Blog: Rebels fall apart in OT, stumble to 1-3 in league play with 82-73 loss at Boise State

By Taylor Bern

Published Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015 | 7 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015 | 10:24 p.m.

Boise State 82, UNLV 73, Overtime

Game over

The Rebels managed to get this game to overtime, but once there they completely fell apart. UNLV committed six turnovers in the extra session as Derrick Marks led the Broncos to an 82-73 victory with 28 points.

UNLV falls to 10-7 overall and 1-3 in Mountain West play. They've lost four of their last five games and head to San Diego State on Saturday.

Pat McCaw scored a career-high 17 points, Rashad Vaughn poured in 20 with eight rebounds and after nothing in the first half Chris Wood slogged his way to another double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. That was enough to get this game that they probably didn't deserve to be in into overtime, but they collapsed once there.

Cody Doolin played all 20 minutes in the first half but barely got off the bench in the second half. He entered overtime and committed two turnovers, Wood had another on a lazy pass and Jordan Cornish was guilty of two of them, including getting a five-second call on an inbounds play when UNLV still had a timeout. That one essentially ended the game, though UNLV had little chance even if they got the ball in.

Boise State's James Webb III had a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds, including the emphatic slam that got the arena off its feet. Even Anthony Drmic, the Broncos' best player who's out for the year, stood up on his bad ankle to celebrate.

Check lasvegassun.com later tonight for a full report from the Rebels' loss.

Dave Rice has been to Boise State’s Taco Bell Arena — affectionately known by me and maybe no one else as the Big Chalupa — three times as a head coach. Twice he’s gone to overtime, and in the third appearance the Rebels had a shot to win in the final 15 seconds of a game that included Mike Moser getting tossed from the game.

Point is the games have been entertaining. Last year’s was the most dramatic, with the Broncos overcoming a seven-point deficit in the final minutes and then surviving by one in overtime when Deville Smith’s last-second 3-pointer was waved off.

Boise State coach Leon Rice sort of danced. It was a thing.

Now the Rebels (10-6, 1-2) are back in Boise to take on the struggling Broncos (10-6, 0-3). The game tips off at 8 p.m. Las Vegas time and will air on on ESPNU, with broadcasters calling the game from a studio in Bristol, Conn.

Boise State opened as a four-point favorite and the spread moved up to 5.5 at most places by noon today. Considering how well the Rebels have played in this venue the line movement a little surprising, although this current version of UNLV bears little resemblance to the previous three seasons. And this version is still looking for its first true road victory.

The victory in South Dakota essentially filled that category, but the Sanford Pentagon was about an hour drive from the Coyotes’ campus so it doesn’t technically count. UNLV will get two shots at road wins this week as the Rebels head to San Diego State on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip-off.

This is one of two back-to-back road trips for UNLV in Mountain West play. The other comes Feb. 21 at New Mexico followed by a Feb. 24 date at Utah State.

The Broncos lost their lone home league game on a buzzer beater against Utah State and they’ve lost on the road to two of the conference’s best teams, Colorado State and Wyoming. Overall they’re on a four-game losing streak since dropping a 48-45 stinker against Loyola Chicago at the Orleans Arena the same night UNLV defeated then-No. 3 Arizona a few miles away at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Boise State isn’t as bad as the 0-3 league start appears, but without senior Anthony Drmic, who played only seven games before going down with a season-ending ankle injury, the team is clearly limited. Senior Derrick Marks has had to take on an even bigger role, which isn’t great news since he’s the far less efficient of the duo, and Canyon Springs grad Mikey Thompson’s usage percentage has also taken a leap in Drmic’s absence.

The best things the Broncos have going for them are 3-point shooting, defensive rebounding and limiting turnovers. They’re not too versatile and if the 3 isn’t falling they’re in trouble, but on most nights the Broncos won’t beat themselves.

Bern’s prediction: I was a little surprised to see Boise State as bigger than a 3-point favorite, so when it moved even further in that direction I had no idea what to think. The games here have been close and UNLV is capable of pulling the upset, but it feels like someone(s) knows something I don’t. That said, I’m going with the upset. UNLV 69, Boise State 66

Season: 7-8 ATS, 6-8 O/U

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.