Willis shoots high, attains goal

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At this time last year, Tre’Von Willis was left with an empty feeling. UNLV’s season was unraveling, and no individual was being singled out for his excellence.

Willis had reason to feel more fulfilled Monday, when the junior guard was voted first-team All-Mountain West Conference by the nine coaches and a media panel.

"I feel real good right now, just because of how this team has been playing and me having some role in that," he said. "I definitely had my goals set high, individually and as a team. I have more responsibility than I did last year.

"I would have liked for us to finish first in the conference, but it didn’t happen. Now my focus is winning this conference tournament."

The Rebels (23-7) are the No. 3 seed in the MWC tournament and will open against sixth-seeded Utah (14-16) at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

New Mexico (28-3) won the MWC title outright with a 14-2 record and swept the major awards, with Steve Alford earning Coach of the Year and junior forward Darington Hobson from Las Vegas taking Player of the Year.

The league recognized two UNLV sophomores: Forward Chace Stanback made the third team, and point guard Oscar Bellfield received honorable mention.

Willis leads the team in scoring at 17.7 points per game, and his 20.3 average in MWC games ranks first in the league. He led the Rebels in scoring in 11 conference games, and he scored 30 points or more in three games.

"Tre has had a terrific year," coach Lon Kruger said. "When you think back to a year ago, I think the progress and results are about all you could have expected and more. His game has matured so much, and his leadership ability has matured so much."

Willis and Stanback were selected to the all-defensive team.

"I think I pride myself more on that than first-team all-conference," Willis said. "I put that upon myself to go out there and play good defense every night. I love to stop the opposition’s best player."

Stanback, UNLV’s No. 2 scorer and leading rebounder, transferred from UCLA and came with a reputation as a soft defender.

"It’s definitely something new to me. I’ve got to continue to build on that," Stanback said. "I’ve been playing pretty well defensively. I’ve got blocked shots and steals, and I’ve been doing a lot more of that this year than I have in any year in my career.

"If you don’t play defense for any team, you’re not going to play. I didn’t feel like I really applied myself defensively over there (at UCLA.)"

Utah’s 7-foot-3-inch David Foster was named Defensive Player of the Year. Foster is questionable for Thursday’s game with a sprained left ankle.

Willis and Hobson were joined on the first team by Brigham Young junior guard Jimmer Fredette, New Mexico junior guard Dairese Gary and San Diego State forward Kawhi Leonard, who was named Freshman of the Year.

At the midpoint of the conference season, Willis and Fredette were the leading candidates for Player of the Year. But Hobson and the Lobos stole the show down the stretch.

"Hobson is a good player, and Alford has been doing a good job with that team, but you definitely won’t see smiles coming from me," Willis said. "I could tip my hat to them a little bit, but that’s about it."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.