UNLV's bid for first place falls short

PROVO, Utah -- -A share of first place was there for the taking Saturday, but UNLV couldn't take advantage of Brigham Young's last-minute generosity.

On a night when the Rebels' lack of intensity and poor defense should have gotten them blown out, they wound up suffering a 83-82 loss when Trevor Diggs' spinning 17-footer wouldn't fall at the buzzer.

Diggs broke down in tears on the court and had to be helped to the locker room by teammates and coach Bill Bayno, while BYU celebrated before a crowd of 17,432 at the Marriott Center.

The loss was doubly heartbreaking for the Rebels because a win would have given them a share of first place in the Mountain West. Utah's 72-65 loss at New Mexico gave UNLV a chance to tie the Utes at 8-2 in the conference heading into the teams' 9 p.m. meeting Monday at Salt Lake City.

Instead, with their second last-second loss to BYU this season, the Rebels fell to 7-3 and have only a half-game lead over third-place New Mexico (7-4). UNLV dropped to 16-6 for the season.

After learning of Utah's afternoon loss prior to their tipoff, the Rebels didn't play like they were ready to exploit the opportunity.

"I don't know if we were flat," point guard Mark Dickel said. "We just didn't play our best. It happens to every team, but I don't know why it happened tonight."

For most of the game, the Rebels were outplayed. BYU (16-7, 5-5) seemed to win every battle for loose balls, and UNLV looked lost defensively. The Cougars scored at will around the basket, as big men Mikeli Wesley (22 points) and Eric Nielsen (11) often got loose for backdoor layups.

But despite trailing 80-72 with 53 seconds left, and having lost Dalron Johnson and Dickel with five fouls, UNLV made a rally that nearly gave it a miracle reprieve. BYU helped out by hitting only 3-of-12 free throws over the final 4:10.

Terrell Lyday (17 points) and Wesley both missed pairs in the last 13.9 seconds. Lyday's misses allowed Donovan Stewart to drive for a layup and free throw that lifted the Rebels within 83-82 with 11 seconds left. Then Wesley missed his free throws with 7.7 seconds left, giving UNLV one more chance.

Against tight defense by Michael Vranes, Diggs drove the lane, spun and fired his 17-footer. It hit the front rim and caromed to Kaspars Kambala, but his tip missed and appeared to come after the buzzer anyway.

"I thought I had a good look," Diggs said.

Kambala led the Rebels with 27 points and Diggs supplied 21. Dickel had 10 assists, moving past Mark Wade for third place on UNLV's all-time list with 694.

BYU put five scorers in double-figures, getting 15 from backup guard Todd Christensen, who came in with a 5.8-point average.

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