By Ron Kantowski

Mon, Nov 17, 2008 (2 a.m.)

Sam Morris

UNLV’s Joe Darger looks to get out of a double team during the second half of the Rebels’ game Saturday against the University of San Diego.

This was going to be the season that Joe Darger’s role changed, where he would get to pick on guys his own size — instead of ones built like grain silos — when UNLV coach Lon Kruger divvied up the defensive matchups.

That’s just what happened — kinda, sorta — in the Rebels’ 65-60, let’s-all-exhale-now season-opening victory over a University of San Diego team that was as stubborn as it was shorthanded Saturday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Darger, a small forward in terms of size and skill set, began the game on the Toreros’ Rob Jones. Darger stands 6-feet-7; Jones, 6-6. Jones weighs 230 pounds, Darger 225.

But Jones’ weight is distributed differently. It’s mostly in his arms and rear end. You could almost tattoo the alphabet on his biceps, which look more like ham hocks.

Darger does not sport a lot of tattoos. If he did, you’d probably get as far as ABC on his biceps. OK, maybe A, B, C and D. He’s a lot bigger in the upper body than he was a couple of years ago.

Darger still drew the short straw when Kruger divvied up the defensive assignments.

Jones scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. He was the best player on the court (although Brandon Johnson, the USD point guard, was pretty good, too.).

“Tough matchup,” Kruger said.

Darger was ... well, ordinary Joe. But that’s a good thing. He missed a few 3-pointers. Actually, he missed his first six. But when the game was on the line, he hit two huge ones. His two free throws after swooping in to rebound an airball with 2 minutes, 18 seconds left in the game gave the Rebels the lead for good in a contest that featured seven ties and 17 lead changes.

Last year Darger averaged 26.9 minutes, 11.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. On Saturday he played 27 minutes, scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

His minutes were nearly identical. So were his points. So was his knack for knocking down big shots and grabbing key rebounds.

And he still drew the toughest defensive assignment.

It should be noted that Jones didn’t get all his points and rebounds at Darger’s expense. During one stretch, Darger guarded Robert Mafra, the San Diego center (at least until suspended Gyno Pomare gets out of coach Bill Grier’s doghouse). And there were the usual defensive switches when he wound up guarding another guy in a dark blue shirt.

But I have a feeling he’s not totally done guarding the grain silos.

So does he.

“It’s definitely different,” he said about defending guys his size — or at least, the prospect of it. “But sometimes I’ll still be guarding the five (center) as well.”

Like he did Saturday. Like he will when the Rebels play small ball. Like he will when the big men UNLV didn’t have last year get into foul trouble, or aren’t matching up with their men the way Kruger would like.

Down the stretch against San Diego, both UNLV point guards — Oscar Bellfield and Tre’Von Willis — were in the game, along with Wink Adams, Rene Rougeau and Darger. Not coincidentally, the Rebels’ defensive pressure seemed to intensify. Especially Rougeau’s. His block of Jones’ baseline jumper inside of a minute to play with UNLV clinging to a one-point lead was big.

Beas Hamga, the 7-footer who might be more of a project than some thought, never removed his warm-up jacket, leaving Darris Santee (22 minutes) and Brice Massamba (15 minutes) to clog the middle. Darger outrebounded both of them, although Santee did clean the glass six times.

“It’s all about matchups,” Darger said. “Coach Kruger does a great job attacking the right player and getting the matchup in our favor. If you have a bigger, slower guy on me, we’ll probably try to pick and pop (shoot from outside) more. If they try to switch, our guards will attack them. Just try to get an advantage.”

Same thing on defense.

“It’s not a huge adjustment but definitely it’s an adjustment,” Darger said.  “I’ve got to work just as hard on defense and not let them catch it on the top (of the perimeter), either.”

One good thing about having a couple of guys such as the 6-8 Santee and the 6-10 (tall and wide) Massamba lurking under the basket is that Darger won’t have to be the last line of defense as much as he was last year.

He may even be able to overplay his man, go for a steal or whatnot, knowing there will be a bona fide big to watch his back.

“Yeah, it will definitely be a help,” he said. “We’ve got Darris and Brice, and those guys help us on the boards. It gives us another option this year. If we want to go small like we did last year, we can. If we want to go bigger, we can. Last year we didn’t have that option.”

Some believe Darger’s role in the Rebels’ success this year might be a tad reduced. And perhaps it will, once the untested point guards — who had just four turnovers between them and played way better (especially Bellfield) than they did Tuesday night in an exhibition game against Division-II Washburn — and big men get in sync with themselves and their teammates.

But in a tougher-than-expected season opener against a shorthanded opponent missing multiple starters, the Rebels found themselves needing clutch baskets and rebounds down the stretch. It was Darger who produced two of the former and one of the latter.

For one game anyway, Joe Darger’s new role looked a lot like his old one.