Game day: UNLV basketball opens tourney run against Air Force

2 days ago 4

Wednesday, March 12, 2025 | 2 a.m.

What: Mountain West tournament
Who: No. 6 UNLV vs. No. 11 Air Force
When: Wednesday, 4 p.m.
Where: Thomas and Mack Center
TV: Mountain West Network
Radio: 1100 AM, 100.9 FM

UNLV has a tall task ahead: Win four games in four days or the season is over.

To make things even more difficult, the team is down to just six rotation players after senior wing Julian Rishwain was ruled out for the season Tuesday.

Fortunately for the Scarlet and Gray, they open the Mountain West tournament today with a play-in game against last-place Air Force (4 p.m., Mountain West Network), so advancing at least one round should be a shoe-in.

Three keys to watch:

Rotation rumors

Rishwain is out for the year with a knee injury. Sophomore point guard D.J. Thomas sat out practice again on Tuesday and doesn’t look close to returning (even though head coach Kevin Kruger refuses to rule him out). Where does that leave UNLV heading into this week’s tournament gauntlet?

There are only six healthy rotation players left. Senior guard Jailen Bedford will likely move from the bench to take Rishwain’s starting spot, leaving freshman center Pape N’Diaye as the lone scholarship regular on the bench.

Junior center Isaiah Cottrell could see a larger role, but he has logged just 10 total minutes in conference play this season. Freshman big Jacob Bannarbie saw 30 minutes. Freshman walk-on DeMarion Yap is the only reserve guard on the roster with experience, but it’s 14 minutes of experience on the entire season.

Basically, the six players who closed out the season finale at New Mexico are going to be the ones to see the majority of the court time against Air Force.

Kruger may have to have to throw out some odd lineup combinations, but he trusts his six to play with toughness and grit.

“We’ll see some lineups we haven’t seen before,” Kruger said. “We know the guys are going to compete. We know they’re going to fight.”

Rest at a premium

When Rishwain went down early against New Mexico, Kruger rode his players hard the rest of the way. Senior forward Jalen Hill and junior wing Jaden Henley turned in ironman performances, playing all 40 minutes, while Bedford came off the bench to play 36 minutes.

It almost worked, too — UNLV was down a single point, 64-63, with six minutes to play. Then fatigue set in on a massive scale, and New Mexico closed on a 16-3 run.

Kruger is aware of the issue, especially during tournament season, when he hopes to be playing four games in four days. He said there are several ways to combat fatigue even as multiple players need to go wire to wire.

One key, he said, will be preserving timeouts. Instead of spending them to stop opponents’ runs or diagram plays, Kruger wants to save them for when his horses need rest.

Hill said playing 40 minutes is not a big deal during the game, but the following day can be tough in terms of rest and recovery.

Still, you won’t hear him complaining, as UNLV has no other options.

“We have to find a way,” Hill said.

Air Force

There’s no doubt Air Force is the worst team in the Mountain West. The Falcons went 4-27 overall, won just one conference game (against 19 losses) and got swept by UNLV, dropping the two games by a combined 44 points.

Still, underestimate a March opponent at your own peril.

That was the message Kruger spent Tuesday’s practice delivering to his players, and they seem to get it.

Hicks said anyone is capable of getting hot at the right time, so UNLV has to be on alert despite the on-paper mismatch.

“There’s people that maybe aren’t star players usually, but step up and have big days and big weeks in March,” Hicks said. “I feel it could be anybody’s game.”