UNLV freshman Tyrin Jones has left the calls about his future to his mother. He still has a game to play. With UNLV headed to Tulsa for Sunday’s NIT matchup, Jones spent Friday talking about the work in front of him: strength, balance and free throws.
“It’s a quick turnaround,” Jones said. “We play Sunday, so we’ll just get our minds right, get our defensive mind right, offensive mind right.”
“For me, I was trying to get rebounds, get blocks, get my motor going, then offense was just take care of itself,” Jones said.
Jones finished at Irvine with 13 points, seven defensive rebounds, four blocks and two assists. He made five of seven shots in 31 minutes.
Jones missed two late front ends of one-and-ones at Irvine. Between them, Gibbs-Lawhorn blocked a 3-point attempt and Jones collected the rebound. Hamilton made two free throws with 2.9 seconds remaining to establish the final 75-72 margin.
“I give everything to the coaches,” Jones said.
“They helped me. I came in here just a little kid out of high school. I didn’t really know what’s going on, so they led me the right way.”
Jones pointed to strength and balance when asked where he had improved.
“The coaches really emphasizing playing off 2 feet is great for me because I’m so tall. So my center of gravity is a little different than everybody else. So we just get low to the ground, playing 2 feet. I feel like my game has grown in that aspect a lot.”
“Putting on weight and then just staying in the gym, living in the gym, getting 1000 free throws a day,” he said.
Jones went 3-for-6 at Irvine. The practice he described could matter immediately if Sunday returns him to the line in another close game.
“Great pride,” Jones said. “Just being able to have the opportunity to go to NIT is great for us and for Vegas just to show that we still got it in this city.”
Jones said his mother is handling calls about his future while he concentrates on the postseason.
“I haven’t really thought about it much right now,” Jones said.
“We’re still in season, so I’m just trying to win all these games I can.”
Pastner called it “hard to win there at their spot.” Tulsa brings a different challenge: four double-figure scorers and enough shooting to make late defensive help costly.
“They shoot a lot of threes. They make a lot of threes. They’re a great shooting team. They get to the free throw line. They make a lot of free throws. They score over 80 a game.”
Tulsa’s perimeter shooting will put a different demand on Jones. He has to help contain drives without leaving shooters open and finish possessions on the glass. At Irvine, his seven defensive rebounds and four blocks showed how he can affect a road game before he scores.
