The UNLV Runnin' Rebels Drop Their Season Opener To UT-Martin Skyhawks

The UNLV Runnin' Rebels men's basketball team suffered a tough loss in their first game of the Josh Pastner era. In a night when they rededicated their court in a pregame ceremony for their former Hall of Fame coach, Jerry Tarkanian, and his wife, Lois. The Rebels led 43 - 39 at halftime, but ultimately lost by a score of 86 - 81 to the UT-Martin Skyhawks. While the Rebels were without Mason Abittan, Myles Che, Emmanuel Stephen, and Issac Williamson due to injury, this is still a game that they should have won. A big reason for that was their 22 turnovers, and there is no excuse for that. Head coach Pastner spoke about the loss after the game and was beyond disappointed in his team.

"I just want to apologize to the fan base for that opener, especially on the night of the rededication of the court for the Tarkanians," Pastner said. "I just feel sick to my stomach. There were things that we did today that I just did not recognize from our team. We did not practice like that. Twenty-two turnovers, we were doing things with the ball that we have not done for five months. Credit to UT Martin. We let them hang around. We had a couple of chances to bury them, but we made too many mistakes. No one is going to feel sorry for us. We've got to figure it out and in a hurry and find a way to try to bounce back on Saturday."

This loss is not a reason to panic, but Pastner is right; they have to figure it out and bounce back. Ball movement was the biggest issue. To go along with the team's 22 turnovers, they had just 16 assists. All the turnovers led to 21 Skyhawks' points, and UT-Martin had 19 fastbreak points in the game.

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn led the team in scoring with 18 points. It doesn't seem like scoring is going to be an issue, or rebounding for that matter. The defense should be okay, too. They just have to protect the ball and move the ball without turning it over. Granted, this is the team's first game of the season and the first game ever under Pastner. It should be expected that they have some work to do. Their next chance to get their first win of the season will come on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center against Chattanooga.

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