Rebels dealing with key injuries before showdown with Pepperdine
Who: UNLV men’s basketball vs. Pepperdine
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Thomas & Mack Center
TV: SSSEN (Cox 125)
Radio: KWWN (1100 AM, 100.9 FM)
About the Rebels (2-1): UNLV is being led by point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., who is averaging 18 points and three assists per game.
Thomas also has yet to miss a game despite coach Kevin Kruger saying before the team’s opener the sophomore may be out the first two weeks of the season with an ankle injury.
The Rebels have dealt with plenty of other injuries since. They will be without three players against Pepperdine.
Senior forward Rob Whaley Jr. missed UNLV’s last game, an 80-69 home win over Omaha on Thursday, with a lower-back injury. He did not practice Tuesday, along with junior guards Jaden Henley and Jace Whiting.
Henley, who started the Rebels’ first three games, will be out three to four weeks with a foot injury, Kruger said. Whiting came off the bench in UNLV’s first two games before missing the Omaha win with an undisclosed injury.
Both Henley and Whiting were wearing boots and utilized scooters as they watched their teammates during Tuesday’s workout. Kruger said none of the team’s injuries are considered season-ending.
“We’re pretty beat up. So we got to figure it out,” Kruger said. “There’s really no other way to put it. It’s the truth of the matter, and guys just gotta play hard, play together, understand that everything’s not gonna be perfect. But this is a group that’s played hard. We just gotta compete.”
About the Waves (1-2): UNLV won 82-68 at Pepperdine in its third game last season.
Thomas said he remembers the Waves being “big and physical,” but he knows he’ll be facing a different opponent Wednesday.
“They’re a completely new team this year, actually,” Thomas said. “Everyone has left.”
Pepperdine has 12 newcomers and just two returners, one of which stands out to Kruger.
Forward Boubacar Coulibaly, a 6-foot-10 senior, is averaging 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. UNLV forward Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry, who leads the team with 7.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, will have his work cut out for him against Coulibaly.
“Coulibaly does a really good job of protecting the rim, helping guards and pick and roll actions, guarding the post,” Kruger said. “We know with the way Bear has come out of the gate, teams are going to be preparing for him and focusing on him.”
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.
