Rebels guard cools Badgers’ Taylor, makes pivotal swipe at finish

With eight seconds to play and the Rebels clinging to a 66-65 lead, the Badgers had the ball and UNLV coach Lon Kruger had a decision to make.

Kruger made the right call, Justin Hawkins made a big steal and the Rebels denied Wisconsin with a 68-65 victory Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Inbounding the ball under the basket, Wisconsin put a big lineup on the court, with 6-foot-10-inch star forward Jon Leuer the target for the key play. Kruger originally planned to match up size-wise with 6-10 Bryce Massamba and 6-8 Chace Stanback, but changed his mind. He called timeout, matched 6-6 Derrick Jasper against Leuer and positioned Hawkins, a 6-3 guard, nearby.

Jasper denied the pass to Leuer, trying to force inbounds passer Mike Bruesewitz to look elsewhere. But Bruesewitz still tried to find Leuer, using a bounce pass instead of a lob, and Hawkins stepped in front of the ball. He followed his steal with two free throws with 6.7 seconds left to seal UNLV’s victory.

“We didn’t like the look of Leuer down low by himself, so we changed it up,” Kruger said. “Derrick did a good job of denying (Leuer) and Justin made a terrific play.”

Hawkins, who distinguished himself defensively in the second half against Wisconsin guard Jordan Taylor, said he was as surprised as anyone else by his steal.

“I couldn’t believe (Bruesewitz) threw a bounce pass in that situation,” the sophomore from Los Angeles said. “I was sure they were going to lob it. But Derrick did a great job covering it. I just read the play and got my hands on the ball.”

Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said of the botched play: “I’m not going to give you my out-of-bounds plays. We passed it to the wrong-colored jersey. That’s how I saw it.”

After Taylor burned UNLV for 16 first-half points and opened the second half with a 3-pointer to keep Wisconsin close behind at 37-36, Kruger inserted Hawkins. Taylor had been killing the Rebels with dribble penetration and a quick, deadly shooting release from the perimeter with three 3-pointers.

“I just looked at it as another challenge,” Hawkins said. “I just tried to deny him whenever possible and make it hard for him when he had the ball.”

Taylor never scored again, finishing with 19 points. Hawkins had only two points in 20 minutes, but that wasn’t his job description in this game. He was there to get Taylor under control.

“When you’re not scoring, you have to do other things to contribute,” Hawkins said. “I helped by trying to play good defense.”

Kruger said, “Taylor was a monster all night. He was hurting us and he’s the key to what they’re doing. But Justin’s very good on the ball. He’s got a good sense of the game and he did a nice job against a very good player.”

Contact sports reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or at 702-387-2913.