Bellfield shines as Rebels rally to defeat Colorado State

UNLV’s junior point guard kept rising and firing, putting the entire team on his shoulders.

The Rebels showed resiliency when they needed it most, and Bellfield led the rally by scoring 16 of his 18 points in the second half of a 68-61 comeback victory over Colorado State on Saturday.

After misfiring badly and shooting 1-for-8 in the first half, Bellfield bounced back to hit four 3-pointers after halftime. He also delivered a key assist in the final minute.

"The main thing is to stay positive and not think about the misses," Bellfield said. "My teammates were telling me to keep shooting. I put too much time in the gym to doubt myself."

In achieving its fifth consecutive 20-win season, UNLV avenged its worst Mountain West Conference loss and began to erase some doubts about reaching the NCAA Tournament.

"Obviously, it’s a huge, huge step," coach Lon Kruger said. "It’s the satisfaction of going on the road in a tough place and beating a good team."

The Rebels (20-7, 8-5 MWC) needed clutch second-half shooting by Bellfield, Anthony Marshall and Chace Stanback to get over the hump before a sellout crowd of 8,745 at Moby Arena. Marshall finished with 16 points and Stanback had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

"Coach Kruger had them ready to go," Rams coach Tim Miles said. "I was impressed with their swagger."

UNLV trails third-place Colorado State (18-8, 8-4) by a half-game in the standings, with the Rams still facing road trips to league leaders Brigham Young and San Diego State.

"Whoever won this game was going to get an extra boost," Marshall said. "I just felt we needed to come in here and get a victory. I wouldn’t say we wanted payback."

The Rebels, blown out 78-63 by the Rams in Las Vegas on Jan. 19, were not ready to go in the rematch. UNLV missed 20 of 23 field-goal attempts to open the game and shot 9-for-35 (25.7 percent) while falling behind 27-22 at the half.

Stanback opened the second half with a 3-pointer, and Bellfield’s baseline jumper put the Rebels ahead 31-29.

"It was kind of positive in the locker room at halftime," said Stanback, held to two points in the first half. "We knew we were going to pick it up and the shots were going to start falling for us.

"It all starts with one person. When one person starts knocking down shots, it gets contagious. I felt like Oscar was our spark. He’s our floor general, and he played great."

Bellfield hit two 3s to stretch UNLV’s lead to 52-47 with 5:52 left, and Stanback’s baseline jumper made it 54-47.

Colorado State cut its deficit to 60-57 before Bellfield made another clutch play. With less than 10 seconds left on the shot clock, he drove the lane and fired a pass to Marshall under the basket for the layup.

"I was thinking about driving and getting to the basket," Bellfield said, "but when I was driving, I saw Anthony go back door and his man was lost. He finished it."

Bellfield, Stanback and Tre’Von Willis each made two free throws in the final 29 seconds to close the door. Willis, who missed the January loss with a sore right knee, had nine points and eight assists.

The Rebels, 1-for-6 from 3-point range in the first half, went 7-for-13 on 3s after halftime.

Bellfield missed all six of his 3s in the January loss to Colorado State and was shooting just 23.4 percent from behind the arc through 12 conference games.

"Oscar made some big plays," Kruger said. "I thought the second half took a really gritty effort out of our guys, and they gave it."

Senior forward Andy Ogide had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Rams, whose other senior forward, Travis Franklin, was held scoreless. Franklin had 24 points and eight rebounds in the previous meeting.

"It was a good game, and we lost," Miles said. "That is disappointing. It is not the end of the world."

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