Rebels exit early

San Diego State defeated UNLV for the third time this season, this time knocking the Rebels out of the Mountain West Conference tournament with a 71-57 victory in the second quarterfinal at the Thomas & Mack Center.Cheyenne High School product Lorrenzo Wade had 20 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for the Aztecs.
Kyle Spain, Ryan Amoroso and Tim Shelton each had 10 points.
Wink Adams had 26 points for UNLV, while Tre’Von Willis had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Rebels finally found a way to slow down San Diego State late in the game, but it was too late.
UNLV fell behind by as many as 19 points early in the second half before they were ever able to mount any semblance of a comeback.
The Rebels got within nine points, but could not get closer.
Now, it is in the hands of the selection committee. UNLV does have the best win of almost any bubble team, but it is pretty much the only thing it has to fall back on at this point.
A fifth-place finish in what it still viewed as a mediocre conference and a three-game sweep at the hands of fellow bubble team San Diego State is not likely to add up to an at-large selection.
“Everyone wants to be in the NCAA tournament,” Adams said. “We just have to wait until Sunday to see what happens.”
Fellow senior Rene Rougeau sounded less optimistic.
“All we can do is just hope for a miracle right now,” he said.

Poor Shooting

UNLV made just 4 of 17 3-pointers and were 18-for-46 from the field in the game.
The Rebels were just not able to overcome the poor shooting night.
It has been a common theme for this team, especially late in the season.
Conversely, San Diego State made 8 of 15 attempts from beyond the arc.
When the Aztecs shoot that well, they are very difficult to beat.
In fact, if they shoot over 50 percent from 3-point range the next two days, they will win the tournament.

Futile Effort

UNLV’s offense came out ready to go in the second half.
The Rebels made four of their first six shots after the break, including two 3-pointers.
During that span, San Diego State increased its lead by two points.
UNLV just could not get enough stops on the defensive end to cut into the lead. If they could have gotten back within a reasonable margin, the late run would have gotten the Rebels right back in the game.

Big Miss

Oscar Bellfield missed a layup with about 10:30 to play that would have gotten the Rebels back within 10.
It did not fall and the Rebels got the offensive rebound but were still unable to convert.
It would have put a great deal of pressure on San Diego State, which was mired in an offensive slump at the time.
As it turned out, the play was part of a four-minute stretch in which both teams were scoreless and the lead remained at 11.
It was finally broken by a Lorrenzo Wade jumper that extended the San Diego State lead back to 13 points.
Eventually, the Rebels got within 10, but the extended scoreless stretch was UNLV’s opportunity to really threaten San Diego State.

No solidarity among SDSU fans

San Diego State fans started up a “This is Our House,” chant as the final minutes ticked away.
It’s hard to argue with them.
The Aztecs are now 2-0 in the Thomas & Mack Center this season.
They are also 3-0 against UNLV, a fact that was not lost on a small contingent of San Diego State fans, that started chanting, “3 and 0.”
Still others preferred to instead mock UNLV’s fading NCAA tournament hopes by chanting “N-I-T.”
It would have been much more effective if their fans could have decided on one theme to scream simultaneously.

Rougeau ready for NIT?

Rene Rougeau wants to play in the NCAA tournament just like any other college basketball player.
But he sounds as if he would be fired up to play in the other tournament.
“It doesn’t matter where we go, we can make some noise,” he said.
They may get an opportunity to do that on their home floor when the NIT begins at campus sites next week.