Without D.J. Thomas, UNLV must get creative with late offense

UNLV missed D.J. Thomas early in Saturday’s game against Colorado State, and the Scarlet and Gray especially missed him late.

Playing without their injured star point guard, Kevin Kruger’s squad opened the game with four turnovers in the first five minutes and fell into a 14-2 hole. The team did find its stride and even took a second-half lead, only to go scoreless over the final 3:11, allowing CSU to pull away for a 61-53 win.

Thomas’ absence was most obvious in those bookend moments, and with the sophomore likely to miss tonight's road tilt at San Jose State (7 p.m., Mountain West Network), UNLV is still working to figure out how to cover the hole at point guard.

Kruger said late-game offense has to be a focus and acknowledged UNLV will have to change its approach without Thomas.

“When it gets to the four-minute mark and it’s a five-point game, a three-point game, what are we going to do offensively and what are we going to be able to run to get those quality shots?” Kruger said. “[We] learned some things there, and [now] have an idea of what we can do to get good quality shots in those situations. “

Thomas sat out Monday’s practice due to the shoulder injury that sidelined him against Colorado State. Kruger said he does expect Thomas to return to action before the end of the season, but in the meantime the Scarlet and Gray need to field an effective offense without their top scorer (15.6 points per game) and playmaker (4.7 assists).

On Saturday, senior guard Jailen Bedford filled in admirably on the offensive end, posting a team-high 17 points and four assists in 33 minutes off the bench. Kruger believes Bedford can continue to produce at a high level once the playbook is tweaked to take advantage of his particular strengths.

“We’ve got to figure out a few things so we can get him some more space,” Kruger said. “We’ve got to work on that the next couple days because he’s such a threat with the ball, with the dribble. He did a great job putting pressure on the rim, and of course, he made some huge 3s.”

Bedford is UNLV’s top 3-point shooter at 38.2% on the year and his 10.2 points per game ranks third on the team.

Though his usage rate may go up with Thomas out of action, Bedford said he’s not drastically changing his style of play.

“Obviously, my role went up a little bit, but I didn’t see anything that really changed,” Bedford said. “I’m just doing what I do well and just playing ball.”

When the game got tight and Colorado State turned up the defense, UNLV struggled to generate good offense. Bedford’s final bucket came with 4:42 remaining and after a Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry free throw tied the score, 53-53, with 3:11 to play, the Scarlet and Gray came up empty on the game’s final six possessions.

That stretch saw the home team shoot 0-of-7 from the field and miss the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw opportunity.

For the past two years, all late-game possessions featured Thomas with the ball in his hands. With that option no longer available, UNLV will have to get creative.

Kruger said he might have to exert more control over important possessions, calling specific plays from the sideline and relying on execution.

“A lot of freedom was given to D.J.,” Kruger said. “A lot of what we do late in games is, of course, D.J. involved — getting downhill, making plays, making reads, and guys kind of reading and reacting there. When we’ve got a couple guys who are in a position they haven’t been in a lot, I think we can be more specific and deliberate about the shot we want.”

Cherry gave UNLV some low-post offense with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting but junior wing Jaden Henley had a down game (one point, 0-of-3 FGs), as did senior Julian Rishwain (five points, 2-of-8 FGs).

Bedford said there has been a renewed emphasis on ball movement, with the hope that sharing the ball and spreading out the responsibility will help cover for Thomas’ heroics.

“Just keep pushing the ball, keep trusting in each other,” Bedford said. “I trust in Ju, Bear, Jaden. I know he wasn’t hitting that well that game, but I trust him in the next game to hit more shots. So just keep moving the ball and pushing it.”

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