Offensive woes doom Rebels (again) in loss to SMU

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019 | 10:16 p.m.

UNLV went cold down the stretch on Saturday, allowing yet another opponent to pull away in the final minutes. This time it was SMU recording a victory at the Thomas & Mack Center, 72-68, but the story has become all too familiar for the 2-5 Runnin' Rebels.

That was obvious during T.J. Otzelberger's post-game press conference. The head coach was terse in his comments, but made it clear that he doesn't plan on tolerating losing for very long.

"We're done with moral victories," Otzelberger said in his opening statement. "Our guys played hard. We didn't play winning basketball when it came time to win. That's on me. We're going to get it right. I don't care if I don't sleep in the process. That's not good enough. It's going to get better here, fast."

A slow start put UNLV in an early hole, something that has become a common theme this year. On Saturday, the Rebels found themselves down by as many as 13 points in the first half, and SMU took a 38-28 lead at the break.

A second-half scoring surge led by Amauri Hardy and Bryce Hamilton got the Rebels back into the game, and when Hardy drilled a 3-pointer with 6:11 left in the game, the SMU lead was down to 60-56. Mbacke Diong made a pair of free throws on UNLV's next possession to make it 60-58, but that was as close as the Rebels would get.

UNLV didn't make another field goal until there were 27 seconds left in the game and SMU had secured the win. The Rebels went 0-of-6 from the field during that stretch.

Hardy said the offense operated best when the Rebels got the ball into the paint, either via penetration or a post touch, but that SMU's switching defense made it difficult.

"It's on us," Hardy said. "We should have gotten the ball in there a lot more. We tried, but we didn't do a good enough job."

Otzelberger said UNLV has to be prepared to beat good defenses, and that it will be more a matter of will than skill.

"We can't quit on possessions," Otzelberger said. "We can't fold because we don't get what we want early. I'll make sure that we get that right here real soon."

SMU was led by guard Kendric Davis (game-high 21 points) and forward Feron Hunt (19 points). As a team, the Mustangs connected on 50.0 percent from the field and hit 8-of-23 from 3-point range.

Hardy struggled from the field (13 points on 4-of-16 FGs), and UNLV shot 35.8 percent as a team. Hamilton enjoyed his best game of the season with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting (4-of-6 from deep).

The loss drops UNLV to 2-5 on the season, including a 2-3 record at home. While most had modest expectations for the Rebels this season (they were picked seventh in the preseason Mountain West poll), few expected such a lowly showing at the offensive end, especially with Otzelberger's reputation as a mastermind.

Otzelberger took the blame for the team's early-season struggles and vowed to have the Rebels playing better basketball in a hurry.

"Right now the effort thing is great, but winning is totally different," Otzelberger said. "Our stubbornness to details has to be really good, and whatever role I need to play in that equation, it's on me. I am going to impose my will on it to make sure that we don't end up in this spot very often anymore."

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