Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Rebels escape Southern Utah with first road victory

UNLV Beats WKU BBall

L.E. Baskow

UNLV guard Jovan Mooring (30) looks to the basket with free throws coming versus WKU during their game at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016.

Road wins aren’t supposed to come easy, and for UNLV, this one didn’t. For most of the second half, underdog Southern Utah was threatening to overwhelm the Rebels with a wave of home-court momentum, but Marvin Menzies’ crew found a way to overcome some adversity in a tough environment and push through for an 89-81 win in their first game away from home.

Had UNLV lost, there would have been ample excuses to spread around. First on the list would have been the whistles, as sophomore point guard and leading scorer Jalen Poyser found himself in early foul trouble and spent most of the first half on the bench with zero points, and sophomore wing Kris Clyburn (15 points, 6-of-6 field goals) battled foul trouble himself before being disqualified in the final minutes. Second would have been inexperience on the road, as there were a few moments midway through the second half when it seemed like Southern Utah couldn’t miss (7-of-13 from 3-point range in the second half), and the crowd at the Centrum Arena came roaring to life in a way that UNLV hadn’t been exposed to yet this season. And third, throw in the fact that Southern Utah is coached by former UNLV assistant and interim head coach Todd Simon, and the distraction angle was in play, too.

Instead of conceding, the Rebels pushed through, largely on the back of junior forward Dwayne Morgan (19 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks) and junior guard Jovan Mooring, who went on one of his now-patented scoring spurts to help UNLV pull away just when it seemed like the game was on the verge of slipping away.

After leading the entire game (often by double digits), UNLV’s advantage was down to 66-65 with under eight minutes to play, and the Rebels hadn’t converted a field goal in more than four minutes when freshman forward Troy Baxter threw down a putback dunk to provide some breathing room and quiet the surging crowd. Then Mooring took over, fighting his way to the free throw line twice before driving and dropping in a soft jumper from eight feet away to give UNLV a 75-70 lead. A few minutes later, it was 77-75 when Mooring stepped into a long 3-pointer from the left wing and buried it to make it a five-point game. A minute later, Mooring attacked the basket for a layup to make it 82-75 with 1:26 to play.

Mooring added a pair of free throws in the final minute to seal the win. When all was said and done, the Chicago native had scored 11 points in the final 6:39. It was the second time a Mooring scoring streak has bailed out the Rebels this season, and on Wednesday, the coach said he had a feeling Mooring was ready to ignite.

“You’ve just got to watch him,” Menzies said. “You just know. It’s a different gleam in his eye.”

Mooring finished with 16 points and five assists in 32 minutes, and his excellent performance was even more important given the Rebels only got 24 minutes out of Poyser (11 points, two assists, six turnovers).

Mooring pointed to his pull-up 3-pointer as a turning point, though he wasn’t sure his coach approved of the shot selection.

“I think it was just confidence,” Mooring said. “I just wanted to make a play for my team. I’m confident I can make that type of shot. I know coach would have snapped on me if I’d have missed it, but it was a big shot.”

Morgan also showed up in a big way, notching his first double-double of the season while playing his usual stellar defense. Most importantly, he stayed out of foul trouble and finished with a season-high 33 minutes. In the time Morgan was on the floor, UNLV outscored Southern Utah by 12 points, giving him the highest individual plus/minus rating on the night.

Southern Utah was buoyed by hot shooting from senior guard Race Parsons (15 points, 4-of-6 from 3-point range) and the all-around play of junior guard Randy Onwuasor, who tormented the Rebels to the tune of 19 points, three assists and two steals before fouling out with 5:01 on the clock, much to the relief of Menzies.

After the game, Menzies sounded like he was ready to jump on a bus, get out of town and celebrate the win.

“Every road game is a challenge,” he said. “I’ve been doing this 36 years. You get a road win, that’s big. I don’t care. There are going to be people complaining that we didn’t win by enough, and that’s fine. But we got it done and anytime you can get a road win, it’s a valuable thing, especially for the young guys to go through that experience.”

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