‘Exactly what we need’: UNLV hopes practice pays off against Akron

Justin Webster is ready to get back on the court. UNLV hasn’t played a game in a week, and the fifth-year guard is itching to face real competition again.

He’s well aware, however, that this Rebels team must take advantage of all the practice time it can get.

“After struggling on the road, coming here and getting a good week of practice is exactly what we need,” Webster said.

UNLV (2-3) returns to the Thomas & Mack Center at 7 p.m. Tuesday to face Akron (4-2). The Rebels are in desperate need of a win after a disappointing road trip that saw them lose twice at the Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach, Florida, including an 82-65 blowout to Richmond.

Akron is on a two-game losing streak, including a 65-62 loss to Utah State on Nov. 20. Senior forward Enrique Freeman leads the Zips by averaging 16.5 points on 56.1 percent shooting.

“It’s a long season,” coach Kevin Kruger said. “We’ve just got to keep working.”

Kruger and Webster agreed the Rebels’ biggest issue has been the defense. Opponents are shooting 50.2 percent from the floor and averaging 74.6 points per game. Webster said the team simply didn’t execute the defensive scouting report provided by the coaching staff against the Spiders.

It’s a stark contrast to last season’s team, which was offensively limited but won some games by playing gritty defense. Webster pointed out UNLV’s tougher schedule this season hasn’t done its record any favors, but added the team wanted a nonconference challenge after the 2022 squad had difficulty adjusting to Mountain West play.

Webster said the defensive scheme changed a bit during the offseason, and UNLV spent the past week getting back to some of its old defensive principles like keeping the ball on one side of the court, staying in front of opposing players and pushing play down toward the baseline.

“I think you’ll see a different defensive team come tomorrow,” he said.

UNLV’s defense on the perimeter has caused it trouble, in particular. Opposing teams are shooting 40.2 percent from beyond the arc against the Rebels. The Spiders were 9-of-14 from 3, the second time a team has shot better than 60 percent from distance against UNLV in just five games this season.

Southern made 11 of its 18 3s against UNLV during the Rebels’ 85-71 season-opening loss to the Jaguars on Nov. 8 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“As a team, we’ve just got to be aggressive,” fifth-year forward Jalen Hill said. “We’re letting the fight come to us. We need to bring the fight to the team we’re playing. When we’ve played aggressive so far on the defensive side of the ball, teams haven’t shot well against us or they’ve turned the ball over.”

Hill and Webster took personal responsibility for UNLV’s poor defense, too. Both players said their on-ball defense hasn’t been up to their personal standard. Hill added that constantly taking the ball out from the baseline after a made basket instead of being able to run in transition off live-ball stops has disrupted the rhythm of UNLV’s offense.

“We’ve got to be aggressive, got to be in tune with the scouting report and in tune with each other,” Kruger said. “And I think we’ll get good results.”

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on X.