UNLV grows up with road victory

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- It will not amass the same level of national attention as knocking off North Carolina, nor receive the same ESPN lovefest as taking down a No. 1, nor hold the same perceived importance when March arrives and NCAA Tournament resumes are being debated.

That's the way it goes in college basketball.

Pedigrees carry the news.

But know this about UNLV's first road game of the season: How the Rebels survived UC Santa Barbara 94-88 in double overtime on Wednesday is more significant than a victory over the Tar Heels could ever be.

Welcome to the world of being a hunted, ranked team in another's gym, of playing incredibly well and taking a second-half lead most viewed insurmountable, of playing incredibly stupid in blowing that advantage, then playing incredibly tough in making enough plays over the second five-minute stretch of extra time.

Teams grow up with wins like this. Good ones learn and improve. Road wins in college basketball are meant to be cherished more than dissected, and yet the No. 18 Rebels did enough questionable things that final minute of regulation to know their zero in the loss column won't stand for long if such things aren't cleaned up.

"We talked about teams that are trying to become champions have to overcome tough shooting nights and adversity and difficult places to play," Rebels coach Dave Rice said. "We knew being ranked for the first time this week and coming off a huge win and the UNLV-UCSB rivalry, that this would be a big event.

"Absolutely, we have things we need to work on. We need to get better. But the best thing about this was overcoming adversity and finding a way to win."

They led by eight with 49 seconds remaining in regulation and couldn't hold it. They did things like foolishly foul under their own basket and stop the clock up six with 46 ticks left. They got tight and turned the ball over. They knew UCSB would intentionally miss a second free-throw attempt with two seconds left and still couldn't corral a rebound, instead watching the Gauchos score at the buzzer to force overtime.

It wasn't stuff to be included on a tape of intelligent basketball plays.

And yet they won.

They took key charges when needed. They made huge 3-pointers when losing was 1.5 seconds away in the first overtime. They overcame a night of allowing 23 second-chance points.

They had faith in a senior (Chace Stanback) that he would follow an awful first half with an inspired second, and he did by scoring 19 after intermission and making that 3 to force more time.

They found a hot hand in sophomore Mike Moser and fed it, which resulted in 34 points. They trusted guards Oscar Bellfield and Anthony Marshall to make more good plays than bad when winning was on the line and they barely did, although Bellfield's foul under UNLV's basket as UCSB furiously rallied in regulation should earn him time wearing a dunce cap.

"For a while, I think the crowd got to us," Moser said. "We just needed to get stops and rebounds and finally did in the second overtime. I was a little stunned we (lost the lead). I think we all got a little frustrated and that took us away from the task at hand. It got sloppy, but we finally got it together."

Traps are for those stalking bears. Had the Rebels lost here, it would have been because they deserved it, because the Gauchos did more in the end, and not because of any letdown from the North Carolina game.

UNLV was certainly focused enough, prepared enough, engaged enough. It helped that the Gauchos beat them at the Thomas & Mack Center last year. It had to help.

You can't overstate the importance of such a victory, not coming off the North Carolina game and being ranked for a first time this season. The Thunderdome wasn't as raucous as most predicted, but the 5,516 were loud enough at key points to shake the Rebels.

And yet they won.

"The fact we had the game and they tied it and we won in double overtime, it's an even better win for us," Rice said. "We learned a lot from it and I'm really, really proud of our guys. We found a way."

North Carolina earned the Rebels national headlines and exposure and a Top 25 ranking. It was a huge moment early in a season.

But this win, beating a good Big West Conference team with not a television camera in sight, blowing a late lead and then surviving double overtime on the road to depart with an 8-0 record, is just as important in different ways.

When trying to build a champion, in most ways.

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.