phone calls today from some very, very close friends that were concerned,” Menzies said. “They gave me some words of encouragement, so I was in a good place.”

For 12 of the Rebels on the roster, it was their first win in the scarlet and gray as well.

“If you think of it as pressure then that’s when the nerves come and you start doing things that you’re not used to,” said Christian Jones, who had another solid outing with 13 points and five rebounds. “We learned from the last game and got the win this time out.”

UNLV led by only four points with 4:15 to play when Jovan Mooring and Jalen Poyser hit back-to-back, buzzer-beating three-pointers as the shot clock expired.

“Players got to make plays,” Menzies said. “I can’t go out and make shots for them. The clock was running down so (Mooring) had to take that shot and he has confidence. He’s not shy. Sometimes it goes your way.”

The Rebels watched a 15-point lead that they built up early in the second half slip away during a seven-minute scoring drought.

“The drought was a lack of continuity with the teammates,” Menzies said. “When they came back and took the lead you have to take high-percentage shots and we did that.”

After a great first half of sharing the ball, with 12 assists and only five turnovers, the Rebels struggled in the second period with five assists and 10 turnovers.

UNLV used its defense to turn things around, though, and outscored UC Riverside 25-12 down the stretch to pull away late.

“They went on their run but we counterpunched,” Jones said. “They hit, we hit, and we got the stops that we needed to win.”

Poyser led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and added seven rebounds, three steals and two assists.

“I try to attack the defense and make the defense collapse,” Poyser said. “There are times when they didn’t collapse and they gave me an open layup, so I took it.”

Dwayne Morgan and Cheickna Dembele both made their 2016 debuts after missing the exhibitions and season opener with injuries.

Morgan contributed immediately, scoring six points in 14 minutes, including a high-flying dunk late in the second half.

Dembele played only seven minutes but showed flashes of providing the rim protection that UNLV has lacked.

“You can just look at him play and tell those are the kinds of players we need to get in here,” Menzies said.

In part thanks to Morgan and Dembele, UNLV’s bench finally showed up — outscoring UC Riverside’s bench 27-19 after only scoring three bench points in the loss to South Alabama.

The Rebels outrebounded the Highlanders 46-32 but still allowed 19 second-chance points — too many for Menzies’ liking.

UNLV evens its record at 1-1 and will continue its six-game home stand with a 7 p.m. tipoff against Cal State Fullerton on Friday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

With a roster and coaching staff full of new faces, getting the first official win will lift a weight from their shoulders. The team can now focus on racking up as many wins as possible as they approach the mid-December gauntlet.

“When it’s all said and done, we got the first ‘W’ out of the way,” Menzies said. “The players just have to learn that if you’re doing something and it’s working, that’s a great time to just keep doing it. When they play good basketball they can be a really good team.”

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy