Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Rebels Basketball:

Blog: UNLV captures first true road victory of the year, 67-62 at UNR

UNLV loses to UNR

Jeremy Rincon / Ballislife

UNLV lost to UNR 76-72 at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno on Saturday, March 8, 2014.

Updated Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015 | 9:08 p.m.

UNLV 67, UNR 62

Game over

Christian Wood hit a huge 3 in the final minutes, Goodluck Okonoboh contributed 13 points and nine rebounds and UNLV held off a second-half charge to snap UNR's three-game win streak in the series and get out of Reno with a 67-62 victory for its first true road win of the season.

Wood finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, Rashad Vaughn had 10 and five and Pat McCaw poured in eight points with six assists. The Rebels' free-throw shooting nearly derailed them — 13-for-25 — but even when UNR had made its comeback and kept the game close, UNLV's defense wasn't giving up good shots.

UNR went more than eight minutes without a made field goal but UNLV couldn't extend the lead at the other end. The Wolf Pack switched from zone in the first half to mostly man in the second and UNLV wasn't able to handle it nearly as well.

Still, in crunch time for the second straight game, it was the Rebels making the key plays that led to the victory. McCaw did a great job setting up the offense and the bigs did the rest. McCaw and Okonoboh combined to shoot 9-for-11.

UNLV returns to the Mack on Saturday against Air Force. Check lasvegassun.com later tonight for a full report from the Rebels' victory.

The Rebel Room

Another shot at Reno

Las Vegas Sun sports writers Ray Brewer and Taylor Bern get into the Rebels' chance for vengeance at UNR after the Rebels managed to finally win a close game. Also, Brewer breaks down some of UNLV football's commits.

The Rebels know it can happen, because it just did. Last year UNR swept the season series with a pair of double-digit comebacks, and with a victory at the Thomas & Mack Center already in their pocket, the Wolf Pack are trying to duplicate the effort tonight.

UNLV (11-9, 2-5) tips off at UNR (6-12, 2-4) tonight at 7 in the Lawlor Events Center. The game will stream on ESPN3.

The Rebels’ Goodluck Okonoboh (foot) will be available again tonight, and despite some changes to their lineup the Wolf Pack should have everyone available. Since their last meeting both sides have tinkered with their starters for various reasons, and while individual results have been good in some areas, neither team has done well.

UNR is 0-4 since winning at the Mack, while UNLV is 2-3, with one of those victories coming with the asterisk of being against San Jose State. This is looking a lot like the UNR squad many expected after Deonte Burton’s graduation last season, yet it’s the same team that controlled UNLV and is looking for only its second four-game winning streak in series history.

According to kenpom.com, UNR ranks dead last in the country (351 out of 351) in 3-point shooting percentage and turnover percentage defense, meaning the Wolf Pack can’t shoot the 3 or create turnovers. On paper it’s hard to find a better matchup than a team that fails to take advantage of two of UNLV’s biggest weaknesses, yet again the memory of what the Wolf Pack did just three weeks ago is still fresh despite the ugliness of a 56-point loss at Colorado State since then.

As bad as the numbers can look, UNLV seems to bring out the best in UNR. It’s a strange situation, but if the Rebels don’t match the Wolf Pack’s intensity then they could find themselves on the wrong side of the series again, no matter how much better they think they are.

Bern’s prediction: There’s no way to really be confident about UNLV picks at this point, but I’ll say the Rebels finally get their first true road victory. UNLV 71, UNR 65

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

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