Utah tops Rebels, sweeps series

February 18, 2010 by Sage Sammons and Noam Amir-Brownstein 

UNLV loses for second time to Utah for third loss in a row

The once No. 25 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels lost 68-58 to San Diego State on the road, and against Utah they couldn’t get the job done either, as they fell 66-61.

The Rebels played flat early. They fell to a 12 point deficit in the first half. Despite shooting 40 percent in the half.

In the second half the Rebels came out a little stronger. They were about to tie the game with three minutes left but a few missed shots down the stretch hurt the Rebels, as Utah hit the game solidifying free throws.

Turnovers were the biggest problem for the Rebels. In the first half, they had eight, and finished the game with 13. Also for the third striaght game the Rebels were out rebounded.

Tre’Von Willis did his best to keep the Rebels in the game, as he finished with 32 points. However, he was the only player to finish with double-digits.

Carlon Brown led the Utes with 18. Freshman Marshall Henderson, who gave the Rebels fits in Las Vegas, finshed with 10.

In the SDSU game, the Rebels only shot 35 percent from the floor and made only three of 17 shots from behind the three-point line.

Willis led the Rebels with 17 points and five rebounds, but it was not enough to overcome Billy White’s 19 points and freshman Kawhi Leonard’s double-double (13 points and 14 rebounds).

The key to the Rebels loss came from the battle on the boards, as the Aztecs managed to pull down 15 more rebounds than the Rebels and tripled the Rebels blocks, 9-3, giving them the major advantage en route to the victory.

The Rebels next game will come on Saturday, as UNLV will return home for “Pack the Mack” day, which will be an afternoon game against the Colorado State Rams.

The Rams 15-10 (6-5) are right behind the Rebels for fourth place in the Mountain West but have been winning most of their games at home. They are coming off two straight road victories over Utah and Air Force.

UNLV is 10-3 at home but coming off a tough loss to New Mexico in their last outing at the Thomas & Mack.

The last matchup had the Rams hosting the Rebels on January 20, and the Rebels defeated them 80-72, sparking the Rebels’ most recent five-game win streak.

The Rebels outscore the Rams 74.8 points a game to 67.3, but CSU allows a little less at 64.4 points a game to UNLV’s 65.9.

Colorado State has three players scoring in double figures and are led by Dorjan Green’s 12.8 points.

The Rebels on the other hand only have one double-digit scorer in Willis, averaging 17.7 ppg. Two other Rebels are near the double digit mark, as Chace Stanback and Oscar Bellfield are averaging 9.8 and 9.5, respectively.

The two teams are battling to improve their conference standing, but the Rebels hope to defend their home court.