3 takeaways: UNLV basketball buried in Arizona tourney opener

The UNLV men’s basketball team walked away from Mullett Arena on Thursday on the receiving end of insult added to injury.

No. 25 Mississippi State didn’t just beat the Rebels 80-58 in the semifinals of the Arizona Tip-Off tournament in Tempe, Arizona.

The Bulldogs (6-0) dominated so significantly that broadcast commentators started to talk about UNLV football getting an assist in the College Football Playoff race from Tulane losing to Memphis on Thursday night.

It was a better conversation than analyzing Mississippi State’s 28-point lead with four minutes left to play.

If that weren’t enough, the loss also saw the exit of key UNLV transfer Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry. The 6-foot-11-inch forward went to the locker room five minutes into the second half and didn’t return. Coach Kevin Kruger said Cherry was dealing with a back injury that he attempted to play through in the first half.

With Cherry out, the Rebels (4-2) are down to eight healthy players.

All that said, Kruger’s postgame comments focused on the positive.

“We’ve got to figure it out. You know, there’s a fun approach to that, too. It doesn’t have to be doom and gloom,” he said. “We played a really good team tonight. Of course, it wasn’t the way we wanted it to go, but there’s a lot of really good things we can take from it.”

Guard Jailen Bedford led UNLV with a season-high 13 points, while forward Jalen Hill added 11.

Point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. had 10 points and six assists, shooting 4-for-11 from the field and 0-for-3 on free throws.

Forward KeShawn Murphy led Mississippi State with 14 points and 13 rebounds. The Bulldogs’ leading scorer, guard Josh Hubbard, scored 11 points before going out with an ankle injury early in the second half.

The Bulldogs will play Butler (5-1) in the title game at 6:30 p.m. Friday. UNLV will face Northwestern (5-2) for third place at 4 p.m. Friday.

Here are three takeaways from the Thanksgiving loss:

1. First half

There were signs of promise early, from Cherry’s two blocks and a bucket in the first four minutes, to guard Brooklyn Hicks’ breakaway dunk at the 13:41 mark.

But after starting on an 8-2 run, the Rebels’ advantage was cut down to two points in the first four minutes and they never led again.

“We shot 56 percent in the first half. So we had some opportunities. We were getting some good looks,” Kruger said. “We just need to have some better possessions defensively to kind of keep them from spacing it out.”

2. Rebounding

A sign of strong defense is limiting your opponents’ offensive rebounds. UNLV couldn’t hack it, allowing 30 second-chance points while only recording three.

Mississippi State was able to come down with 19 offensive rebounds, while the Rebels only had four. The total rebounding numbers were less staggering, with the Bulldogs coming out with a 46-29 edge.

“Just being tough on the glass really. They outrebounded us. They outtoughed us. Basically every loose ball was theirs,” Hill said.

He and Kruger agreed that the defensive issues were both mental and physical, noting that it’s an area where UNLV will need to improve.

3. More adjustments

Cherry, UNLV’s leading rebounder and shot blocker, is now part of a substantial group of injured Rebels.

Senior forward Rob Whaley Jr. has been out since UNLV’s 80-69 home win over Omaha with a lower-back injury.

Junior guards Jaden Henley and Jace Whiting are also out with foot injuries.

The initial round of injuries meant guard Julian Rishwain moved into the starting lineup, and now things will likely shift again.

“We’re gonna have to do some ‘Kumbaya’ and sit around and figure out, ‘How are we gonna get this done?’” Kruger said. “Because nobody cares outside of our locker room that we’ve got to figure some things out quickly. Nobody cares that there’s gonna be lineups we haven’t seen and stretches and responsibilities that you’ve never had.”

Kruger said the performance wasn’t due to anyone having “the wrong mindset.”

“Hopefully we’re looking back in a couple weeks at this game specifically and saying, ‘Hey, that was a nice little eye-opener for us,’” he said.

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.