Cool heads give UNLV victory

Kaspars Kambala knew it wouldn't last.

So he remained patient, which enabled him to score nine of his 13 total points in the second half to help the UNLV men's basketball team crush Nevada-Reno 98-79 Wednesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center before an announced crowd of 11,729.

The victory improved the Rebels to 3-0 and dropped the Wolf Pack to 1-2.

For the first half, Wolf Pack freshman Matt Ochs, Richard Stirgus and Joao Santos pestered Kambala whenever he touched the ball.

Their combined efforts limited Kambala to make only 2-of-5 shots without sending him to the free throw line.

But instead of getting frustrated with his three shadows, he did what he had to do defensively and shut down Ochs on the other end.

Kambala had three rebounds, one assist and two steals before half-time. Because of Kambala, Ochs made 1-of-3 shots before the break and finished with two points.

"I've been here three years and they do that every other game," Kambala said of the triple- team. "I just tried to hustle and get the ball on rebounds.

"The first half, all those young freshman guys have a lot of energy. Second half, then you can see they can't run against you any more because they're tired."

With that in mind, Kambala quickly attacked the basket and scored six points during the Rebels 21-9 run that opened up the second half and put the game away.

He finished with 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

The Wolf Pack were led by Adrian McCullough, who had 16 points.

Kambala wasn't the only one who put a smile on head coach Bill Bayno's face the day before Thanksgiving.

While the team needs to continually work on defense and not letting up when they have a lead, the Rebels continued to show signs of depth off the bench and in their starting line-up.

Point-guard Mark Dickel had another tremendous game with 16 points and a career high of 14 assists.

In three games, the senior is averaging 14.2 points, 7.7 more than his average last season.

Dickel made a 3-pointer, he drove the lane in traffic for lay-ups and he played with confidence on offense and defense.

"It's just so great to be able to play this style," Dickel said of Bayno's commitment to run and gun basketball. "I have to give credit to coach Bayno and all the coaches.

"They could have buried me a long time ago, but they stuck with me. For me, each game is my last because it's my senior year."

When Dickel wasn't taking charge, Trevor Diggs, who has also been an offensive jolt for the Rebels, was dazzling with the playground moves he probably learned while growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Diggs can shoot it from long range or off the dribble, with smooth shots off the glass or nice lay-ups in the paint.

He had a game-high of 20 points, while Danny Brotherson came off the bench to deliver 18.

Bayno doesn't like to refer to the five guys in the starting line-up as starters, but rather likes to term them beginners; ultimately, the only thing that matters to him is who produces when they're in the game.

Still, Brotherson and Chris Richardson, both role players off the bench, are making their cases for increased playing time.

Brotherson seems to find a way to score in even the ugliest situations while wreaking havoc on defense.

Richardson is a tremendous leaper with long arms that can also drive opponents nuts when he's on them. Against the Wolf Pack, Richardson had 11 points and four rebounds.

"I think a lot depends on the defense, what it gives us," Bayno said. "The defense gives guys the ability to step it up on different nights."

That has got to be a great comfort to the coach who wants the team to average in the 90-point range while holding teams to about 70 points a game.

And the depth certainly helped against UNR.

After taking a 41-35 lead at the half, UNLV started the same five guys, but Bayno was able to substitute many different combinations, letting his team stay fresh.

It didn't take long before UNR wore down, allowing the Rebels to run all over them.

"I thought our rebounding was better," Bayno said. "We really jumped on the boards the second half.

"The defense was also really good the second half."

archive