Rebels' win secures title, tourney bye

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- This time, half was plenty from Shawn Marion. And the smile he was wearing as he emerged from the locker room at Moby Arena proved it.

There was no need for Marion to score 34 points, as he did in a Monday loss to TCU, for UNLV to win. The junior forward provided 17 Thursday against Colorado State, pulled down 15 rebounds in the process and got some much-needed help from his teammates.

And the goal that was within sight over the last week was finally achieved -- a WAC Mountain Division championship.

It was a tried-and-true formula for the Rebels, who had been searching for that magic for the past four games. With virtually everyone contributing -- including the coaching staff with a little incentive-laced information -- UNLV found a way to do what it should have done a week ago. It won a game and locked up the division.

The Rebels found a way to score one more basket down the stretch. And they got a little luck at the end when John Sivesind's 3-point attempt to tie in the final three seconds fell short, giving UNLV a 64-61 victory, the Rebels' first at Moby Arena for the first time in 15 years.

So if you're making plans to attend next week's WAC Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center, pencil in UNLV for a 9 p.m. quarterfinal clash on Thursday.

The opponent won't be determined until after the season concludes Saturday. There are three teams tied at 7-6 (Rice, SMU and TCU) and one of those will finish fifth. Whoever finishes fifth in the WAC Mountain plays the fourth-place team from the Pacific, either Texas-El Paso or Fresno State.

That game will be played at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. The winner gets UNLV Thursday.

"It shows what these guys are made of," coach Bill Bayno said of his much-maligned division champs who impoved to 9-4 in the WAC Mountain, 16-10 overall with Saturday's regular-season finale at Wyoming to play.

By winning, the Rebels catch a couple of big breaks. Not only do they get a couple of days off to rest and prepare, they need only three wins instead of four to capture the WAC tourney championship. And as an added bonus, UNLV is seeded opposite Utah, the winner of the Pacific Division. The only way the Rebels and Utes can meet is in the title game next Saturday.

Marion dominated Thursday night, but not to the extent he did against TCU Monday. However, he scored the basket that sealed the deal when he put back his own missed layup with 19 seconds to go, putting the Rebels ahead 64-60.

Greedy Daniels played 21 minutes. He gave the team an energy boost with his pressure defense and also scored 13 points, including three straight field goals down the stretch to put UNLV back in front.

The backcourt accounted for 35 of UNLV's 64 points. That took a lot of the burden off Marion.

Over the final six minutes, UNLV outscored Colorado State 14-6. The Rams made just two field goals in crunch time. And they couldn't make a free throw. CSU shot 43 percent from the foul line, a season-low.

"I was disappointed because we missed opportunities," CSU coach Ritchie McKay said. "We have shot 69 percent all year. We're at home. I felt sure we would be able to knock them down."

Perhaps if Kevin Simmons was wearing a gold uniform, Colorado State would have won. UNLV's 6-8 senior forward had a bizarre night. He missed all nine of his field goal attempts, but he was a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line.

This from the same guy who couldn't make a free throw the other night against TCU?

"It's a mental thing," he said. "You just have to get over it. Once I did, I was fine. All I did was step up and concentrate."

That wasn't the case in the first half. Struggling offensively and turning the ball over seven consecutive times, the Rebels found themselves down by as many as 12 and trailed by 10 at intermission, 36-26.

But with everything seemingly working against them, the Rebels found their legs, started to force the tempo and make shots.

And in the midst of the comeback came the news from Texas. There was a little over a minute to go when the UNLV bench got word that Tulsa had defeated Southern Methodist in Dallas while Texas Christian had beaten Rice.

The message was simple -- win the game and you win the WAC Mountain Division.

"That got us pumped up," Herod said.

Hoop du jour

Chris Richardson came off the bench and gave the team a defensive boost with consecutive blocked shots in the first half. Herod also had a pair of swats as well as two steals. ... Andre McKanstry led CSU with 19 points, but was just 5-for-10 at the foul line. Milt Palacio had 17 after going for 31 against UNLV the first time. ... The team departed for Laramie immediately after the game and will go through a light workout today at the Arena-Auditorium. Wyoming kept its faint WAC tourney hopes alive by beating Air Force Thursday. For the Cowboys to get in, they must beat UNLV Saturday and hope Colorado State loses to Air Force.

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