Sebastian Mack scored 26 points, but UNLV committed 18 turnovers for the second consecutive exhibition and struggled to move the ball in the second half against No. 25 BYU.
LAS VEGAS — Cam Miles sent Sebastian Mack ahead for a basket that put UNLV up 42-30 on No. 25 BYU with 2:48 left in the first half Saturday. The Rebels went to the locker room ahead 42-41. By the final eight minutes, BYU was controlling the pace and making UNLV work to get the ball into its offense.
The Cougars won 89-77 at the Thomas & Mack Center. Mack scored 26 points for UNLV, which committed 18 turnovers for the second straight exhibition and had nine assists before halftime but only three afterward.
Josh Pastner thought his team was much better than it had been in the 79-69 loss to Utah on Oct. 7. He also had a familiar complaint when he met with reporters afterward.
“We gave up 36 extra possession points,” Pastner said, referring to BYU’s 19 points off turnovers and 17 second-chance points.
UNLV outrebounded the Cougars 41-34. Both teams collected 15 offensive rebounds, but BYU took 69 shots to UNLV’s 59. The Rebels repeatedly gave away possessions before getting a look at the basket, allowing the Cougars to shoot more often despite being outrebounded.
UNLV had plenty working early. Dontrez Williams, back after missing the Utah game with an ankle injury, scored the first basket by putting back his own miss. Mack got into the lane and fed Jeremy Foumena for a two-handed dunk, then found the big man again for a short finish.
Jalen Cunningham gave the Rebels a lift that BYU wasn’t prepared for. The walk-on hit three consecutive three-pointers, including two that stretched UNLV’s lead to 27-19. Cunningham scored nine points in 14 minutes without missing a shot. UNLV made five of its nine first-half threes and shot 53.1 percent before the break.
The ball was moving. Miles was getting the Rebels into the frontcourt, Mack was forcing defenders to help when he turned the corner, and Foumena was finishing once he caught the ball near the rim. Nine of UNLV’s 17 first-half baskets came off assists.
BYU had already found a weakness in the way UNLV defended Jaxon Kohler. The former Michigan State forward moved behind the three-point line after setting screens and was left open to catch and shoot. Kohler hit three first-half threes and scored 13 of his 19 points before the break.
Pastner said his coverage was getting hurt on those pop-back threes. When Kohler stepped away from the screen instead of rolling to the basket, the Rebels were late getting a defender back to him.
BYU also forced UNLV into hurried decisions. Brooks Bahr intercepted two passes in a first-half stretch, turning one into a layup. Later, Miles tried to throw a pass off a BYU defender near the sideline, lost possession and watched Robert Wright III score at the other end.
Kohler’s third three began the 11-0 run that erased most of UNLV’s 12-point lead. Wright scored eight straight points to finish the half, and BYU headed to its bench down only one.
UNLV’s defensive trouble took another form after halftime. Freshman Bruce Branch III had scored two points on 1-of-9 shooting in the first half. In the second, he began driving into the Rebels’ switches and finding Khadim Mboup heading toward the rim. Branch connected with Mboup for alley-oops when UNLV failed to account for the roller.
“In the second half, we got hurt on some of the switching where they would hit the roll underneath,” Pastner said.
Branch finished with 14 points and eight assists, including 12 points and six assists after halftime. He didn’t have to make outside shots to damage UNLV; once the Rebels sent a second defender toward the ball, he found the teammate who had slipped behind the coverage.
Mack briefly put UNLV back ahead with four straight points, giving the Rebels a 62-61 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining. Another contested jumper made it 64-63. UNLV never led again.
Wright converted a three-point play to put BYU ahead 66-64 with 7:57 left. Kohler then scored with a smaller defender on him following a switch, and Collin Chandler added a basket as the Cougars stretched the lead to 71-64. UNLV went more than three minutes without a point.
On one late possession, BYU disrupted the high screen UNLV wanted to use before the Rebels could turn the corner. Mack received the ball too far from the basket and was left to attempt a hurried three as the shot clock expired. On another, Miles took a contested three when the offense couldn’t get a cleaner look.
UNLV shot 40.7 percent in the second half and made only one of nine three-point attempts. Its nine first-half assists fell to three in the second.
“There were some points in the second half we got stuck or stagnant,” Pastner said. “We over-dribbled, over-handled.”
Chandler hit a three after Miles got caught behind a screen. Wright knocked down a deep three, and Chandler completed a four-point play after Cunningham fouled him on another make. Chandler finished with 23 points, while Wright and Kohler scored 19 apiece. BYU outscored UNLV 48-35 after halftime.
Mack was still able to get his own shot. He made 10 of 20 attempts, handed out three assists and committed only one turnover while carrying much of the scoring load. After 25 points against Utah and 26 Saturday, the Missouri transfer has 51 through two exhibitions.
Pastner likes Mack’s speed getting downhill and his ability to finish in traffic. He wants the ball to leave Mack’s hands sooner when the drive isn’t there. “We get stuck when he overhandles and is going east and west and there’s no movement,” Pastner said.
Miles had identified communication as one of his challenges in an interview with The Scarlet Standard on Friday. With Terrance Ford Jr. sidelined by a concussion, Miles knew running the point would require him to direct teammates more than he naturally does.
Against BYU, Miles played 36 minutes and finished with 15 points, four assists and two steals. Pastner liked his toughness compared with the Utah game, but Miles also shot 4-of-12 and committed five turnovers. The coach said he has to be louder when UNLV changes defensive coverages so teammates know their assignments before the play develops.
“He’s gotta be more vocal at the point guard spot for us,” Pastner said. He wants Miles to “be comfortable being uncomfortable using his voice.”
Jackson Kiss had three blocks, including two in quick succession in the second half, but the freshman also turned it over five times. Pastner said Kiss sometimes tries to “hit a home run play instead of just keeping it simple and hitting singles.”
One of Kota Suttle Jr.‘s turnovers was a good example of how the box score can miss the cause. Pastner said Kiss was supposed to stay behind Suttle as an outlet after inbounding the ball against pressure. Kiss drifted ahead, Suttle tried to send the ball back and BYU intercepted the pass. The turnover went to Suttle, but Pastner said Kiss had been out of position.
Williams had spoken with The Scarlet Standard on Friday about another part of his game. The Lindenwood transfer said a broken wrist had made shooting difficult last season and that he had worked on his jumper. He also described anticipating passes as a strength.
Williams missed both three-point attempts against BYU, but finished with nine points and nine rebounds. He got his hands into passing lanes, bothered ballhandlers during UNLV’s full-court pressure and collected three offensive rebounds. He didn’t have a steal in the box score, but Pastner said he produced many of the team’s deflections.
Pastner expects Williams’ points to come on cuts, putbacks and plays made in the open court. Foumena gives UNLV a different kind of finish around the basket. He made five of seven shots for 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds, four offensive. Pastner wants him staying closer to the baseline in the dunker spot, where guards can find him after drawing help.
The Rebels were playing with eight available players. Ford, Tyrin Jones, Tyler Harris, Issac Williamson and MJ Thomas were out, while AJ Storr remains ineligible. Miles played 36 minutes, Mack and Williams logged 33 each, and Kiss played 32. Pastner thought the group wore down, especially when the offense stopped moving, but he was not willing to excuse the turnovers.
He also said the missing players won’t automatically reclaim minutes when they return. Pastner believes trying to ease recovering players into the lineup cost UNLV games last November, and he doesn’t plan to repeat it.
“When guys are healed and healthy, if I feel like we have a group that’s playing well and ready to go, I’m going to go with that group,” Pastner said. “Because my only objective is to win the game.”
UNLV hosts Missouri on Thursday, Oct. 29, in its final exhibition before opening the regular season against Northern Arizona on Nov. 3. Pastner wanted opponents good enough to expose mistakes before the schedule counted. His team has committed 36 turnovers in two games.
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