Chicago – Nevada-Las Vegas coach Lon Kruger and his son Kevin have turned a year-long family reunion into a sweet celebration.
They are heading to the Sweet 16.
“It’s special, it really is,” Lon said, looking over at Kevin on Sunday during interviews after a 74-68 upset victory by the seventh-seeded Rebels that bounced No. 2 seed Wisconsin out of the NCAA Tournament in the second round.
A 6-foot-2 senior point guard, Kevin Kruger snapped out of a shooting slump to score 16 points. He hit 4-of-9 attempts beyond the 3-point line with high-arcing shots that must have looked like rainbows to his old man.
It would be a shame if somebody doesn’t give Kevin the nickname of “Loophole.” He played three seasons at Arizona State and then last summer took advantage of a one-year window of opportunity that has since closed. The now-repealed NCAA rule allowed a player who already had earned a degree at his original school to transfer to another program and be able to play immediately if he had a season of eligibility remaining.
“I’m one of the hundreds of coaches out there who tried to stop the rule,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said, painfully explaining some irony. “I (thought about) a guy like Kevin Kruger and I thought, ‘We’re liable to play those guys and he’s liable to beat us.’
“I said that a year ago. Then he beat us with some big shots.”
Kevin’s arrival provided the Rebels (30-6) with a playmaker and 3-point shooter. More important, as he says in almost every interview, was being able to see his family on a daily basis.
The son stood and watched with a grin as his dad accepted congratulations from Ryan, signaling UNLV’s first trip to the Sweet 16 since the Rebels lost to Duke in the 1991 national semifinals. UNLV advanced to play third-seeded Oregon on Friday in the Midwest Regional in St. Louis.
“To see a member of your family be so happy is one of the greatest things,” Kevin said. “I’m sure my mother was up in the stands crying.”
Before arriving at the United Center for Friday’s opening-round game against Georgia Tech, the Rebels hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since the 1991 regional final over Seton Hall. The Rebels lost a 39-27 halftime lead, then took it back when a 3-pointer by Kevin Kruger from the top of the key put the Rebels back on top 56-54 with 5:46 to play.
Kevin was fouled while flinging a missed 3-pointer with 3:06 left. He converted all three free throws to make it 64-56, providing a cushion that was too much for the methodical Badgers to overcome.
Wisconsin became the tournament’s first No. 2 seed to fall. The Badgers (30-6) topped the Associated Press media poll for one week in February but lost 6-11 senior Brian Butch to a dislocated elbow in a Feb. 25 loss at Ohio State.
Without Butch, the Badgers lacked an offensive option down low when senior forward Alando Tucker needed to pass out of a trap. Tucker finished with 17 points, not far off his 20-point average, but managed just 11 shots from the field.
Lon Kruger coached in the Big Ten at Illinois before becoming head coach of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks in 2000. He prepared the Rebels for Wisconsin’s bumping and banging. They dished it back.
“(UNLV) is a hard-nosed, on-the-ball type of team,” Tucker said. “They were tough on me the whole game.”
Kevin Kruger, meanwhile, remained mentally strong. His 3-pointer from the right wing with 7:30 remaining in the first half, which became a four-point play because he was fouled, snapped an 0-for-11 drought on 3-point attempts that included missing all eight attempts Friday against Georgia Tech.
“I just told him today to only worry about the next play,” Lon Kruger said.
No doubt with that special wink only a father can give his son.
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
