ROUGEAU LIFTS REBELS IN RENO
One year ago, Rene Rougeau made the first start of his UNLV career. He played his best game Saturday in the Rebels’ 64-57 victory over UNR at Lawlor Events Center.
The 6-foot-6-inch senior had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead UNLV (7-2) to its third consecutive win against the Wolf Pack.
A former walk-on who was awarded a scholarship in June, Rougeau said Saturday’s game was “without a doubt” his top performance.
“I had my family in the arena tonight, so that was great,” said Rougeau, who had seven family members in Reno to watch the game.
He matched his career high in scoring and set his career high in rebounds. Rougeau also scored 19 points in his first career start on Dec. 8, 2007, when the Rebels beat Fresno State 84-71 at the Orleans Arena.
TAUNTING FANS DON'T AFFECT ADAMS
Senior guard Wink Adams, UNLV’s leading scorer at 14.1 points per game after eight games, went to the bench with 14:50 left in the first half after getting his second foul. Adams was scoreless in the first half. He sat on the bench and smiled as the UNR student section taunted him with “Little Winky” chants.
Adams made 7 of 10 free throws in the second half and finished with 11 points.
WOLF PACK'S SHOOTING IS TROUBLING
It’s easy to see why UNR is 3-4. The Wolf Pack was picked to win the Western Athletic Conference, and that still might happen. But shooting is a major trouble spot for coach Mark Fox’s team.
UNR shot 17-for-50 (34 percent) from the field, including 3-for-21 on 3-pointers.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well. It’s frustrating,” Fox said.
Freshman forward Luke Babbitt, who had 15 points on 5-for-14 shooting, said, “We let ourselves down. We let our fans down. Give credit to UNLV’s defense. They played really tough defense. But one game doesn’t make a season.”
