As losses mount, UNLV basketball in search of identity

In Tuesday’s 71-62 loss to Boise State, the UNLV basketball team made just one 3-pointer (1-of-16) and shot 37.9% overall. They got out-rebounded, 45-34. They allowed Boise to score at an efficient rate of 1.13 points per possession. And they earned only 17 free throws compared to Boise’s 32.

Offense, defense, shooting, rebounding, physical play — the Scarlet and Gray didn’t make much of an impression in any facet of the game.

That, above all else, has become the major issue plaguing Kevin Kruger’s squad as they enter the stretch run of the 2024-25 season. The fact that UNLV has no defining characteristic has become its defining characteristic. Simply put, the team has no discernable identity.

With no proficiency in any area, UNLV has lost its last five games and is now below .500 on the year at 11-12. The team’s 5-7 record in Mountain West play has them nestled into a tie for seventh place in the league standings.

As the losses mount, the Scarlet and Gray are searching for something to lean on. Some niche skill or proclivity that can deliver wins on a consistent basis. An identity.

“Identity is everything, really,” Kruger said. “It’s something we’ve kind of had to do patchwork here in the non-conference and figure out along the way.”

San Diego State can always be counted on to put up a tough defensive front. New Mexico plays at a breakneck tempo. Utah State generates efficient offense, no matter how often the program changes coaches. Those programs have an established identity.

Kruger wanted to follow the San Diego State blueprint when he was hired four years ago, but it hasn’t developed into a winning formula at UNLV. The Scarlet and Gray are merely mediocre on that side of the court, ranking No. 112 in defensive rating and No. 205 in defensive efficiency.

As the season has unfolded, Kruger has tried to evolve his team into a rebounding force. It worked a few weeks ago in impressive wins over Utah State and San Diego State, but since then they’ve lost the rebounding battle in four of five games.

Despite recent returns, Kruger still believes a strong rebounding effort is UNLV’s best bet at developing an identity.

“We’re still getting better and we’re still improving,” Kruger said. “We’re giving ourselves opportunities to win games. The last five games especially we’ve done a really good job at points or in stretches of rebounding, and that’s kind of been one of the things that determine which direction we go. Great rebounding games Utah State, San Diego State; not-great rebounding game against Wyoming and it cost us.

“It’s a toughness thing. It’s a fight thing,” he continued. “When we’re chasing and when we’re not sound, we give up a lot of offensive rebounds.”

UNLV allows offensive rebounds on 29.9% of opponents’ misses, which ranks No. 270 in the nation.

Kruger said he doesn’t get much of an opportunity to run rebounding drills during the season, as the physical jostling could result in injuries to an already thin roster.

“A ‘war’ rebounding drill has been tough for us because we’ve never had a full roster,” Kruger said. “There’s been a number of weeks where we’re a rolled ankle away from rolling out with seven or eight guys. If you’re mad at the guys, would you like to put helmets on them and do war rebounding? Sure, but the only people who feel better after those are the coaches. That’s not really the point of it.”

With the caveat that they're not practicing it, it’s hard to imagine how UNLV will get better at rebounding over the final eight contests.

UNLV’s leading rebounding is junior center Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry, who pulls down 5.2 boards per game. Senior forward Jalen Hill averages 4.3 rebounds and freshman center Pape N’Diaye grabs 3.8.

Kruger thinks being locked-in on defense will result in sound rebounding position, and in turn, an identity.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with size, it doesn’t have anything to do with weight. When they know where the shot is probably going to come from and they know where they’re supposed to be, we have a better chance of rebounding it. But all that stuff you like to do in the fall, you like to do in the summer, it’s a little tougher to get those physicality drills and put those in once December and January roll around.”

Hill, who played his first four years at Oklahoma, cited Big 12 powers Kansas and Baylor as well as UCLA as programs that have known identities as “tough, hard-nosed teams.”

Like his coach, Hill wants the Scarlet and Gray to have a dependable trait they can rely upon when games are on the line.

“I think the last six, seven games we’ve definitely proved that we’re battling,” Hill said. “Not every game we’re going to win the rebounding battle, but every game we’re going in there, we’re fighting, we’re hitting, we’re going up high grabbing 10-foot boards.”

The UNLV team that heads to Wyoming on Saturday (1 p.m., Mountain West Network) is, statistically, pretty middling. They’re not good at any one thing yet. But the players remain determined to carve out that singular attribute that could propel them down the stretch.

Senior wing Julian Rishwain is confident UNLV will figure it out — whatever it is.

“I think our identity as a team is we need to be more consistent,” Rishwain said. “Late in the game, rebounding, free throws, big-time shots, locking down on D when we need to be, so I think consistency has got to be our identity moving forward. That will be big for our team because we’re right in it, man.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.