Rebels have inside advantage in win over Eastern Michigan

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019 | 3:01 p.m.

How important can a game plan be? UNLV committed 21 turnovers and shot 37.9 % from the field on Saturday against Eastern Michigan, but the Rebels were still able to pull away for a comfortable 64-49 victory thanks to an offensive strategy that deliberately picked apart the opposing defense.

No matter how many layups the Rebels missed (a lot) or how many alley-oops they botched (multiple, as usual), they generated so many open looks that eventually the points added up.

Combine that workmanlike offensive approach with Eastern Michigan's inability to shoot at the other end of the court (15-of-49 from the field), and it was enough for UNLV to improve to 6-8 on the season.

Eastern Michigan employs a zone defense on a full-time basis, and the Eagles play it to near-perfection. Coming into their game against UNLV, opponents found it nearly impossible to penetrate the 2-3 alignment, as EMU allowed an average of only 12.4 shots around the rim per game, and close-range shots accounted for just 27.4 % of all attempts. UNLV was able to flip the script, however, thanks to deft off-ball movement and good anticipation from passers. Of UNLV's 58 attempts on the day, 35 were layups or dunks, with close shots accounting for 60.3 % of the Rebels' looks.

UNLV only converted 17 of those 35 layups/dunks, but the sheer volume was the key to the win.

"Coming into the game we knew they were going to play a zone," Rebels center Mbacke Diong said. "So it was shot fakes and then driving in the gap and get the ball inside as much as possible. It's inside-out, get the 3's, dunks and anything possible we can do to get a basket."

Diong was the main beneficiary of the Rebels' focus on working the ball inside, as he went 6-of-9 from the field and scored a team-high 15 points.

T.J. Otzelberger started the same lineup he used in the previous game against Robert Morris, as he rewarded high-effort players like Marvin Coleman and Jay Green with starting spots. That led to UNLV missing its first seven shots from the field (while committing four turnovers during that span), which allowed Eastern Michigan to jump out to an 8-0 lead. Otzelberger then turned to Amauri Hardy and Donnie Tillman at the earliest opportunity and the Rebels' offense began to work.

With Tillman flashing to the high post and Hardy exploiting the cracks with dribble-drives, UNLV was able to get Eastern Michigan out of position and create open looks in the restricted area.

UNLV's biggest issue was finishing. Though they attempted 35 layups and dunks, they only hit 48.6 % of them.

Bryce Hamilton and Diong combined to shoot 10-of-16 on close-range shots, while the rest of the squad went just 7-of-19. Tillman in particular struggled on the inside, as he went 3-of-11 around the rim.

"We've got to cash in on those plays," Otzelberger said. "We've got to be able to convert those, or at a minimum get to the foul line. We'll continue to work on finishing and getting the ball in there. We trust our guys to make those plays, it's something we just have to keep working at."

UNLV only hit 4-of-17 from 3-point range but made enough layups to take a 28-20 lead into halftime. The Rebels' advantage grew to as much as 22 points in the second half before settling in around the mid-teens down the stretch. With Eastern Michigan unable to score (30.6 % shooting), UNLV was never really threatened over the final 20 minutes.

Despite the 21 turnovers and off-target shooting, Otzelberger was generally happy with the way his players executed the game plan.

"Overall I thought we got pretty decent shots," he said, "but again, valuing every possession and having those 21 back that we gave away, that gives us that many more possessions to be successful."

Hamilton finished with 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting, while Tillman chipped in 12 on 4-of-13 shooting.

UNLV will now head into conference play for the rest of the season, beginning with a home game against Utah State on Wednesday. The Rebels are 1-0 in the Mountain West by virtue of their win at Fresno State on Dec. 4.

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