UCLA can’t dig out of big hole against No. 5 Kansas

The UCLA men’s basketball game Tuesday night was eerily similar to two harrowing losses from past year: the 39-point loss to Kentucky and the 32-point loss to Utah.

This game, a 93-73 UNLV victory, probably shouldn’t have needed a burst like that, but the Rebels (4-1) will take it all the same as they overcame an ugly first half to move past the Silverswords (0-4).

The Hoosiers rallied behind 3-point shooting in both halves – grad transfer guard Nick Zeisloft hit five over the course of the game and led in with 17 points off the bench. “You come here as a group, as a team, trying to find out your identity, trying to see who in your program has toughness, who can bounce back?” This should not be a surprised for a young player starting in his first game on a big stage. Senior guard Jerome Seagears finished with 12 points and 7-foot freshman forward Stephen Zimmerman Jr. added 10 points and 13 rebounds for UNLV.

UNLV was coming off a 77-75 loss to UCLA in the first round while the Silverswords lost 123-72 to No. 5 Kansas in the opening round, their worst loss ever in the tournament.

Chaminade had one final rally in them as 3-pointers from Shastri and Hu trimmed the lead to five, but just 12 seconds remained and Johnson made two free throws for the final margin. “But in the second half, Coach was just preaching we’ve got to bring energy and effort in the second half and play Runnin’ Rebel basketball, and that’s what we did”.

UNLV guard Ike Nwamu (0) shoots as Chaminade guard David Ware, left, defends in the first half during an NCAA college basketball game in the second round of the Maui Invitational Tournament, Tuesday, November 24, 2015, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Watching the first half of the UNLV-Chaminade game was excruciating because it was sluggish and offensively minimally thrilling (minus the breakaway dunk that, of course, Derrick Jones threw down half way through the first half).

“Um, I don’t know”, Jones said.

“All I know is that our AD was contacted today and they’re working on it”, Self said. He missed both free throws with. A few more makes at the line could have made a difference against UCLA, and today’s 15-of-30 isn’t good enough against most Division I competition.

Speaking to the same issue, Crean said the Hoosiers were “trying to make plays that weren’t there”.

“Our guys are playing with a tremendous amount of pressure”, Rice said. He is too talented and too important of a player to keep putting up performances like that. There is great tradition. Just like four years ago in Maui, Kansas was set to roll over UCLA in the tournament semifinals. Las Vegas Sun sports editor Ray Brewer and sports writers Case Keefer and Taylor Bern preview the event. “I can’t imagine that”, said Chaminade head coach Eric Bovaird.

UNLV: No. 13 IN in the fifth-place game of the Maui Invitational on Wednesday.

“Chaminade is the kind of team that can hang around and that’s what they did at the start”, Self said. Look for the Jayhawks to get back on track in this one and to face the victor of UNLV and UCLA. We had to fight through the aches and pains.

UCLA in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational has turned out dandy for the Jayhawks the last two trips to paradise.

Defensively, the guard play wasn’t particularly spectacular. He also took four shots, not one of them beyond the arc.