Johnson leaves Mottola winded

Dalron Johnson was 9 years old when he woke up in the middle of the night breathing heavily and not able to take in enough air.

His mother, Brenda Pork, rushed him to the hospital where he was diagnosed with asthma, a condition that runs in his family.

As a precocious youngster, Johnson wasn't about to let that stop him from playing basketball and as evidenced by his raw talent, it hasn't since.

"Sometimes I feel it, but I just try to push it out of my mind," Johnson said after UNLV's big win over Utah Saturday night. "I'm doing what I love to do, playing basketball.

"I've been having asthma attacks since I was little. It's nothing new to me. Sometimes coaches didn't think I was playing hard, but it's really my asthma. If I have an attack, it feels like my lung is collapsing.

"I just want to keep playing."

During UNLV's impressive 72-66 win over the 19th-ranked Utes, Johnson's skills were on full display.

The 6-foot-9 freshman finished with 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and added four steals and four blocks in 36 minutes.

He scored nine of those points during a decisive 16-5 run that put the Rebels up 27-16 with 6:36 left in the first half and all but knocked the wind out of the Utes.

Johnson sparked the run with a dunk and ended it with a dunk, but there's so much more to his game. In between dunks, he nailed a 3-pointer and hit another long-range jumper from about two feet inside the arc.

He also had the dubious task of guarding Utah big man Hanno Mottola, the preseason Mountain West Conference Player of the Year and Wooden Award finalist who entered the game averaging 17.7 points and 4.9 rebounds.

Johnson used his long arms to pester Mottola almost every time the Ute star had the ball in his hands. Mottola committed five turnovers in the first half and finished with 16 points on 5-of-16 shooting.

"I was really hyped up to play," Johnson said. "I came out and played hard.

"Especially in the first half I didn't want my man to get easy baskets. That's all the coaches talked about with me, getting in his face and not letting him have his way. Tonight was important because I got to show my defense."

Mottola gave Johnson credit for his effort on both ends of the court.

"He's very athletic and fast," Mottola said. "He's a quick guy and maybe I forced a couple shots up there.

"Obviously he hit some big 3s and we didn't adjust to his outside shooting like we should have."

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