Blog: Rebels’ pressure too much for Southern Utah in 84-64 victory

By Taylor Bern

Published Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015 | 6 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015 | 9:39 p.m.

UNLV 84, Southern Utah 64

Game over

Pat McCaw scored a career-high 24 points, Stephen Zimmerman Jr. notched his second career double-double and the Rebels pulled away in the final eight minutes for an 84-64 victory against Southern Utah. The Rebels next game will be on Monday night against UCLA in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

UNLV's pressure defense forced 12 first-half turnovers and Southern Utah finished with 16 total while UNLV scored 24 points off those turnovers. The Rebels also dominated points in the paint 44-20 thanks in part to guys like Derrick Jones Jr., who had 19 points and four rebounds.

Southern Utah shot 8-of-21 on 3-point attempts and some of the makes were tough, contested shots that UNLV would be OK giving up so overall it was a really strong effort from the Rebels, who would likely face Kansas with a victory against UCLA.

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

Tonight the Rebels are back at the Thomas & Mack Center to round out their three-game, season-opening homestand against Southern Utah. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. and will stream on the Mountain West Network and Campus Insiders.

This won’t be the cakewalk that UNLV (2-0) strutted through on Monday against New Mexico Highlands, but it also won’t be as difficult as last Friday’s season opener against Cal Poly. Two years ago the Rebels won at Southern Utah by 22 and last season in the Mack they won by 34.

The Thunderbirds (0-1) return every key contributor from last season, and in their opener at Utah they trailed the Utes by only two at halftime. UNLV is favored by 13.5 points.

The concern from UNLV’s side is the 3-point line. That’s the only way for an undersized team like Southern Utah to hang with UNLV’s size, and the Thunderbirds hit 10-of-19 against Utah, so they’re capable of getting hot behind there.

Other than that this is an opportunity for UNLV to get more work against a zone defense and to see if they can find the same kind of intensity that kick-started Monday’s 62-point victory against a completely overmatched opponent. The Rebels face UCLA in five days, so their performance tonight will either inspire confidence or concern heading into the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

Prediction: I’m betting that UNLV will be able to build a 12-point lead into a 20-point lead tonight in a way it couldn’t against Cal Poly. UNLV 80, Southern Utah 63

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