Rebels Get Signature Win

Defense Keys The Rebels Effort

The Kevin Kruger era at UNLV Officially began December 13th 2023. For 40 minutes the Rebels looked like the team everyone envisioned when the son of the legendary coach took over the program. The Rebels defended, their collective tails off, holding a Creighton Team that averages 88 points per game, to 28 first half points. Super Star freshman Dedan Thomas Jr looked like a Stud, controlling the tempo and bringing a calm to the offense with his ballhandling and decision making. Kalib Boone looked like the best transfer in the Mountain West, Justin Webster looked like a knock down shooter and the energy in Dollar Loan Center was transcendent. Yes, the Rebels are back.

Easy to say you’ve heard that before but this was different. Against a physical and highly skilled Blue Jays squad, the Rebels were the first to the punch, they were the aggressors and they were the ones forcing the adjustments. It was their best three point shooting game of the season, but let’s be clear, this wasn’t just about their shot making. UNLV was magnificent on the defensive end, holding the Blue Jays top two scorers to 7- 26 shooting from the field. For one night the Rebels looked like well, Rebels. UNLV took control of the game and never relinquished it. Now the question becomes obvious, was this simply an aberration, or is this the start of an new Era of Rebel basketball?

UNLV heads to Phoenix to take on a St Mary’s team that is rounding into form. If they can compete and trade punches with the Randy Bennett coached squad, look out.