Gauchos’ 3-pointers sink UNLV

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- With the clock a tick away from expiring, James Powell jumped and released a dart that struck UNLV in the heart.

Powell sank a 3-pointer with four-tenths of a second remaining Tuesday night to lift UC Santa Barbara to a 63-60 victory over the Rebels, who were left stunned after blowing a 13-point lead in the second half.

Defended closely by UNLV's Wink Adams at the top of the key, Powell took a dribble to his left and wrote the ending with a perfect flick of his right wrist.

"I didn't see it go in because I fell on the floor," Powell said. "And then I heard the reaction of the crowd. I've never had an adrenaline rush like that in my life."

The Rebels' Curtis Terry threw up a hopeless 50-footer at the buzzer, and several hundred UCSB students flooded the floor at the Thunderdome, where a crowd of 3,438 witnessed a wild second half.

With 12 minutes to play, after Terry hit a short jumper, UNLV (4-2) held its biggest lead at 44-31.

"It's a tough loss. When you're on the road and you've got a lead, you've got to lock down and get a bigger lead," Rebels coach Lon Kruger said.

"On two or three occasions, we gave them a reason to get a little momentum going in the second half. We fought them off the first couple times, but we didn't the third time."

The Gauchos (6-1) were held to 16 points in the first half but made 10 of 13 3-pointers in the second half.

UCSB was led by Alex Harris, who scored 16 of his game-high 19 points in the second half. Powell, scoreless at halftime, hit five 3-pointers and finished with 15 points.

Powell's 3-pointer with 11:10 left sparked the Gauchos on a 14-6 run, and they closed to within 50-45 on Chris Devine's 3 with 7:45 to go.

Joe Darger hit a free throw to put UNLV up 56-48 with 5:12 left. UCSB scored the next 10 points and went ahead 58-56 on Devine's three-point play with 2:32 remaining.

Adams drove and dropped a short jumper to tie it 60-60 with 1:07 on the clock. After the Gauchos turned it over on the next possession, Adams' wide-open 3-point attempt rimmed out with 33 seconds left.

"Wink had a real good look at it, and it went in and out," Kruger said. "I'll take that shot anytime."

Harris dribbled to the lane and tried a short jumper that was blocked by the Rebels' Rene Rougeau, but UCSB retained possession when Harris threw the ball off two UNLV players and it went out of bounds.

Gauchos coach Bob Williams called for a timeout with 4.2 seconds to go. With the first two options -- Harris and Devine -- closed off, the 6-foot-2-inch Powell got the ball and jumped over the 6-foot Adams to shoot the winner.

"I was into him, and he just jumped over me and knocked it down," Adams said. "Since I've been at UNLV, this is one of our toughest losses."

Adams and Terry scored 11 points apiece for the Rebels. Mareceo Rutledge came off the bench to score 10 points, all in the first half.

UCSB played a poor first half, shooting 6-for-29 (20.7 percent) from the field and committing 10 turnovers.

Kruger said he was disappointed that UNLV's defense broke down and failed to guard the perimeter shooters in the second half, when the Gauchos shot 15-for-23 (65.2 percent).

"They were hitting everything," Adams said. "The first half, we played tremendous defense. In the second half, we were not being as aggressive."

Terry opened the second half with a 3-pointer that extended the Rebels' margin to 29-16. The Gauchos woke up and went on an 11-0 run as Powell hit two 3-pointers.

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