Game day: UNLV basketball bounces back with rout of Stetson

That was more like it.

UNLV bounced back from Wednesday's disappointing loss in a big way, trouncing Stetson, 71-55, to improve to 1-1 on the young season.

Across the board, the Scarlet and Gray looked like the team everyone expected this year. Freshman point guard D.J. Thomas dished out nine assists, senior forward Jalen Hill posted a double-double (16 points, 14 rebounds), Luis Rodriguez excelled in the open court with 13 points, and Justin Webster showcased his accuracy by making three 3-pointers.

And UNLV's team defense may have been the true star of the day, as they beat up Stetson on that end of the floor and limited the Hatters to 31.8% shooting.

Is it enough to wash away the season-opening loss entirely? No, but it's probably a better representation of the kind of team UNLV will be this season.

The Scarlet and Gray will now have a week of practice before heading on the road for the first time to face Pepperdine on Friday.

UNLV extends lead to 44-21 over Stetson

UNLV opened the second half with a haymaker, throwing an 8-0 run at Stetson to all but put this one away. With 16:21 remaining, the Scarlet and Gray are up, 44-21.

The most recent basket may have come on UNLV's most impressive sequence of the season. Freshman point guard D.J. Thomas got it started by closing out on a corner 3 and blocking it; he then saved the ball inbounds to Luis Rodriguez, who threw it ahead to Jackie Johnson for a fast-break layup.

That prompted Stetson to call timeout and set off a celebration on the UNLV sideline.

After Wednesday's disappointing loss, it looks like UNLV is back on track.

UNLV builds 36-21 lead over Stetson at half

It wasn't entirely efficient — UNLV is shooting 39.4% from the floor — but Kevin Kruger's squad made enough shots to claim a 36-21 lead over Stetson at the half.

The key was hitting six 3-pointers, led by two apiece from Luis Rodriguez and Jackie Johnson. UNLV also took much better care of the ball, committing zero turnovers through the first 20 minutes.

Rodriguez is the leading scorer for the Scarlet and Gray with nine points.

The most marked improvement over Wednesday's performance has been on the defensive end. UNLV has limited Stetson to 25.8% from the field and allowed just three layups, holding the Hatters to 3-of-9 from around the rim.

Low turnovers, strong defense — that's a winning formula for UNLV, if Kruger can get his team to follow the script.

Early 3's give UNLV lead over Stetson

The Scarlet and Gray are off to a much better start today, with a barrage of 3-pointers pushing them to a 23-12 lead over Stetson with 8:33 left in the first half.

D.J. Thomas got UNLV going with two driving layups in the opening minutes, but then the offense sputtered, allowing Stetson to take a 10-9 lead. That's when UNLV started to make it rain.

First, Luis Rodriguez banked in a 3 from the top of the key. On the next possession, Rodriguez went off glass again from the wing. Reserves Jackie Johnson and Rob Whaley followed with catch-and-shoot triples to make it a 12-2 run.

It's doubtful that the Scarlet and Gray will keep banking in 3's, but the offense has looked much more crisp than what we saw in the opener. Now can they keep it up?

UNLV basketball honors Anderson Hunt

UNLV’s season opener did not go according to plan, not by a long shot.

The Scarlet and Gray were manhandled by visiting Southern University in a shocking, 85-71 defeat that raised a lot of questions about a team that came into the season with serious NCAA Tournament expectations.

They’ll start answering those questions on Saturday, when Kevin Kruger and his crew host Stetson (4 p.m., Mountain West Network/Silver State Sports Entertainment).

Can UNLV bounce back? Three keys to watch:

Hunt to the rafters

UNLV is honoring one of its greats on Saturday, as former sharpshooting guard Anderson Hunt will have his jersey raised to the rafters during a halftime ceremony.

Hunt played three years at UNLV from 1988-91 and scored 1,632 points, which ranks him 14th on UNLV’s all-time scoring list. He also nailed 283 3-pointers, which is still the most program history.

In addition to his impact on the record books, Hunt had a reputation for playing his best in the biggest games. He was the second-leading scorer on UNLV’s national title team in 1989-90, averaging 15.9 points per game while making an ahead-of-his-time 2.5 3-pointers.

He hit five 3’s and scored 20 points in the semifinal win over Georgia Tech that year, then poured in a game-high 29 while shooting 12-of-16 from the field (4-of-7 3FGs) in the historic 103-73 blowout of Duke in the NCAA championship game.

The Detroit native said he still makes it out to Las Vegas a few times a year and maintains relationships in the area.

Hunt will have a group of family and friends at the Thomas & Mack Center for the ceremony, including his mother, grandmother and high-school teammates.

“I feel good, just to be back in Vegas and be around some of the old players,” Hunt said. “And my family will be down here, so I feel great. It hasn’t sunk in yet, though.”

As for those legendary Jerry Tarkanian teams? Hunt still keeps in contact and said he heard from teammates Greg Anthony, Stacey Augmon and a host of others after the news of his jersey retirement was announced.

“We have a group text,” Hunt said. “It was like, ‘Congratulations, well deserved, overdue.’ Greg texted me, Stace. Dave Brothers sent me a video. Moses Scurry texted me, Travis Bice.”

Hunt will become the fourth member of the 1990 championship squad to have his number retired, joining Anthony, Augmon and Larry Johnson.

In search of swagger

UNLV made a lot of tangible mistakes in its stunning, season-opening loss against Southern University. There were blown assignments on defense, bad shots taken on offense, and unforced turnovers galore. But Kevin Kruger thinks the biggest problem was not anything you’ll find in the box score.

After two days of practices and watching film, Kruger mostly wants an attitude adjustment.

He said the Scarlet and Gray played timid in the opener, allowing Southern to dictate everything. And once UNLV fell behind, a crisis of confidence made it impossible to make up the difference.

Kruger said the top priority against Stetson is coming out with intensity.

“We’ve got to be more aggressive,” Kruger said. “We’ve got to be the aggressor. We’ve got to take the fight to them. And of course you work on that in practice, about being stronger, playing with more assertion, but confidence can be a funny thing. When it leaves you, it’s not like you can say ‘I’m going to be confident again.’ You’ve got to work through it and get our swagger back.”

We should know in the first few minutes whether UNLV has regained its preseason swag, or if they’re in for another trying night.

Boone back

Kalib Boone was suspended for the opener due to a DUI arrest last month, but he’ll be suited up on Saturday.

His return should boost UNLV on both sides of the court, as the 6-foot-10 post player is expected to get a lot of touches in the paint and provide a stabilizing defense-and-rebounding presence.

Boone spoked to the media for the first time after Friday’s practice and expressed remorse for the actions that earned him his one-game benching.

“It was rough, for a lot of reasons. I wanted to be out there helping my team win,” Boone said. “It made me think about, man, if I never would have did what I did, it probably wouldn’t have been like that.”

Look for UNLV to throw the ball inside to Boone early to let him act an interior scoring threat.

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