Rebels coast in season opener

November 16, 2009 by Noam Amir-Brownstein 

Rebels bounce back from exhibition woes to win easily

Coming out slow to start their 2009-10 season, the Runnin’ Rebels got their game going on their way to a dominating 91-52 victory over Pittsburg State to start their regular season with a win.

The game looked like it was going to be a nail-biter through the first 12 minutes as the Gorillas sustained a small lead until Darris Santee tied the game at 19 with just under eight minutes left in the half. From there the Rebel’s hit their stride out-scoring them 24-7 to take a 43-26 lead heading to the break.

“They were pressuring us and we weren’t knocking down our outside shots,” Kendall Wallace said. “Once we started driving they got in foul trouble and we were able to get in [on] the line and that helped get a rhythm started for our offense.”

The Rebels shot 52 free throws in the game, making 36 of them, seven of those were attempted and made by the games leading scorer, Tre’von Willis, who had 17. The bench provided a lot of support as no other starters scored in double figures. Wallace chipped in 16 points on 5-6 shooting while freshman Justin Hawkins added 11 points.

This game was a vast improvement over the Rebels’ exhibition game in which they played sloppily and were not able to ramp up their play.

“We had much improved energy tonight, I thought the activity was extremely good that the communication was better. Defensively, we were a lot more active and offensively making a lot of extra passes and good plays for each other,” said coach Lon Kruger. “The way the guys really moved the ball and looked for each other dictated on both ends of the floor.”

The Rebels had 19 assists on their 24 shots while shooting 41 percent from the field. There was a lot of hustle and gave the crowd of 14,304 a reason to be excited for the season.

Many members of the crowd, along with the Rebel Girls and cheerleaders wore shirts in memory of Lindsay Bennett, a Rebel Girl who was killed in an automobile accident by an alleged drunk driver in April 2009.

The Rebels helped the Lindsay Bennett Memorial, making seven three-pointers and shooting 30 percent from three-point range. They also played 14 players, 11 in the first half, and had 11 of those players score.

“We’re all a team, we’re all together, we’re not worried about when our numbers are going to get called,” Steve Jones said regarding the issue of playing time. “You just have to always be prepared on every night to give it your best. And that’s what we believe in as a team. We believe in each other, top guy to the bottom guy. That’s how we practice and that’s how we play.”

This victory for the Rebels comes just four days after the Gorillas lost to the nation’s top ranked team, Kansas, 103-45.

UNLV’s next game is against in-state rival University of Nevada Reno Wednesday, at 7:30 p.m.

UNR defeated Montana State by double digits in their first game of the season.

“They’re good, they are going to be tough, it’s going to be a great crowd,” Kruger said regarding the game against UNR. “I’ve been really impressed in our five years how hard those games have been fought, how with great sportsmanship they’ve been fought and we certainly respect their team and they act like they respect our guys, and both teams play extremely hard and that’s what you look for in a good rivalry and that’s what we have.”

The team is looking forward to the game as well. “You always get pumped up for a rival,” Jones said. “I anticipate a big crowd and a lot of energy from both sides. It gives you an extra jolt facing a team the students don’t like and alumni don’t like. It’s going to be fun.”

With the team excited and working hard it’s up to fans to come out and support the team and continue the high levels of attendance that have been carried over from last year as both UNR and UNLV look to stay undefeated.