3 takeaways: Short-handed Rebels blow past Pepperdine — PHOTOS

Kevin Kruger praised the UNLV men’s basketball team’s “readiness” after it beat Pepperdine 80-59 on Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Rebels cruised to the victory, establishing a 46-17 lead at halftime.

Their coach said he believes they were partially fueled by the anxiety of having to figure things out with three injured players sitting on the bench.

Guards Jaden Henley and Jace Whiting were out with foot injuries, while forward Rob Whaley Jr. missed his second game of the season with a lower back injury.

Things got a little more complicated when starting guard Jailen Bedford racked up three fouls before the midway point of the first half. Kruger called that a “curveball.”

“There was a lot of unknown kind of going into this game in terms of what lineup was going to work best for us,” Kruger said. “I thought that even when there were times where maybe we weren’t 100 percent sure of what was going to happen, we played really hard. I think that was the difference.”

Brooklyn Hicks came off the bench to lead the Rebels (3-1) with 16 points, while point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. added 13 points and six assists.

Stefan Todorovic, the No. 7 scorer in the nation at 25.0 points per game, was held to 19 for the Waves (1-3).

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. ‘Personal’

In Henley’s absence, Julian Rishwain got his first start as Rebel. The sixth-year guard recorded 12 points, two assists and a rebound.

Rishwain transferred to UNLV from Florida, also having played at San Francisco and Boston College. He said he also has history with Pepperdine, which gave the contest some extra significance.

“It’s a personal game for me,” Rishwain said. “I actually thought I was going to go to Pepperdine before all this. And whatever happened, happened. And I’m here, and I’m really happy I’m here. I found a staff that really embraced my game, and it showed tonight.”

2. Defense

Kruger has put a big emphasis on defense, telling the Rebels at Tuesday’s practice that they can’t just “hope teams miss.”

He wanted to see more aggression and communication, and the Rebels provided that Wednesday.

UNLV limited the Waves to just five points in the first 10 minutes, and Thomas notched a steal that converted to a layup for Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry to give the Rebels a 20-8 lead at the 9:06 mark. Cherry finished with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

By the end of the game, UNLV had 24 points off turnovers, while the Waves only had seven. In the first half, the Rebels limited Pepperdine to four second-chance points by outperforming them on the defensive boards 13-6.

Pepperdine didn’t get any second-chance points in the second half.

“That’s something that we’re going to have to do,” Kruger said. “We gotta create some easy looks and some free points. And I thought tonight, as much as anything, we just did a really good job of converting those turnovers.”

3. Reserves shine

The early lead meant the Rebels got to give their reserves more time.

Walk-on guard DeMarion Yap saw his first minutes of the season. He entered in the final four minutes of the first half, and ended up with a rebound and an assist in 10 minutes of playing time.

The real increase in minutes came in the frontcourt, as 6-foot-9-inch forward Jacob Bannarbie and 7-footer Pape N’Diaye played for 18 and 15 minutes, respectively.

Bannarbie had three points and two rebounds, while N’Diaye recorded five points and six rebounds.

The highlight was N’Diaye hitting his first 3-pointer of the season to give the Rebels a 62-38 lead early in the second half.

Primarily a defensive player, N’Diaye previously said he’d been working on his shooting on his own. His excitement showed Wednesday, as he promptly acted out a bow-and-arrow celebration following the 3.

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.