Rebels give Rice perfect high five

It was a five-minute stretch of basketball better than any college coach could script, never mind a guy in just his seventh game leading his alma mater amid expectations higher than most skyscrapers imaginable.

It was the way Dave Rice would love his UNLV team to play all the time, but such spurts are impossible to execute consistently.

The Rebels, however, picked the perfect time for one Saturday night.

UNLV sent No. 1 North Carolina into the Las Vegas night with a 90-80 loss at Orleans Arena on an evening when every move Rice made seemed to work, and the mighty Tar Heels ultimately ran out of counterpunches.

Somewhere between the time Rice finished his halftime instructions and the last 20 minutes began, the Rebels flipped the sort of switch underdogs need if they are to shock the country's best team.

"We knew we needed to play better than we did in the first half," senior Chace Stanback said. "We needed to play at both ends of the court."

For those five minutes, they did to near perfection.

It was a 12-0 run by UNLV that included 3-pointers from Oscar Bellfield and Mike Moser, but it wasn't on offense where the Rebels shined most during the game's most critical point.

There is no questioning UNLV's ability to defend, and the Rebels were active and engaged enough that UNC missed its first 10 shots of the second half. UNLV took control of the game and never relinquished it thereafter.

"This is so big for our program," said UNLV athletic director Jim Livengood seconds before the win was official and hundreds of students rushed the court in celebration. "I'm so proud of David and our players and our fans. I know it's November, but this is huge for us. You can't imagine how big."

It was Livengood who identified Rice early in the coaching search process once Lon Kruger departed for the riches of Oklahoma, Livengood who withstood pressures from all angles and people to instead hire a bigger name, Livengood who stuck with his first instinct and stood and watched and cheered his selection win such a memorable game so early in his head coaching career.

Those who didn't know Rice before Saturday do now. That the Rebels are 7-0 under him is impressive. That they were so well prepared with 24 hours to scout the massive challenge that is UNC is a credit to Rice and the coaching staff he credits at nearly every turn

The Rebels were going to stay close and have a chance over 40 minutes only if they made enough 3-pointers to offset what UNC would do at its offensive end. You will rarely find a Roy Williams-coached team as scattered as it was trying to score most trips.

UNLV attempted 32 3s, a large number out of necessity given UNC's talent. But the Rebels also made 13 of them, enabling UNLV to lead for large parts of the first half and then pull away down the stretch.

Huge wins usually include huge efforts by several players. Stanback scored 28 and grabbed 10 rebounds. Moser had 16 points and 18 boards. Bellfield scored 16 and had nine assists. Carlos Lopez, pegged to start the second half inside by Rice, had nine points, three rebounds and was far bigger at both ends than his numbers suggest.

Rice certainly would have taken the first-half effort and offered no argument, his team trailing 42-38 at the break but having played inspired ball against a team littered with NBA talent.

UNLV did its best to make UNC a jump shooting team. The Tar Heels managed 16 points inside, but they weren't easy to find. UNLV forced more turnovers (7-5) than UNC before intermission, and five of the seven for the Tar Heels came from their front court.

Here's the thing: You can't take a defensive possession off against UNC. Not one. You have to guard every trip or you'll get eaten up. The Rebels tried but couldn't early, allowing UNC to shoot nearly 57 percent before halftime. It all changed, the game's tempo, its feel, its momentum, its everything, those opening five minutes of the second half.

UNLV might not play that well again over such a stretch in some time. It was terrific basketball that set up a historic win for a young head coach who made all the right moves.

"We know," Stanback said, "we can play even better. North Carolina played a hell of a game."

UNLV played a better one and gave a young head coach his first momentous victory.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.