3 takeaways from UNLV’s loss at UNR

RENO — Three takeaways from the UNLV basketball team’s 104-77 loss to UNR on Wednesday night at Lawlor Events Center:

1. IT WAS BAD, AND THAT’S NO SURPRISE

UNLV was a 12½-point or 13-point underdog, depending on the sports book, so expectations were low that the Rebels would be competitive.

And they weren’t, falling behind 15-6 by the first media timeout and never truly making a game of it.

The lack of surprise about how this game played out speaks to just where the program has fallen. Even in last season’s 18-win disappointment, UNLV was expected to at least compete with its upstate rival, and that’s what the Rebels did in splitting the series.

First-year UNLV coach Marvin Menzies has to build…