UNLV Basketball: Rebels depth wears down, ultimately buries Wolfpack

Though their season is only in its infancy, and a number of questions remain to be answered, it's clear that at least one question about the UNLV basketball team can now be answered emphatically.  Yes, these Runnin' Rebels are deep!  Ten Runnin' Rebels played more than 10 minutes Wednesday night as UNLV clawed its way back from a 12-point second half deficit to catch, pass, and ultimately roll past Nevada-Reno by the count of 88-75.     

Oscar Bellfield, whose breakout game at the college level was against the Wolfpack last season, broke down UNR in a different manner on Wednesday, passing up the deep three in favor of aggressive drives to the basket.  The result was an efficient 22 points on 8-12 shooting.  The story of the night, however, was again the Rebels tremendous depth, as UNLV's ability to run waves of fresh bodies at the Wolfpack eventually wore UNR out.  "I thought the depth tonight maybe was as big a factor as anything," said UNLV coach Lon Kruger, whose Rebels have now defeated the Wolfpack in each of the last four seasons.  "And when we took the lead in the second half, I thought our freshness maybe overcame their fatigue a little bit."

UNLV's bench players didn't merely play, they produced, outscoring the Reno reserves 35-8.  Leading the charge, once again, was freshman Justin Hawkins, who scored 13 points to along with 5 rebounds.  J-Hawk, despite being essentially an afterthought in the eyes of recruiting services such as Rivals and Scout, has been the Rebels most impressive freshman to this point, averaging 12 points and 4 boards in the Rebels first two contests.  Hawkins wasn't the only Rebel freshman to impress though.  Anthony Marshall contributed 6 points and 5 rebounds while leading the team in steals with 3. 

Brandon Fields, who led the Wolfpack with 22 points, was one of four Reno players to log more than 30 minutes of playing time on Wednesday.  UNLV, conversely, had only one player, Bellfield, with more than 30.  Being able to incorporate several players, according to Kruger, helped make possible the Rebels second half charge.  "Being able to spread those minutes around because the guys off the bench are doing a good job really picked us up in the second half," said Kruger.  "Got us back into the ballgame."

Runnin' Rebel Notes:  UNLV's next game is on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center against Southern Illinois.  The game is part of the inaugural Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge Series.  The Salukis are 2-0 on the young season, having defeated Tennesse-Martin and Indianapolis University to open the campaign.