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March 29, 2024

Mooring heats up, leads Rebels over Cal State Fullerton

UNLV Edges Out Cal State Fullerton

L.E. Baskow

UNLV guard Jovan Mooring (30) slices in to the basket over Cal State Fullerton forward Jackson Rowe (34) and teammates during their game at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016.

UNLV Edges Out Cal State Fullerton

UNLV forward Dwayne Morgan (15) ensures that a basket counts over Cal State Fullerton during their game at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. Launch slideshow »

Eight months ago, Jovan Mooring was playing for South Suburban, a tiny community college (enrollment: 11,317) in the Chicago suburbs that competes at the Division II level of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

On Saturday, for one four-minute stretch, Mooring was the best player on the floor at the Thomas & Mack Center (attendance: 9,416), scoring 12 consecutive points to help UNLV pull away for a 77-68 home victory over Cal State Fullerton.

Mooring’s streak came at a time when the Rebels needed it most, as the offense was stalling and Fullerton was making a second-half push. UNLV was nursing a 51-48 lead with less than eight minutes to play when Mooring started his barrage, and by the time his streak wrapped up four minutes later, he had single-handedly pushed the lead to 63-54 with 3:41 remaining.

He did it by putting his head down and driving to the basket relentlessly. Ten of his 12 points came via the free-throw line, as Fullerton defenders were unable to contain him and were relegated to hacking. Once UNLV got in the bonus, Mooring only became more motivated to force the issue.

“Just be aggressive,” Mooring said of his mindset during his scoring outburst. “I felt like we had a lot of chances where we beat them off the dribble but didn’t convert on the play, so I just wanted to try to get to the line as much as possible. I’m real good at driving to the basket, so I just wanted to continue to put pressure on the defense.”

Sophomore guard Jalen Poyser also came through for the Rebels, scoring a team-high 14 points, including a big 3-pointer that beat the shot-clock buzzer and pushed UNLV’s lead to 67-58 with 2:06 to play.

For most of the night, the action was ugly at both ends of the court. UNLV jumped out to an early 14-3 lead, but the offense came back to earth and the Rebels finished the first half shooting just 36.7 percent. The defensive effort was a bit better, led by Dwayne Morgan’s eight rebounds and two steals, but once again the Rebels were plagued by an inability to protect the boards. Cal State Fullerton pulled down 12 offensive rebounds and won the overall rebounding battle, 40-27.

But just when it looked like things were about to come apart at the seams, Mooring responded by putting the team on his back. Though his situation now isn’t exactly comparable to his time at South Suburban, the one constant when it comes to Mooring is putting the ball through the hoop. He averaged 26.6 points per game last year, and those instincts were on display in crunch time against Fullerton.

Coach Marvin Menzies said Mooring’s ability to penetrate and draw contract is one of his strengths.

“He’s good at it,” Menzies said. “He’s a tough little kid who plays with a lot of confidence. He knows how to use his body and he’s very good at angles. … Offensively, he’s crafty. The guy averaged 26 points [last year] — I know it was junior college, but he’s a kid that has a knack to score the ball, and that’s one way that he does it.”

For the game, Mooring finished 10-of-12 from the free-throw line, all contained within his four-minute, game-changing heater.

The win improves the scrappy Rebels to 2-1 on the season with a home game against Northern Arizona set for Tuesday.

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