UNLV gets wake-up call in loss to No. 14 Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. -- Sleepwalking can be dangerous, especially so on the road, and Ben Brust opened UNLV's eyes to that fact Saturday.

Brust came off the bench to sink all seven of his 3-pointers and score a career-high 25 points as 14th-ranked Wisconsin walked and rolled to a 62-51 victory over the Rebels before 17,123 at the Kohl Center.

After a lethargic effort from his team, UNLV coach Dave Rice used words such as "disappointed" and "inexcusable" to describe a boring and slow-paced basketball game. It also was one-sided.

The Rebels (9-2) were sluggish from the start and only briefly inspired the rest of the way. It was nowhere near the performance needed to beat one of the Big Ten Conference's best teams. Only the home team showed up to compete.

"I'm really disappointed with the way we started the game. We need to start with a lot more energy," Rice said. "I'm not pleased at all with our execution at either end of the floor. There's no excuses."

But there were two sides to the story, and the Badgers (8-2) were crediting Brust for a brilliant shooting display. The sophomore buried five 3s in the second half, and the last turned back a late Rebels rally.

"It's a big concern. It's inexcusable. It's my fault," Rice said. "We need to do a better job of contesting 3-point shots. You can't allow a guy to take over a game the way Brust did that."

For the second time in seven days, UNLV was torched by a hot shooter.

Joe Ragland hit 8 of 9 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points in Wichita State's 89-70 rout of the Rebels on Dec. 4.

"UNLV has lost two games to two individuals who have a combined 15 3s," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "I don't know if you could ever find that in the history of 3s. UNLV is that good that it took a player getting hot."

The Badgers spread the floor, patiently worked the shot clock to single digits on several occasions, and then they "hit you with something from deep," Rice said.

Brust was shooting 42 percent from 3-point range and averaging 11.2 points through nine games, so he was more than a footnote on the Rebels' scouting report. But they barely noticed him until it was too late.

"The guy was hot. He didn't miss," said senior forward Chace Stanback, the only UNLV player to score in double figures with 16 points. "I just didn't feel like we were on the same page defensively in the beginning."

The Rebels were in a daze offensively, too, rarely getting their running game going against Wisconsin, which entered the game leading the nation in scoring defense at 44.2 points per game. UNLV, which shot 39.1 percent and committed 15 turnovers, was averaging 83 points, and its previous season low was 66.

"People were missing open shots and wide-open layups," Stanback said. "It's hard to come back on a good team when you dig that deep of a hole."

The Badgers blew the game open with a 13-0 run that started midway through the first half. The Rebels trailed 36-23 at the break and were on the brink of getting blown out before rallying in the final five minutes.

Justin Hawkins' 3-pointer from the corner pulled UNLV within 57-49 with 3:48 remaining. But Mike Moser missed a layup that would have cut the deficit to six. Moser then lost control of a defensive rebound, and the ball was kicked out to Brust, who buried his seventh 3 to seal the outcome.

"When he caught that, he was only thinking one thing," Ryan said. "I think he does that in his sleep."

Moser, the Rebels' leading scorer and rebounder, went scoreless in the first half and finished with four points and 11 rebounds. He has been playing with a sprained right wrist.

"Mike's a lot more hurt than he's letting on," Rice said. "He's also a little bit of a marked man because he's had success."

Moser, who shot 2-for-7 from the field, made no excuses, saying his wrist injury is minor and won't cause him to miss any time.

"I feel we definitely came out with a lack of energy. We just didn't have it in the first half," Moser said. "We better figure it out."

The lack of enthusiasm from UNLV's players was disturbing to Rice. It also was surprising how easily Wisconsin won despite its best player, senior point guard Jordan Taylor, shooting 0-for-10 and scoring only four points on free throws.

"We're still in a good position. We're 9-2. We would like to be 11-0," Rice said. "But we will be a lot better for having gone through this experience. It will toughen us up."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.