UNLV basketball faces daunting task, but current roster has faith

Kris Clyburn has a story for his UNLV basketball teammates. It’s about a community college program in Ranger, Texas, a speck-of-dust town between Abilene and Fort Worth, where nearly 19 percent of its population lives below the poverty line.

Last year, not much was thought of the Rangers, who were coming off a 2-23 season. They certainly weren’t expected to contend for a championship of the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference or make any sort of noise in the postseason.

The speck of dust wasn’t expected to create a haboob of wins.

“We won the league and advanced to the semifinals of the national tournament,” said the sophomore Clyburn. “Rankings or where you are picked don’t mean a…