Inside-out duo floors Rebels

SALT LAKE CITY -- In more ways than one, Utah's tandem of Johnnie Bryant and Luke Nevill punched holes through a UNLV defense that usually starts and finishes the fight.

On Wednesday night, the Utes delivered an inside-out combination that flattened the Rebels and knocked them out of first place in the Mountain West Conference.

Bryant, a 6-foot senior guard, and Nevill, a 7-1 junior center, scored 26 points apiece to lead Utah to an 81-73 victory over UNLV before a crowd of 9,989 at the Huntsman Center.

"Nevill and Bryant obviously had their way," Rebels coach Lon Kruger said. "We couldn't keep the ball out of Nevill's hands, and we didn't guard Bryant very well when he got on the perimeter."

Bryant poured in 16 points in the first half, and Nevill closed with an 18-point second half for the Utes (13-8, 4-4).

Kruger, whose team allowed a season high in points, was denied the 400th win of his 22-year college coaching career.

Joe Darger, a junior forward from nearby Riverton, Utah, scored 18 points to lead UNLV (17-5, 6-2).

Brigham Young defeated Texas Christian on Wednesday and took over sole possession of the top spot in the conference at 7-1.

The Utes shot 26-for-53 (49 percent) from the field, with Bryant and Nevill combining to make 19 of 27 shots.

The 6-7 Darger drew a tough defensive assignment. He was giving up 6 inches and about 40 pounds to Nevill, who fought through the Rebels' double-teams to hit 11 of 14 shots and 4 of 6 free throws.

"Nevill's tough to guard down there," Darger said. "Sometimes he got too low to where he could just turn and score before the trap would come. It's hard to stop him when he's that deep.

"We were trying to not let Bryant get any looks, and when Nevill caught it down low, try to trap him."

After being fouled by Darger, Nevill made two free throws to give Utah its largest lead, 65-56, with 5:58 left.

UNLV pulled within 75-71 on Darger's 3-pointer, his fourth of the game, at the 1:23 mark.

Bryant missed a 16-footer with 55 seconds left, and the Rebels' Rene Rougeau ripped the rebound away from Ne-vill. Curtis Terry drove the lane on the other end, and his layup attempt was swatted by Nevill, who was called for goaltending to make the score 75-73 with 38 seconds to go.

The Utes' Luka Drca was fouled with 33 seconds left and hit both free throws. Terry missed a 3 on UNLV's next possession, and Drca was fouled and again made two free throws to extend the lead to six.

"We dug ourselves a hole late in the second half and couldn't get out of it," said Terry, who had 14 points on 4-for-13 shooting. "It's not a good defensive effort on our part. We're not happy with the result."

Terry also had eight assists and seven rebounds.

Junior guard Wink Adams, the Rebels' leading scorer at 15.9 points per game, was held to 11 points on 3-for-11 shooting. Adams was scoreless in the first half.

"That's going to happen occasionally, unfortunately," Kruger said. "We're better off when Wink is making plays and making shots. He's been at the center of everything good that's been happening lately."

Rougeau finished with 12 points and seven rebounds for UNLV, which had its five-game winning streak stopped.

An absence of defensive awareness hampered the Rebels in the first half. Bryant too often was left unguarded on the perimeter, and he took advantage by hitting two 3-pointers and shooting 5-for-8. Utah made 14 of 27 field goals and led 37-35 at halftime.

Sophomore forward Matt Shaw kept UNLV close by shooting 3-for-3 on 3-pointers.

The Rebels host last-place Colorado State on Saturday to begin the second half of the Mountain West schedule.

"We'll bounce back, and this group understands we've got to do things better than we did tonight," Kruger said.

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