Willis’ 30 points propel UNLV past TCU

FORT WORTH, Texas -- It took some time for Tre'Von Willis to show it, but what he's doing now is what he always expected. Never has the UNLV junior guard played better basketball.

His immense scoring abilities are no longer a secret, and he's collecting admirers around the Mountain West Conference.

"To me, to this point and from what I've seen, he's the best player in the league," Texas Christian coach Jim Christian said.

Willis scored a career-high 30 points and sophomore forward Chace Stanback tied his career high with 19, carrying the Rebels to a 79-70 victory over the Horned Frogs on Saturday.

Willis and Stanback combined to score 21 consecutive points for UNLV (16-4, 4-2 MWC) late in the second half.

"That's crazy. I didn't know that," Stanback said. "We kind of feed off each other. When Tre gets the ball, I know he's going to attack, and if he doesn't have it, he's going to look for me."

Willis has scored 20 points or more in all six conference games.

"I'm definitely starting to get in my groove right now," Willis said. "I'm the type of person who expects a lot of myself. My expectations are very high."

Willis' 13 points pushed the Rebels to a 38-30 halftime lead, but they were unable to run away with the game. The Horned Frogs fought back to tie the score at 60 on Ronnie Moss' three-point play with 8:35 remaining.

Stanback and Willis strung together the next nine points, with Willis' only 3-pointer putting UNLV up 69-60 with 4:30 left.

"The defense has got to pick their poison a little bit and either focus on me or focus on Chace," said Willis, who shot 9-for-14 from the field and 11-for-14 on free throws.

After Willis missed two free throws, Zvonko Buljan's layup pulled TCU to within 72-70 with 1:05 remaining, inciting the crowd of 4,270 at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Willis was fouled on a drive and made two free throws with 50 seconds left.

Stanback then quieted the crowd. He stole a pass, was fouled by Buljan and made two free throws with 35 seconds left to make the score 76-70. Stanback shot 8-for-12 and matched his 19 points in the Rebels' victory at Colorado State on Wednesday.

Willis became the first UNLV player to register a 30-point game since Wink Adams scored 33 in a victory against Wyoming on Jan. 23, 2008.

"It's great to see Tre and Chace do what they're doing," Rebels coach Lon Kruger said. "Tre just played at a great pace. He was not rushing anything.

"I like what he's doing right now. His game continues to mature. He's playing with such a high level of confidence, he's hard to guard."

The 6-foot-4-inch Willis used his size and strength to drive by and shoot over an assortment of TCU defenders, most often the 6-2 Moss and 6-2 Xavier Roberson.

"I was getting the ball in the 15-, 18-foot range with smaller defenders on me," said Willis, who also had six rebounds and four assists. "I had a lot of one-on-one situations, and I tried to take advantage of that."

UNLV was able to exploit mismatches all over the floor en route to shooting a season-high 59.2 percent (29-for-49). Willis was the offense's impetus.

"He's such a hard matchup because he's got great size, he can post, he can shoot 3s, he drives the ball and he's hard to foul," Christian said.

Willis was limited to 11 points last January, when UNLV was upset 80-73 by the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth.

"We came into this building last year and went home disappointed," Willis said. "We knew this was a big game."

Nikola Cerina led the Horned Frogs (10-10, 2-3) with 14 points. Buljan and Greg Hill each scored 13 for TCU, which stuck close by hitting 11 of 27 3-pointers.

The Rebels also showed off a stronger inside presence, as big men Matt Shaw, Brice Massamba and Darris Santee combined for 22 points on 9-for-10 shooting.

Kruger started Massamba in place of Shaw, who came off the bench for the first time since Dec. 12. Shaw made 2 of 3 3-pointers and finished with 10 points.

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

UNLV 79

Texas Christian 70

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

Stanback 26 8-12 2-2 4 1 1 19

Massamba 16 2-2 2-2 0 0 3 6

Bellfield 33 1-4 1-1 1 5 1 3

Jasper 27 2-3 1-2 9 2 2 5

Willis 31 9-14 11-14 6 4 2 30

Wallace 22 0-5 0-0 0 0 1 0

Marshall 10 0-0 0-0 3 4 1 0

Jones 6 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 0

Hawkins 6 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0

Shaw 9 4-5 0-0 1 0 2 10

Santee 14 3-3 0-0 2 0 2 6

TOTALS 200 29-49 17-21 29 16 16 79

Field goals--59.2%. Free throws--81.0%.

Three-point goals--4-15, .267 (Shaw 2-3, Stanback 1-3, Willis 1-4, Bellfield 0-1, Wallace 0-4). Team rebounds--1. Blocked shots--2 (Bellfield, Willis). Turnovers--12 (Bellfield 3, Santee 2, Willis 2, Wallace, Marshall, Jasper, Jones, Stanback). Steals--3 (Jasper, Hawkins, Willis).

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

Buljan 36 4-10 4-4 5 4 3 13

Cerina 31 4-7 6-11 2 0 3 14

Moss 37 3-8 1-1 4 6 2 9

Ruzgas 28 3-6 2-2 1 0 0 11

Mitchem 20 0-2 0-0 3 2 1 0

Roberson 18 2-4 0-0 1 1 5 6

Butler 12 2-2 0-0 3 0 1 4

Hill 18 4-9 2-3 1 0 3 13

TOTALS 200 22-48 15-21 23 13 18 70

Field goals--45.8%. Free throws--71.4%.

Three-point goals--11-27, .407 (Ruzgas 3-6, Hill 3-7, Roberson 2-3, Moss 2-6, Buljan 1-4, Mitchem 0-1). Team rebounds--3. Blocked shots--1 (Moss). Turnovers--11 (Moss 4, Cerina 2, Buljan, Butler, Hill, Ruzgas, Mitchem). Steals--5 (Buljan 2, Roberson, Hill, Mitchem).

A--4,270. Officials--Rick Batsell, Lonnie Dixon, Duane Allen. Technical fouls--None.

UNLV 38 41 -- 79

Texas Christian 30 40 -- 70