UNLV guard Amauri Hardy shining in sophomore season

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 | 2 a.m.

Through the first half of the season, Amauri Hardy did just about everything he could to establish himself as UNLV’s most valuable player.

In non-conference play, the sophomore guard tied for the team lead in scoring at 12.4 points per game while shooting 47.1 percent from the field and dishing out 2.6 assists, and most importantly, the Rebels were at their best when Hardy was on the floor. His individual plus/minus rating of +10.3 per 40 minutes was by far the best on the team.

And Hardy did it all from the bench. Though he played 25.3 minutes per game and produced almost every time he saw the court, he didn’t start a single game — until Wednesday.

Head coach Marvin Menzies has historically been loathe to tinker with his starting five during the season. Dating back to the beginning of last year, he only altered his starting lineup on two occasions (and once was due to Shakur Juiston’s season-ending injury). But Hardy’s production forced the coach’s hand, and he got the nod for his first career start against Colorado State.

The results were promising: 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting and a career-high nine assists (to just one turnover). And as usual, UNLV surged when Hardy played; in his 33 minutes, the Rebels outscored Colorado State by six points.

And with the score tied, 76-76, on the final possession, it was Hardy who had the ball in his hands. Hardy drove to the rim and missed, but the rebound was tipped in by Mbacke Diong to give UNLV the win. Without Hardy’s penetration, it’s unlikely Diong would have had such an uncontested putback.

After the game, Hardy said starting didn’t feel much different than subbing in as a reserve.

“I really don’t think it was a big difference for me at all,” Hardy said. “I feel like I can contribute coming off the bench or starting, in a huge way. But it was great that we were able to get the win in my first start.”

Hardy appeared to assume most of the point-guard duties while he was in the game, freeing up senior Noah Robotham to play off the ball and focus on spot-up shooting. Under that arrangement, Robotham enjoyed one of his best outings of the season, totaling 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting (3-of-7 from 3-point range).

Menzies said that division of labor benefitted both Hardy and Robotham.

“We were getting more production when we had Noah and Amauri on the floor, when you look at the statistics,” Menzies said. “I felt it was good to get Noah off the ball a little bit, and he hit some critical shots for us because he had his legs. So it worked out for us tonight.”

If Hardy can keep up his level of play through the remainder of the Mountain West season, his days of coming off the bench may be over for good.

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