Mountain West Tournament - Quarterfinal

(3) UNLV 73, (6) Utah 61

The UNLV Rebels pride themselves on toughness and determination.  Throughout its MWC season UNLV passed that test with flying colors… with one enormous exception: the Utah Utes. 

Coach Jim Boylen’s Utah ballclub, which struggled mightily all season long in the attempt to develop consistency, defeated the Rebels in both regular season meetings.  It was the Rebels’ lack of physicality that cost them both matchups.   But the third time was the charm for the Rebels as they defeated the Utes, 73-61, in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

Both teams came out sluggish to begin play, combining for only 14 points in the first seven minutes of action.  However, the Rebels responded with a 13-0 run capped by a Tre’Von Willis 3-pointer.  It seemed that the Rebels had finally figured out the Utes, but a Utah team that has struggled mightily on the offensive side of the ball had enough juice for one run.  Luka Drca, Marshall Henderson, and Chris Hines hit consecutive threes to bring the Utes within striking distance at halftime, with UNLV leading by only four points at 29-25.  All the momentum had seemingly switched to the Utes.

But this game became a different animal in comparison to the teams’ prior two meetings.  The Utes lack a great ballhandler and UNLV head coach Lon Kruger took advantage.   The Rebels used a tenacious three-quarter-court press to disrupt what was already a scuttled Utah offensive attack in the second half.  With the score 31-30 in their favor, the Rebels scored the next 11 points and put the game out of reach.  Using the built-in home court to its benefit at this “neutral site” event, UNLV caused 15 Utah turnovers. 

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Anthony Marshall had a fantastic night for the Rebels, scoring 13 points to go along with 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.  The Rebels dominated the glass, outrebounding the Utes to the tune of 36-25.

The offensive struggles that have haunted the 2009-2010 Utes followed them to Vegas this evening.  The Utes converted only 13 field goal attempts and shot only 32 % from the field.  Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year David Foster was a non-factor in 20 minutes of play.  Foster suffered a severely sprained ankle in Utah’s recent loss to BYU.

The Rebels dominated the game so thoroughly in the second half that the free-throw discrepancy between the two teams went almost unnoticed.  The Utes were able to get the free throw line 15 more times than the Rebels, but were unable to mount a serious second-half challenge.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Rebels face a familiar Mountain West Tournament foe on Friday in BYU.  The two teams split the season series.  A win today almost assures UNLV an invitation to the NCAA Tournament.  UNLV has eliminated BYU in the MWC Tournament Championship Game in two of the last three years.  BYU has struggled mightily against the Rebels in Vegas. 

By: Zach Bloxham
DFN Sports Guest Writers