UNLV’s comeback bid falls short as season ends with 70-60 loss to UK

By Ryan Greene

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 | 8:39 p.m.

Final, UK wins 70-60

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- UNLV ripped off a 19-2 second half run that had Memorial Coliseum on edge, as a 20-point second half Kentucky lead almost completely disappeared.

Then, Kentucky scored 8 of the game's final 11 points, and the Rebels were unable to complete what would have been an epic comeback, falling to UK 70-60 in the first round of the NIT.

The Rebels close the season at 21-11. Kentucky will advance to face the winner of tomorrow's Creighton-Bowling Green contest.

Jodie Meeks led all scorers with 19 points, including 4 consecutive free throws down the stretch to seal the deal. But it was fellow Wildcat star Patrick Patterson who was key in helping construct the insurmountable lead. The sophomore forward finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

UNLV was led by Wink Adams, who scored 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting in the final game of his Rebels career.

Joe Darger tallied 11, while Mo Rutledge had 10.

The Rebels in the end were unable to overcome an offensively rough first half which saw them hit just 10 of 30 shot attempts and 3 of 17 3-point attempts.

For full postgame coverage, including stories, video, photos, stats and The Rebel Room: Postgame Edition, stay tuned to www.lasvegassun.com/rebels.

3:39, second half, UK leads 60-57

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- This place gets quieter and quieter as UNLV continues to storm back from a 20-point second half deficit, now trailing by three with 3:39 to play.

Joe Darger just hit yet another 3-pointer, as 6 of UNLV's last 7 field goals have come from deep.

Boy, how much hot water will Billy Gillispie be in if this one slips away? I'm afraid we as even visiting media might not get out of Memorial Coliseum alive. Honestly.

9:21, second half, UK leads 56-47

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Two 3-pointers from Mo Rutledge, a trio of free throws from Kendall Wallace, then treys by Wink Adams and Oscar Bellfield, and what do you know? It's a ballgame again.

UNLV has atoned for awful first half shooting with a spirited second half run that came after they trailed by as many as 20 points here in the second.

Some of the life was sucked out of this building in the process, and Kentucky certainly deserved it, showing some lax over the last several minutes.

15:44, second half, UK leads 50-30

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Whether Joe Darger had two feet set or not, the kid is probably going to have to be on SportsCenter for the next 12 hours or so after Perry Stevenson threw home a vicious slam over the UNLV forward. A foul call against Darger allowed the UK junior to complete the 3-point play, pushing the 'Cats to a 50-30 second half edge on UNLV.

For a moment, it looked like UNLV could still have something left in the tank, as Tre'Von Willis threw down a two-handed dunk off a backdoor cut (the first dunk of his UNLV career). He then hit a pair of free throws and Wink Adams made a tough layup in traffic.

But Kentucky obviously still cares very deeply about making an impression tonight.

Halftime, UK leads 36-24

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Boy, if there is a stronger exclamation point to put on a UK response to UNLV opening the game on a 9-2 run than Patrick Patterson's follow-up slam at the buzzer.

Yes, UNLV did lead this game 9-2. But 3-of-17 3-point shooting and a 1-of-6 showing at the line allowed Kentucky to slowly make its mark and take a 12-point edge into the break.

Everyone knew coming in that stopping -- or at least slowing down -- Patterson and Jodie Meeks would be key for the Rebels hanging around in this one. And those two only have 13 of UK's 36 points so far.

Instead, guys like Michael Porter, Perry Stevenson, DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller hit big first-half shots to get the 'Cats to where they are now. UNLV's played scrappy and won some hustle points, but it all comes down to missing open shots (sound familiar?).

That said, some first half digits of note ...

--Patterson has 6 points and 6 rebounds, but that follow-up slam of a Miller miss was a resounding blow to UNLV's psyche you would have to think.

--UK is an efficient 14-of-29 from the floor and 4-of-8 from deep. The Wildcats are carefully picking their spots and getting good looks.

--UK owns the edge in rebounds, 22-16.

--Joe Darger leads the Rebels with 8 points, while some other usual suspects in the scoring column have been pretty absent. Wink Adams has 4 points, René Rougeau has 2 and Tre'Von Willis is scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting.

--Turnovers are pretty even. Kentucky has 7 to UNLV's 5.

--Give UNLV some credit for putting away 12 points in the paint so far against a much bigger team across the board.

--René Rougeau sat much of the first half after picking up two early fouls, much like last Thursday's loss to SDSU. DeShawn Mitchell had a big block on Jodie Meeks and played some quality minutes.

I'd say a lot of pressure is on Rougeau and Wink Adams to get things back on track early in the second half. Adams showed that he can score on these guys by putting it on the floor and getting to the rack. Plus, the Rebels won't have the video board distracting them behind the bucket this half while shooting free throws. Instead, they'll have massive blue championship banners.

7:41, first half, UK leads 17-16

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- This Kentucky team isn't all that impressive in terms of skill across the board, but their sheer size and athleticism is making a big difference so far.

When they've felt like it, working the ball inside hasn't been a problem, but UNLV is doing an excellent job so far on Patrick Patterson, as he has 1 point on 0-for-3 shooting.

Jodie Meeks, on the other hand, is starting to heat up. The nation's sixth-leading scorer (24.2 ppg) is now 2-of-6 from the floor with 5 points. He's finding his looks after UNLV kept him quiet early on. By the way, there's no way he's the 6-foot-4 he's listed at. Standing next to UNLV's Kendall Wallace (6-foot-2, tops), the two were eye-level with each other.

Some credit goes to Darris Santee and DeShawn Mitchell for valuable minutes off the bench. UNLV needs to show some depth tonight to match UK's never-ending flow of warm bodies and fresh legs. Mitchell blocked a Meeks layup from behind, while Darris Santee helped set up a fast break bucket with a hustle play on the other end.

Still, UNLV could be a head comfortably right now. The Rebels are 1-of-8 from 3-point range and 1-of-7 at the stripe.

10:38, first half, UNLV leads 13-12

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- It was only a matter of time before Kentucky figured out a way to take advantage of its size across the board, as an 8-0 run gave the 'Cats a 10-9 lead.

But UNLV is attacking inside, with Wink Adams scoring on a layup in which he drove between a pair of UK bigs, then Mo Rutledge getting two points off a goaltending call against Patrick Patterson just before the T.V. timeout.

UNLV cannot afford droughts in this one on the offensive end. If for nothing else, to keep this crowd out of it. The Rebels got a bit flustered during that run as the capacity crowd got pretty nuts.

Darris Santee is checking in after a DNP in the MWC quarterfinals against San Diego State. Also coming in is DeShawn Mitchell. Talk about a trial by fire for both of them.

15:55, first half, UNLV leads 7-2

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- UNLV hasn't played with this much spunk and feistiness in awhile, and the result is an early 7-2 lead in Memorial Coliseum.

Right from go, the help defense made an impact, as René Rougeau aided Joe Darger to force Patrick Patterson into a turnover on the game's first possession.

After a couple of minutes of feeling each other out, UNLV responded to a Kevin Galloway transition layup with 7 straight points. First, it was a Joe Darger threee atop the key.

Then, Oscar Bellfield took the ball right at Patterson in the same fashion he took it at Louisville's Samardo Samuels down I-64 about 3 months ago. Then, Adams faked Patterson out of his shoes for an early layup.

If this holds up, Kentucky's gonna have an unexpected mountain to scale.

Pregame, part three

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- How about a thumbs-up for UNLV walk-on Todd Hanni? The Rebels walk-on took off by car yesterday for Kentucky from Las Vegas, spending last night in Amarillo, Texas. Today, he hopped back into his red 2006 Chevy Impala and is now mere miles from the arena. His parents, who drove down from Indiana, have a spot saved for him three rows behind the UNLV bench.

--Gotta get the staples out of the way. As far as picks to click, Miech is taking Wink Adams. I'm taking Tre'Von Willis. Something tells me that Derrick Jasper was sure to offer up some tips on shutting down his former roommate -- Jodie Meeks -- to his new roommate. Just a guess. As for scores, Rob is going with 67-66, UNLV. I'm taking Kentucky, 66-63.

--I have never seen Joe Darger dunk the ball in warmups. Not only did he just do that in a drill with the big men, but he yanked at the iron with two hands and made the backboard rattle. I think he's mentally ready for Patrick Patterson. Or at least Rebel nation better hope he is.

--A packed house. This place is pretty sweet. I'm not gonna lie. My only wish is that the 9 rows of bleachers high up across the way from us were filled. But we were told earlier that once the scoreboard was installed in here not too long ago, those seats could no longer be put to use because there are no emergency exits. Oh well.

20 minutes from tip-off. If anything else comes across us, you'll get it here first, as always.

Pregame, part two

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Wow. I covered hoops at Kansas for the better part of four seasons, but this place is a complete other world. No doubt about it.

First off, 81 local media members are credentialed for tonight's NIT game between the Wildcats and Rebels.

Walking around the Memorial Coliseum in my Las Vegas Sun polo shirt, I caught a couple of odd looks from folks in blue -- which everyone here wears, it appears. Couldn't quite figure out why.

It turns out that just about the entire state of Kentucky saw what my co-worker, Rob Miech, wrote today about former Kentucky A.D. C.M. Newton and the fact that the 19-13 Wildcats drew a home contest to open the NIT.

Another media member came up to introduce himself, and with a friendly tone informed us of some of the offense taken to what went up on our site and quickly spread among several UK fan sites.

Welcome to the Internet age, my friend.

Our new friend, who shall remain nameless, seems to think second-year coach Billy Gillispie's time could be done in Lexington pretty shortly, win or lose tonight. He also told us just how strange things have been around here lately with the 'Cats heading into the NIT as opposed to their usual cozy seat in the NCAA tournament field of 65.

"That's something you guys are more used to than us around here," he said with a snicker.

Take it how you will.

That said, this could be a Kentucky team on edge tonight. How could you think otherwise? UNLV comes in here essentially playing with house money. No one expects much from the Rebels. The oddsmakers say so (Kentucky is favored by 7), and the NIT committee obviously didn't either, sending them across the country to play in a wild bandbox.

Again, this is starting to remind me of New Year's Eve at Louisville. UNLV came in as a 15-point underdog, expected to be a nice punching back for the Cards to ring the new year in with. They played carefree ball without their best player on the floor and won.

I'm not predicting a win here tonight. In fact, I'm predicting UNLV to keep it close to the end, but I say Kentucky eeks it out.

And I know I've said it on several occasions this year, but tonight it makes the most sense -- we'll learn more about this UNLV team tonight than we did at any other point this season. If it can't get up to play a nationally televised game at Kentucky, then maybe 'it' was just never there in the first place.

Pregame, part one

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- At first, I highly doubted that we'd get in.

When we first attempted to go through the front doors of Memorial Coliseum to take some pictures, shoot some video and see the sights, Beryl Cooper quickly turned us away.

Then, after some sweet talk and a promise that we'd be quick, we headed up the ramp to the right. The building hallways have the smell of an old library, and after working our way up to the main concourse, we were smacked in the face with nostalgia and hoops history.

Welcome to the site of tonight's NIT opener between UNLV and Kentucky.

We spent a good 25 minutes inside of Memorial Coliseum this afternoon, and let me tell you, that place will be flat-out rocking tonight. The old wooden benches go straight up from behind each sideline. On one end is a tall brick wall with monstrous championship banners. On the other end, a modernized scoreboard -- the arena is still used for women's basketball and volleyball.

Before we left, Beryl, a guy who obviously knew his UK hoops history, made sure to point out one last feature.

"You see these NIT things around here?" he asked. "Well, they're not usually here."

We've sensed that that's kind of the way things are here this week: While no one wants to be in the NIT, they'll still show up to support the team, but sure want to get their parting shots in.

Even on St. Patrick's Day -- which features a 'Gettin' Lucky in Kentucky' green T-shirt in the UK bookstore windown -- the color of choice on campus and around town is blue.

After leaving the old barn tucked behind a cathedral-like building on the edge of campus, we made our way downtown to weasel our way into Rupp Arena -- current home of the Wildcats.

The arena is currently undergoing preparation for the state basketball tournament. If you don't think it's a big deal here, understand that Kentucky is one of two states that still has a single-class state championship in hoops. Old school to the bone.

It certainly took some more talking to get inside, but once granted entry (yes, a Kentucky High School Athletics Association official had to be contacted just so we could walk through the doors), only more history.

We saw exactly where Ashley Judd sits (when she shows up). There are rows of retired jerseys lining the rafters on both sides of the arena. The upper deck is massive and steep, comprised of only blue benches.

OK, history lesson now over.

We'll be heading back down to Memorial Coliseum in about 20 minutes.

A couple of thoughts before taking off ...

--I hope my head doesn't get wet tonight. For as nostalgic and historic as Memorial Coliseum is, it certainly shows its age in some spots. One would be the tiled ceiling with the water stains. But that's no big deal.

--I'm fully expecting UNLV to not look like the sluggish group that dropped its last two games against San Diego State. If this were instead a home NIT opener against, say, Weber State? I would. But this is at Kentucky. I don't care if the Wildcats were a disappointing 19-13 this year. It's Kentucky. It's on ESPN. This is a chance -- much like Arizona and Louisville were -- for the Rebels to prove themselves on a national stage. I expect them to take it personally.

I'll have plenty more once we get to Memorial in about a half-hour.