Rougeau makes most of first start with Rebels

Rougeau put on a show that included two first-half dunks and sparked the Rebels to an 84-71 victory over Fresno State before 4,924 at the Orleans Arena.

“I was excited. I’m still surprised to hear my name called in the starting lineup,” said Rougeau, who finished with 19 points, five rebounds and five steals. “We definitely came out running all over the place, and everybody was hitting shots.”

UNLV coach Lon Kruger had used the same starting lineup for seven consecutive games but said he decided to reward Rougeau, a former walk-on, for his hard work in practice.

“Rene was terrific from start to finish,” Kruger said. “I’m really happy for him.”

Joe Darger finished with 17 points, Curtis Terry 15 and Wink Adams 14 for the Rebels, whose largest lead was 29 points early in the second half.

UNLV (7-2) has a 10-day break before hosting Arizona on Dec. 19.

Rougeau, a 6-foot-6-inch guard, started instead of 6-8 center Matt Shaw. Kruger went with a smaller lineup, and the Rebels threw full-court pressure at the Bulldogs (5-4) in the opening minutes.

“We kind of kept the pressure on the entire time,” Kruger said.

Rougeau had four points and two steals to get UNLV out to a 10-2 lead. Terry’s second 3-pointer pushed the Rebels’ advantage to 17-5.

With 8:48 left in the first half, Marcus Lawrence led a fast break and passed to Rougeau, who came in from the left wing and flew over two defenders for a one-handed slam.

Less than two minutes later, Rougeau stole a pass at midcourt and dunked to put the Rebels up 33-10.

Darger had 12 points and Rougeau 10 in the first half as UNLV led 52-25 at the break. The Rebels shot 20-for-37 in the first 20 minutes while forcing 11 turnovers and committing only two.

“It was a really, really good first half. I thought our energy and activity were outstanding,” Kruger said.

Fresno State made nine 3-pointers in the second half to stage a minor rally and make the final score respectable.

Kevin Bell scored 17 points to lead scorers for the Bulldogs, who put four players in double-figure scoring, including Hector Hernandez, who had 16 points, Eddie Miller (15) and Bryan Harvey (12). Miller and Harvey each hit four 3-pointers.

Darger and Terry each made three 3-pointers for UNLV, which shot 32-for-70 (45.7 percent) from the field and had 22 assists to six turnovers.

Shawn Taylor had a game-high 12 rebounds to help Fresno State to a 41-37 edge on the boards.

Rougeau hit 8 of 11 shots and all three of his free throws. He played 27 minutes and topped his previous career high of 13 points.

“Rene does those things every day in practice. He comes and works hard and flies around,” Darger said. “We needed that at the start, and he gave us a spark.”

Shaw finished with eight points and six rebounds. Freshman guard Kendall Wallace also came off the bench and scored seven points for the Rebels.

“Our guys know everybody is going to play and play a lot,” Kruger said.

But UNLV junior forward Mareceo Rutledge and sophomore forward Lamar Roberson did not play for disciplinary reasons.

“Mo and Lamar had a day in practice where they just weren’t as interested,” Kruger said.

All seven of the Rebels’ wins have been by nine points or more.

“I think we’ve come a long way since the beginning of the season,” Rougeau said.

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

UNLV 84

Fresno State 71

FRESNO ST. Min FG-A FT-A R A PF TP

Hernandez 27 6-9 2-2 6 2 2 16

Blair 24 2-3 0-0 6 0 2 4

Bell 34 5-11 5-7 5 6 1 17

Miller 29 5-10 1-1 2 1 1 15

Harvey 34 4-16 0-0 0 2 1 12

Taylor 17 2-3 1-2 12 0 1 5

Golubovic 11 1-2 0-0 2 0 0 2

Parker 22 0-9 0-0 6 4 1 0

Tchana 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

TOTALS 200 25-63 9-12 41 15 9 71

Field goals–39.7%. Free throws–75.0%.

Three-point goals–12-30 (Miller 4-8, Harvey 4-10, Bell 2-4, Hernandez 2-4, Parker 0-4). Team rebounds–2. Blocked shots–4 (Blair 2, Taylor 2). Turnovers–16 (Bell 6, Hernandez 3, Parker 3, Golubovic, Miller, Taylor, Tchana). Steals–2 (Blair, Parker).

UNLV Min FG-A FT-A R A PF TP

Bailey 26 2-7 0-0 6 2 2 4

Darger 31 7-16 0-0 6 2 1 17

Adam 24 4-10 5-6 6 6 3 14

Rougeau 27 8-11 3-3 5 3 3 19

Terry 34 5-12 2-2 3 5 3 15

Wallace 14 2-5 2-2 1 0 0 7

Hoffman 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

Lawrence 19 0-0 0-0 1 3 1 0

Shaw 23 0-0 0-0 6 1 2 8

TOTALS 200 32-70 12-13 37 22 15 84

Field goals–45.7%. Free throws–92.3%.

Three-point goals–8-26 (Terry 3-7, Darger 3-9, Wallace 1-3, Adams 1-4, Bailey 0-1, Hoffman 0-1, Rougeau 0-1). Team rebounds–3. Blocked shots–3 (Darger, Rougeau, Shaw). Turnovers–6 (Bailey 2, Terry 2, Hoffman, Wallace). Steals–13 (Rougeau 5, Adams 3, Wallace 2, Darger, Shaw, Terry).

A–4,924. Officials–Randy McCall, Bob Staffen, Mike Giarratano. Technical fouls–Fresno State: None. UNLV: None.

Fresno State 25 46 — 71

UNLV 52 32 — 84