Rebels run past TCU

When its offense is running smoothly, UNLV has all sorts of scoring options. Senior guard Tre'Von Willis, who led all scorers, said losing was not an option.

Three days after getting run off their home court by Brigham Young, the Rebels showed resiliency as Willis poured in a season-high 22 points in an 83-49 victory over Texas Christian on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"We felt we let some fans down in the last game," Willis said, "and we wanted to come out and put on a show."

UNLV, 13-3 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain West Conference, had five players score in double figures in a performance that impressed coach Lon Kruger.

"Probably for a 40-minute stretch, it's as solid as we've been all season," Kruger said.

Showtime for the Rebels started about seven minutes into the game, when they began to rip off a 24-0 run and overwhelmed the Horned Frogs with fast-break dunks, layups and open jumpers that came as a result of fluid ball movement.

"That was the best rhythm we've had in transition," Willis said.

Sophomore guards Justin Hawkins and Anthony Marshall subbed in when UNLV trailed by two, and each hit a jumper to spark the surge.

"Anthony continues to attack and be the aggressor. Justin is just disruptive and he gets his hands on so many balls," Kruger said. "I thought those guys were at the heart of that run."

The Rebels started slowly, shooting 3-for-11 from the field and falling behind 12-8. But they easily erased the deficit and never looked back.

Chace Stanback made a 3-pointer and followed with a dunk to put UNLV up 19-12 with 11:04 left. Willis strung together a three-point play and two free throws to stretch the lead to 32-12.

"We decided to play for each other. It was real fun out there," said Hawkins, who had four steals, all in the first half. "I didn't even know we had a 24-0 run. It happened so fast. When you're on the court, you really don't think about that."

The Horned Frogs (9-8, 0-2) finally stopped the onslaught when Greg Hill hit three free throws to make it 32-15 with 7:33 to go.

Stanback emerged from a scoring slump with 14 points on 5-for-5 shooting to help the Rebels to a 49-28 halftime lead. The junior forward finished with 15 points.

Hawkins scored 13 points, Marshall had 11 and freshman forward Carlos Lopez added 10 for UNLV, which shot 30-for-59 (50.8 percent) from the field.

The Rebels pressured TCU into 23 turnovers, 10 by guard Ronnie Moss.

Horned Frogs point guard Hank Thorns, a Valley High product, came off the bench and had nine points, five assists and four turnovers in 38 minutes.

Garlon Green's 11 points and six rebounds led TCU, which dropped its league opener 66-53 to No. 6 San Diego State.

The Rebels, who rebounded from an 89-77 loss to No. 15 BYU, hit the road to face the Aztecs (17-0, 2-0) on Wednesday.

"We know we'll have to go in there and play great to have a chance," Kruger said.

■ NOTES -- After the game, UNLV received a commitment from 6-foot freshman point guard Reggie Smith, a transfer from Marquette. Smith was on his official visit.

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

UNLV 83

Texas Christian 49

TCU Min FG-A FT-A R A PF TP

Gacesa 27 2-5 2-4 6 0 0 8

Green 33 3-10 2-2 6 1 3 11

Moss 26 2-8 2-2 5 2 2 7

Cadot 19 1-3 0-0 5 1 2 2

Hill 13 0-3 4-5 0 0 3 4

Ray 10 0-2 0-0 0 1 3 0

Fields 21 3-4 0-0 4 0 3 6

Thorns 38 4-11 0-0 2 5 3 9

Cerina 13 1-5 0-0 1 0 4 2

TOTALS 200 16-51 10-13 30 10 23 49

Field goals--31.4%. Free throws--76.9%.

Three-point goals--7-22 (Green 3-7, Gacesa 2-4, Moss 1-3, Thorns 1-6, Hill 0-2). Team rebounds--1. Blocked shots--1 (Green). Turnovers--23 (Moss 10, Fields 4, Thorns 4, Green 2, Hill, Cadot, Gacesa). Steals--1 (Cerina).

UNLV Min FG-A FT-A R A PF TP

Stanback 23 5-6 3-4 7 3 0 15

Massamba 13 1-1 0-0 3 0 4 2

Bellfield 25 0-9 0-0 1 3 0 0

Jasper 24 3-9 0-2 5 2 1 6

Willis 30 7-14 7-7 7 3 3 22

Thomas 13 1-3 2-4 6 0 1 4

Marshall 29 3-5 5-8 2 5 1 11

Norman 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Lopez 14 4-5 2-2 3 0 3 10

Martinez 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Hawkins 22 6-7 1-2 2 1 3 13

TOTALS 200 30-59 20-29 38 17 16 83

Field goals--50.8%. Free throws--69.0%.

Three-point goals--3-16 (Stanback 2-2, Willis 1-4, Marshall 0-1, Jasper 0-4, Bellfield 0-5). Team rebounds--2. Blocked shots--4 (Jasper, Massamba, Thomas, Stanback). Turnovers--10 (Norman 2, Thomas 2, Stanback, Martinez, Massamba, Lopez, Marshall, Willis). Steals--13 (Willis 5, Hawkins 4, Bellfield 3, Lopez).

A--12,155. Officials--Mike Scyphers, Gerry Pollard, Mike Giarratano. Technical fouls--None.

Texas Christian 28 21 -- 49

UNLV 49 34 -- 83