Tandem at home in Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas -- A ringing cell phone interrupted his sleep Tuesday morning, but Wink Adams was OK with that. He was expecting the calls.

"It's good to go back home," he said. "I love going back to Texas."

The UNLV junior guard is from Houston, about a five-hour drive from Fort Worth, but it's close enough to home. The phone calls he received were from family and friends.

Adams said a group of about 20 is making the trip to watch the Rebels (15-4, 4-1 Mountain West Conference) play Texas Christian (11-7, 3-2) at 4:30 p.m. today at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

And he's not the only UNLV player holding a family reunion of sorts. Senior guard Curtis Terry has relatives in Dallas, where his half-brother Jason Terry is an NBA star for the Dallas Mavericks.

"It's always good when you can see family," said Terry, who expects to have a personal cheering section of about 10.

Adams and Terry obviously would like to put on a show for their biggest fans. But as well as they complement each other in the backcourt, they rarely put up big scoring numbers in the same game.

"Me and Curt, we depend on each other," Adams said.

That's partly because when one player is the hot shooter, the other usually is not. Adams has scored in double figures in 17 of 19 games. Terry has hit double digits in points in 13 games.

But they each have scored at least 15 points in the same game only twice this season -- in victories at Northern Arizona and Colorado State.

"Hopefully, one of these nights we can both get going," Terry said. "We're balancing each other out very well. If we both have an off night, we might be in trouble."

In the Rebels' blowout victory over Brigham Young on Jan. 15, Terry led the way with 21 points and Adams had a season-low five. In a win against Wyoming on Jan. 23, Adams had a career-high 33 points and Terry had 10.

The only other players to lead UNLV in scoring this season are junior forward Joe Darger (four times) and junior guard Rene Rougeau and sophomore forward Matt Shaw (once each).

Terry made the winning 3-pointer, but Darger was the high scorer with 19 points in a 72-69 victory at San Diego State on Saturday that lifted the Rebels into a first-place conference tie with BYU.

UNLV coach Lon Kruger reminded his team not to get complacent.

"We picked up a big win at San Diego State, and not many people can go in there and win," Kruger said. "But you don't want to give one back.

"I think anytime you win a game on the road, your confidence goes up a little bit, but so do the expectations. The key to making progress is not ever being content."

The Horned Frogs are 10-1 at home, losing to Oklahoma 90-66 on Dec. 2, but they are coming off a 74-58 loss at Utah on Saturday.

"They're coming off a loss and we're coming off a win, so human nature would indicate that they're more hungry, more fired up and more anxious," Kruger said. "But we can't let that be the case. We have to prepare as if we lost a ballgame, as if we're the underdog."

TCU, which has defeated New Mexico and Wyoming at home, has three players averaging double figures in scoring -- guard Henry Salter (14.9), forward Kevin Langford (14.4) and guard Brent Hackett (11.6).

"This game will probably be even more physical than the game at San Diego State," Adams said. "TCU is a very improved team, one of the best teams in the conference, and you can't take them lightly."

Adams scored 18 points to help the Rebels beat the Horned Frogs 75-66 last year in Fort Worth.

Kruger said an important factor in UNLV's success -- similar to last season -- is that five or six scorers are emerging and there is no need to rely on one go-to guy.

"Any night, anybody can lead the team in scoring or whatever needs to be done. That's how we're successful," Terry said. "It doesn't matter who's getting the points or who's getting the credit for it as long as we're getting wins."

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