UNLV basketball riding high into Mountain West tournament

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Tuesday, March 7, 2023 | 2 a.m.

The Mountain West season did not go as anticipated for the UNLV basketball team.

After blazing through the first half of the year with an 11-1 record, the Scarlet and Gray were dreaming of bracket projections and selection shows. Then the other shoe dropped. MWC opponents figured out how to handle UNLV’s pressure defense, injuries thinned Kevin Kruger’s rotation, and the losses piled up.

Over the course of two months, UNLV slid out of the NCAA Tournament, off the bubble entirely and, finally, into the bottom half of the conference standings. A three-game losing streak in February lowered the bar, and a brutal 91-66 home loss to Utah State on March 1 seemed to be the final nail in the coffin.

Then came UNLV’s trip north for the regular-season finale. Entering as 8.5-point underdogs against in-state rival UNR, the Scarlet and Gray put forth their best effort of the conference season, eventually prevailing in overtime, 69-67.

Now there’s hope.

Outside the visitor’s locker room in Reno, no one was thinking about the team’s 7-11 record in Mountain West play or the season sweeps they suffered at the hands of San Diego State, San Jose State, Boise State, Utah State and Fresno State.

Buoyed by the emotional victory, senior guard E.J. Harkless spoke for the rest of his teammates when laying out UNLV’s case for a March run.

“We’ve beaten the best teams,” Harkless said. “We beat the best team at home going into the tournament, so the sky’s the limit for us. It’s on us not to beat ourselves and give ourselves an opportunity to win the game like we did today.”

Yup, it’s that time of year again, when every team on the outside is hoping to play its way into the NCAA Tournament by winning four games in four days. Given the depth of the Mountain West as well as the quality of the teams at the top of the bracket, it’s difficult to envision UNLV surviving such a gauntlet, but the players aren’t the only ones high on their chances.

Kruger made the point that while UNLV enters as the No. 7 seed, that’s not as important as which teams they’ll be playing in each round.

“I don’t know if the seeding is as relevant as maybe in years past,” Kruger said. “I think it’s kind of like the NCAA Tournament in that it’s all about matchups. I think somebody would much rather be a different number [seed] if it meant they played a better matchup for them and their personnel.”

It starts Wednesday, when the Scarlet and Gray take on No. 10 seed Air Force at the Thomas & Mack Center (1:30 p.m., Mountain West Network).

UNLV beat Air Force in the only meeting between the teams this season, but it took a miracle, as Jackie Johnson’s steal led to a buzzer-beating putback by E.J. Harkless to secure a 54-53 win less than two weeks ago. If UNLV can come out on top again, they’ll advance to take on No. 2 Boise State on Thursday night.

The Broncos would be a more formidable opponent, given they’re 2-0 against UNLV this year. But don’t tell that to the players.

Senior wing Luis Rodriguez, a hero of the win over UNR, is among the believers.

“We’ve still got a chance,” Rodriguez said. “We have to just lock in and figure it out. We ain’t never out of it. We’ll just keep playing hard and good things will happen.”

A look at UNLV’s potential path through the Mountain West tournament:

Play-in round

When: Wednesday, 1:30 p.m.

Opponent: Air Force (14-17, 5-13 MWC)

UNLV record vs. opponent: 1-0

Key player: Jackie Johnson.

UNLV was starved for offense in the Feb. 24 game against Air Force. It might be time to see if Johnson’s heroic microwave performance at UNR was a breakthrough or an aberration. If he can provide points off the bench, it will solve one of the team’s biggest weaknesses throughout the season.

Quarterfinals

When: Thursday, 5 p.m. (if necessary)

Opponent: Boise State (23-8, 13-5 MWC)

UNLV record vs. opponent: 0-2

Key player: David Muoka

Muoka played very well in UNLV’s last meeting with Boise, posting six points, five rebounds and five blocks, and the team was +7 in his 22 minutes. The problem was he only played 22 minutes. When Victor Iwuakor was on the court, UNLV was outscored by 11 points in 18 minutes. Kruger can’t afford to keep splitting minutes; against Boise State, Muoka has to play — and play well.

Semifinals

When: Friday, 9 p.m. (if necessary)

Opponent: Utah State/New Mexico/Wyoming

Ideal matchup: New Mexico (21-10, 8-10 MWC)

Worst matchup: Utah State (24-7, 13-5 MWC)

Key player: Luis Rodriguez.

UNLV handled New Mexico on the road earlier this year, making them the more beatable opponent (among the realistic options). If Utah State advances, though, the Scarlet and Gray will have their work cut out for them, as USU swept the season series rather convincingly. Rodriguez was 0-of-8 from 3-point range in those two games; if he can get back to knocking down 3’s and making an impact on defense — like we saw at UNR — it could help close the gap.

Final

When: Saturday, 3 p.m. (if necessary)

Opponent: San Diego State/UNR/San Jose State

Ideal matchup: UNR (22-9, 12-6 MWC)

Worst matchup: San Diego State (24-6, 15-3 MWC)

Key player: E.J. Harkless

If UNLV makes it this far, they’ll hope to find UNR waiting for them. The Scarlet and Gray won both matchups and four in a row going back to last season, while San Jose State and San Diego State both swept UNLV this year. Harkless has carried the team all year and is sure to log a lot of high-intensity minutes in the MWC tourney; in this hypothetical fourth-game-in-four-days scenario, will he have enough left in the tank to drag UNLV across the finish line?

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