Point guard says Rebels won’t be defined by loss to Aztecs

UNLV fifth-year guard Jordan McCabe is trying to have some perspective. He knows no single game, not even a deflating loss on Saturday to San Diego State, can define the Rebels’ season.

He insists the team is still headed in the right direction.

“Now, the challenge is not letting a game against a very good team and very good program on their home floor set you back two games or three games,” McCabe said.

UNLV has a chance to regain some confidence and momentum this week after a string of solid performances ended with a 82-71 loss to the No. 21 Aztecs in San Diego Saturday. Coach Kevin Kruger’s team trailed by 20 points at halftime and was down 23 with four minutes remaining.

Kruger said he got a good response from the team in the practices since the SDSU loss. UNLV’s next game is against San Jose State at 7 p.m. Tuesday when the Rebels (15-9, 5-8 Mountain West) welcome the Spartans (15-10, 6-6) to the Thomas & Mack Center. UNLV lost the first matchup between the teams Dec. 28, falling 75-72 in overtime.

“This is a group that’s shown when we’re good to go, we can be pretty good,” Kruger said. “It’s about just continuing to get better, even though we don’t have the wins and losses as of Feb. 13 that we would’ve wanted two months ago, but we’re at where we’re at.”

Inconsistent results have defined the Rebels since entering Mountain West play. UNLV started its conference season by losing two games before upsetting a ranked New Mexico squad at The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Instead of building on the big win, that was followed by a four-game losing streak. UNLV responded by winning four of its next five games, including an upset win against in-state rivals UNR, but collapsed in a measuring-stick game against conference leaders SDSU.

“Guys were upset, rightfully so,” McCabe said. “We’ll look at that as a learning experience just like any loss.”

For McCabe, who spent the first three years of his career at West Virginia in the Big 12, UNLV’s remaining games are about building a foundation to make a successful run at the Mountain West Tournament. He acknowledged an at-large berth is essentially off the table for UNLV, but said the automatic bid is still achievable.

“That’s the beauty of the game that we play,” McCabe said. “We’re trying to peak at the right time.”

McCabe says momentum doesn’t simply mean winning all five games left on the Rebels’ schedule. He admits it’s hard to string together long winning streaks in the Mountain West. SDSU’s longest such stretch in conference play is four games, for example.

He wants to see the defensive solidity, energy and engagement which UNLV needs to win games, and it all starts Tuesday against San Jose State.

“We’re looking at the body of work for the last five to seven games,” McCabe said. “If it’s trending in the right direction going into the tournament, then we give ourselves a chance to win it.”

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