LAS VEGAS — A blocked shot that ends in an opponent’s three is a miserable return on good defensive work. UNLV managed that against Northern Arizona. It also turned a three-on-two break into a basket at the other end and sent two jump shooters to the line for three free throws apiece.
There was plenty to dislike before the Rebels recovered to win 89-77 Tuesday. Their nine-point lead disappeared because they kept leaving possessions unfinished. Getting a hand on the ball was one job. Coming away with it was another.
Sebastian Mack and Cam Miles eventually took charge, playing the entire second half. Around them, Jeremy Foumena ran to the basket, MJ Thomas chased down misses, and the freshmen made passes UNLV needed against a zone.
The guards still carried the hardest offensive responsibility. Their teammates became much better at giving them somewhere to go with the ball.
From 13-4 to 31-43: The lead concealed problems
Foumena collected three offensive rebounds on the opening possession before scoring. Jones later rebounded a Foumena miss, and Miles made a three for a 13-4 lead.
Five of those first 13 points came on second chances. UNLV’s size was producing opportunities, but the lead overstated how consistently the Rebels were creating and finishing their first shot.
Ryan Abelman’s first three came with room in the corner. Josh Pastner said Jones needed to move closer and that UNLV had already recovered into its half-court defense. That was an assignment the Rebels had time to execute.
The second Abelman three followed a Mack turnover, two NAU offensive rebounds and a foul. UNLV had survived the initial transition chance and another miss, then failed to get the ball back. Abelman made the third shot of the possession.
Abelman got six points out of two different failures. Jones had time to get closer before the first catch. On the second possession, UNLV needed somebody to secure a rebound. More aggressive trapping would not correct either mistake.
UNLV’s offense offered little protection. Over the next six minutes and 37 seconds after Miles’ three, the Rebels scored five points. Misses came from outside and inside; this was not simply a team settling for jumpers.
The first substitutions came with UNLV ahead 13-7. Over the next three lineup combinations, the Rebels scored four points. That deserves attention, but Jones’ missed assignment preceded those changes, and Mack’s turnover followed them. This was everybody’s mess.
NAU took the lead on another unfinished stop. Jones blocked Lucas Toukam, Tamiel Green recovered, and Chris Komin made a three for an 18-17 lead.
Thomas then fouled Komin on a three-point attempt. He had already sent Noah George to the line for three shots. Those two fouls produced five points without requiring NAU to make a basket.
Komin scored 14 points in 3:17. His first three came after that offensive rebound; three more points came from Thomas’ foul. UNLV had handed a scorer two ways to hurt it before accounting for his other makes. Komin also assisted Abelman’s first two threes. Losing track of the shooters around him was expensive, too.
Mack supplied seven consecutive UNLV points as NAU pulled ahead, keeping the deficit manageable through drives and free throws. The offense still leaned heavily on his ability to manufacture something.
Even a successful defensive play could unravel. Jackson Kiss stole the ball to create a three-on-two, Jones missed at the rim, and Toukam scored on the return trip. The Rebels had turned an advantage into a recovery problem.
Green then caught near the basket, lifted Kiss with a shot fake and finished through contact. Kiss’s third foul helped make it 43-31. UNLV needed better decisions after the initial pressure, at both ends.
From 31-43 to 43-47: The comeback started before halftime
Thomas’ steal led to a Jones dunk off Mack’s pass. Dontrez Williams blocked Dylan Anderson’s three, Jones collected the rebound, and Mack pulled up for a transition three.
UNLV still surrendered another three to Luke Wieskamp.
But Jones made two free throws, Mack intercepted a pass and added two more, and Williams supplied another at the line. On NAU’s final possession, the press consumed time before Mason Dorsey’s late heave failed to reach the rim.
The shot-clock violation left Williams enough time to score before the horn.
UNLV closed the half 12-4. Mack scored five of those points; Jones scored four and Williams three. Miles did not score during the run.
From 43-47 to 74-64: The guards led, and the offense opened up
Miles created the first two baskets after halftime. He stripped Komin and assisted Williams in transition, then found Foumena running for a dunk five seconds after an NAU basket.
Both baskets came before NAU could make UNLV work through a set defense. Miles supplied the speed and the pass; Williams and Foumena supplied targets ahead of him.
His next steal from Komin produced his own dunk and UNLV’s first lead since 17-15. Cade Bennett immediately answered with a three. Mack answered him.
The guards were trading punches now. Thomas kept UNLV’s next miss from becoming an empty trip, rebounding Miles’ three and scoring for a 59-55 lead.
NAU again exposed unfinished defense when Green rebounded Komin’s miss and completed a three-point play for a 60-59 lead.
Against NAU’s 2-3 zone, Kiss had a different job from simply waiting for a guard to beat somebody. He caught in the middle and passed out to Kota Suttle Jr. for a three. UNLV could move the ball through an interior receiver, with Kiss responsible for the next decision.
After Komin tied the game, Miles scored in transition. Suttle then delivered the pass for Foumena’s dunk through a foul. Kiss, carrying four fouls, recovered the missed free throw, and Mack assisted Miles’ open three.
Five points on one trip, with all five Rebels involved. That is a possession worth keeping.
Foumena supplied the big finish, but everyone had a hand in those five points. Suttle found him, Kiss bought another shot, and Mack got the ball to Miles.
Pastner said Williams was tiring. Suttle gave that group another passer and an active defender, eventually collecting two steals. Foumena handled the finishing inside, while Kiss could receive against the zone and pursue misses. Miles and Mack remained available to initiate and shoot on the perimeter.
The execution remained uneven. After Suttle stole a Komin pass, Kiss missed a transition dunk. Miles recovered the ball, drew Komin’s fourth foul and made two free throws for a 74-64 lead.
Shot-making mattered, too. Mack went from 1-for-5 on threes before halftime to 3-for-4 afterward. NAU fell from 8-for-13 to 3-for-10. Better passing helped UNLV, but the swing cannot all be credited to a tactical adjustment. The Rebels’ best scorer made shots while Northern Arizona’s perimeter production cooled.
From 74-67 to 81-67: Jones helped close the door
NAU’s next answer showed the press still had vulnerabilities. It escaped with a long pass, Toukam drove from the corner, and Abelman stepped into a three off his return pass.
The escape pass had beaten the trap. Toukam’s drive then made UNLV defend another action, and Abelman was available on the kickout. The press needed help behind it.
With the lead down to seven, Jones supplied the next meaningful advantage. He caught after a flare screen, drove left and drew Toukam’s fifth foul. His free throws made it 76-67 and removed a 16-point scorer.
Then Foumena rebounded a Komin miss. Suttle advanced, pulled the ball back out and found Miles. The ball moved through Jones to Mack for a three.
Suttle recognized that the immediate transition chance was gone. The possession survived long enough for another teammate to finish it.
On the next trip, a corner trap forced Max Majerle’s long pass out of bounds. Jones scored afterward. Four of the seven points that doubled the lead belonged to Jones.
Pastner will still find plenty of reasons to pause the film. Mack finished with six turnovers, including a late spin and failed pass that preceded a Komin three. NAU scored 14 paint points in each half. Better second-half results did not erase the interior problems.
But Foumena answered that Komin three by running ahead for another dunk, then finished a later Mack pass at the rim. His movement gave the guards somewhere useful to send the ball.
Mack and Miles scored 24 of UNLV’s 46 second-half points and delivered five of its nine assists. They were still doing much of the creating. Foumena’s 11 points included finishes they provided; crediting the center should not erase who got him the ball.
But Kiss finding Suttle, Suttle finding Foumena and Jones feeding Mack were decisions made by somebody else. Those possessions gave the guards help beyond a teammate converting their pass.
UNLV needs more of those possessions. Mack cannot be asked to rescue every stalled possession, and Miles cannot outrun a set defense all night. The encouraging part was seeing teammates give them useful options when the first chance was gone.
