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    Categories: UNLV

During These Surreal Pandemic Times, UNLV Basketball Team Embarrassed In Lopsided Loss To Montana State On Thanksgiving Eve

UNLV Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois

 

By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com

LVSportsBiz.com photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell 

The world might seem upside-down as a novel coronavirus pandemic rages on and to add to these surreal times that college basketball power known as the Montana State Bobcats came to Thomas & Mack Center and embarrassed the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving Eve.

It was the first game of the second season for UNLV coach T.J. Otzelberger, who donned a mask like everyone else in the empty 16,000-seat gym and watched his Rebels play a sloppy, disjointed game as UNLV pumped in fake crowd noise to give the joint some “atmosphere.”

Montana State, coming off a 16-15 record last season, led 49-31 at halftime and UNLV never made the game a competitive match in the second half. Final score: Montana State 91 UNLV 78.

“Our effort was not good enough,” Otzelberger told the game’s radio broadcasters after the game. UNLV’s lack of effort was reminiscent of a lackluster loss to Pacific last season — a loss that upset Otzelberger so much he benched several starters the following game.

Our effort, energy and competitive spirit wasn’t where it needed to be. We talked a lot about generating our own energy without fans and a crowd in the gym. We didn’t do a great job of that tonight and it is something we are going to continue to work on and drive home because we have to be a lot better than we were from an effort and competitive standpoint from start to finish. — UNLV coach T.J. Otzelberger

There were no fans in the arena because of the novel coronavirus pandemic and Las Vegas’ high infection rates. The Mack’s main concourse was dark and silent. Media were allowed, but plexiglass partitions separated the sports writers in section 105. Photographers were not allowed on the court floor, but did roam the empty stands for their pictures and video.

UNLV arena ops piped in fake crowd noise, which seemed bizarre and disorienting with no actual fans in the building. They staged the fiery, explosive firecracker show during Runnin’ Rebels player intros.

UNLV players who were not playing sat in seats that were spaced about three feet apart and were away from the court.

The Runnin’ Rebels had higher aspirations than Wednesday’s performance. The team under Otzelberger  finished tied for second place in the Mountain West in his rookie season in Las Vegas. But the team played in a disorganized manner to Montana State.

UNLV had an entirely new look this unusual year as 10 of its 13 scholarship players have yet to play in a game for the Runnin’ Rebels.

Returners include senior forward Mbacke Diong, and junior guards Marvin Coleman and Bryce Hamilton, the team’s top scorer at 16 points a game. Hamilton finished with 27 points tonight to lead UNLV.

UNLV started the game 0 of 8 on 3-pointers, while Montana State finished the game shooting 55.6 percent from the field (30 of 54) and from 3-point range 10 of 18).  Montana State led by as many as 22 points in the second half. Montana State used a 26-8 run to take a 17-point lead at 35-18 with 4:41 left in the first half. And UNLV was never in the game after that.
Hamilton

 

Other returners from last year’s roster included junior transfer guard David Jenkins Jr., sophomore transfer forward Moses Wood, and walk-on junior guard Trey Hurlburt. Of the nine newcomers added to this year’s roster, seven are freshmen.

As for Montana State, the Bobcats were 16-15 last season, the program’s first winning record in a decade. The season ended in March when Montana State were preparing for the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Tournament.
Montana State
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UNLV’s women’s basketball team also suffered a loss Wednesday in the debut of new UNLV head coach Lindy La Rocque.  UNLV nearly rallied from a big fourth-quarter deficit, coming from down 17 to within two in the final seconds before eventually falling 79-75 to Northern Arizona in the season opener for both teams at the Thomas & Mack Center.

 

Alan Snel: Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.
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