UNLV Rebels vs Central Michigan Chippewas Basketball Recap

UNLV 73, Central Michigan 47

Fresh off its upset victory over third-ranked Kansas State nine days ago, the UNLV Rebels were firing on all cylinders as they blitzed the Chippewas of Central Michigan at Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.   All-Mountain West performer Tre'von Willis had 15 points and Justin Hawkins chipped in 13 points plus 3 steals to pace the Rebels.  Head coach Lon Kruger, who has his team steamrolling toward not just an NCAA Tournament bid, but an appreciably solid seed, had to be pleased with the defensive effort put forth by his charges, as UNLV held Central Michigan to just 34 percent shooting and applied the clamps to an inferior foe for 40 solid minutes.

The Chippewas were paced by Trey Zeigler, who had 16 points, and Jalin Thomas, who had a double-double, scoring 11 points and adding 11 rebounds.  Central Michigan simply could not find an offensive rhythm as it was smothered by the ferocious Rebel defense.  The Chippewas committed an astounding 25 turnovers on the night, a fact that makes Central Michigan ’s poor shooting even more alarming. It is typically the case that when a team takes a large amount of shots, its percentage can naturally plummet, especially in a lopsided game when it is always trying to play catch-up and therefore hoists lots of bad threes just because it really has no choice. However, the 25 turnovers committed by CMU mean that the Chips didn ’t take all that many shots (49). That casts the visiting team ’s shooting performance in a poorer light. It ’s one thing to hit 34 percent of 70 or 80 shots. It ’s quite another to hit 34 percent of only 49 shots. Teams like Butler can and do win when they hit only 34 percent from the field, but that ’s because they rarely turn the ball over. Central Michigan shot poorly but also gave up the rock on a consistent basis. That ’s no way to remain competitive on the court.

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Midway through the second half, and leading by only nine points, UNLV went on a 14-2 run, extending its lead to 21 and effectively ending any chance at a Central Michigan comeback. Chippewas head coach Ernie Zeigler saw his hopes of an upset go out the window. Kruger ’s club – which got knocked out of the NCAA Tournament last March by the giant-killing Northern Iowa club that slew the mighty Kansas Jayhawks one round later – is poised to not only arrive at the Big Dance this year, but remain on the Dance floor for a full weekend, and maybe two.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer