It’s time for UNLV’S Shakur Juiston to pass on the passes and shoot more

Is Shakur Juiston passing too much? The senior forward has always been willing to move the ball, and he takes pride in his unselfishness on the offensive end. He prioritizes making the right play at all times, no matter whether it’s going to show up is his stat line. And that attitude is admirable — until it starts hurting the team.

UNLV is a better team when Juiston is scoring at a high rate, and Saturday’s loss to Cincinnati was a prime example of why the Rebels need him to step forward on the offensive end. In the 65-61 defeat, Juiston attempted just three shots from the field while committing five turnovers. Just a couple buckets from the Juice Box would have changed the complexion of the game, but his unwillingness to shoot — even when he had open looks just inches from the rim — stood out more than it has all season.

He finished with a career-low three points (all from the free-throw line) in 23 minutes.

Juiston’s numbers have taken a noticeable dip from his junior campaign. Through seven contests, he is averaging 11.0 points on 45.6 percent from the field, which is not the kind of production that was expected coming off his excellent 2017-18 UNLV debut (14.6 points, 64.7 field goal percentage).

When last year’s leading scorer, Brandon Mccoy, left UNLV to enter the NBA draft, it was widely assumed that Juiston would simply assume Mccoy’s role in the offense. Juiston would get the bulk of Mccoy’s post touches, shoot more often and score more points. But a quarter of the way through the 2018-19 season, that simply hasn’t happened.

Juiston’s role in the Rebels’ offense still appears to be a work in progress. His usage rate is higher than last year, but not markedly so. As a junior, his usage rate was 16.1 percent; this season it’s been bumped up slightly to 18.8 percent. After averaging 13.6 field-goal attempts per 40 minutes last year, he has dropped to 13.1 so far this season.

So why is one of the most efficient scorers in the Mountain West not shooting more often?

The simple answer is that Juiston is passing up too many scoring opportunities. That shows up in his turnover rate, which has spiked from 17.9 percent last