Rebels beat Wolf Pack for fourth consecutive year
Oscar Bellfield scored a career-high 22 points and freshman guard Justin Hawkins sparked a 23-4 second-half run to carry UNLV to an 88-75 comeback victory over UNR at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Rebels (2-0) beat the Wolf Pack (1-1) for the fourth consecutive year.
UNLV coach Lon Kruger made dramatic lineup changes with his team down 54-42 with 14:36 remaining. Kruger benched team leaders Derrick Jasper, Chace Stanback and Tre’Von Willis and substituted in Hawkins, freshman Anthony Marshall and senior walk-on Steve Jones. All three inexperienced players made major contributions during the game-changing run.
After a Marshall jumper and Jones 3-pointer, Hawkins sliced down the lane for a layup to put the Rebels ahead 59-58 with 10:01 to go. UNLV went up 68-60 on Kendall Wallace’s 3-pointer with 7:50 left.
Brandon Fields scored 22 points to for UNR, which led 38-33 at halftime. Armon Johnson had 16 points and Luke Babbitt 14.
