Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Duke thumps UNLV 94-45 at T-Mobile
Rout of Rebels carries message for fans
The reunion of brands came 25 years later, a gathering of more than 19,000 witnesses in sparkling T-Mobile Arena, basketball programs in UNLV and Duke that once offered a few of the more memorable Final Four matchups in history.
That was then, and now is a lifetime from such significant games.
Forget the notion that reality is an illusion, because what transpired Saturday is very much an authentic example of where the Rebels are as a program in 2016.
Duke won 94-45 and once you get past all the gaudy numbers by the Blue Devils and highlight-making dunks
by Grayson Allen and all the ways in which the Rebels were overmatched at absolutely every position, you’re left with this truth:
It might have been the best thing that could have happened to those fans who follow UNLV.
This was the large red stain on the white dress shirt for the Rebels, the wakeup call for anyone who might still not understand the level of rebuilding UNLV faces merely to be relevant again across the college landscape.
This is how far the Rebels are from competing at an elite level, and it’s a considerable distance that might not soon be bridged.
The game renewing a rivalry that lasted over two seasons with UNLV winning the 1990 national title and Duke dethroning the Rebels in a ’91 semifinal might have taken a few years to arrange, but this particular version was lost in the months leading up to Marvin Menzies being hired as head coach in April.
He inherited three scholarship players at UNLV following the midseason firing of Dave Rice as coach and the predictable mass exodus of bodies once the schedule played out, and you would be hard pressed to discover more difficult jobs in sports than patchworking together enough talent capable of competing at the Division I level so late in the recruiting process.
It just doesn’t happen. Menzies was handed a program that became irrelevant in a matter of months before his arrival.
Others are at fault for the state of things, not him.
It’s a truth some remembered via Twitter following Saturday’s blowout, harsh words from fans aimed at the UNLV administration and this tweet from Trevor Hayes, a Nevada regent who offered his opinion on how the program was severely hurt through that forgettable process: 1 year #unlvmbb beats the B1G and PAC12 champs, then next it loses to Duke by 49. We know what happened. Everyone does. But the team that beat Indiana and Oregon last season is gone and what UNLV is left with is a side that just isn’t nearly skilled enough to stay with most good teams, never mind one in Duke that has every chance to win what would be a sixth national championship under coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Menzies and his coaching staff did an admirable job producing a roster for this season, but that’s primarily what it is.
A roster. Bodies. Good kids who play hard, but who are limited.
It’s one thing to overcome your multitude of deficiencies and almost beat a Texas Christian side picked last in the Big 12 Conference, but another to match Duke at either end of the court when your abilities are so far below those you’re competing against.
Put it this way: Duke might be ranked No. 5, but there aren’t four better teams nationally.
“(Duke) is one of the better college teams I’ve seen in a long time,” Menzies said. “Just very, very talented in a lot of different spots. Tough kids, make shots, rebound, just a really good team. It’s a Final Four team.
“I’m disappointed we weren’t able to put our best foot forward, and obviously not what we wanted to exhibit in terms of what we have been doing in practice and the steps we’ve been making. It’s tough to swallow. I know that I have better players than that.”
He probably has better players than 94-45, but not ones equipped to stay in this sort of game, or likely upcoming ones at Oregon and against Kansas.
It’s all relative right now with UNLV. If they can remain engaged mentally, the Rebels can compete most nights in what is proving to be a bad Mountain West, even worse than last year when it earned just one NCAA Tournament berth.
There will be ebbs and flows for UNLV until March, some highs and many lows. That’s what teams without a surplus of talent do, a sort of rollercoaster existence until recruiting victories balance things out and significant progress can be made over the next several seasons.
This is reality for UNLV in 2016, and if you didn’t believe it before Saturday, the tailwhipping Duke put on the Rebels should leave no doubt.
“Marvin has a brand in which (to build off),” Krzyzewski said. “It’s going to take time. We were 38-47 in my first three years and then — boom — we started being really good. And we’ve been very good since.”
Twenty-five years later, the largest crowd (19,107) to watch a college basketball game in Las Vegas since that ’91 season witnessed what it looks like when elite meets rebuilding, and it was overwhelming in every last detail. This was no illusion.
It’s also, crazy as it sounds, the best thing that could have happened to the UNLV faithful.
The road back to relevance is a long, choppy, difficult and, at times, humbling one.
If you were expecting anything else, you were kidding yourself. Contact columnist Ed Graney at egraney@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.