UNLV loses first game of season, falls to Wichita State 89-70

On Sunday, he displayed the magic touch, hitting eight 3-pointers as UNLV’s eight-game winning streak disappeared at the hands of a hot shooter on the high plains of Kansas.

Ragland pumped in a career-high 31 points to lead the Shockers to an 89-70 rout of the 18th-ranked Rebels, who were dealt their most lopsided loss since March 2008.

“It was a real big game for them, and they took advantage of it,” UNLV sophomore Mike Moser said. “We definitely knew it could happen if we didn’t bring our ‘A’ game. Every team is gunning for us.”

The Rebels (8-1) were pushed around in the paint and dominated on the perimeter, where Ragland made 8 of 9 3-pointers and the Shockers shot 12-for-23.

Ragland said Wichita State targeted the game — the highest-profile matchup in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge — as one that could build its case as an NCAA Tournament team down the road. UNLV seemed to play along while putting up little resistance.

“We needed a win on our resume, and they’re a marquee team,” he said.

The Shockers (5-2) were the aggressors from start to finish, beginning to establish control when Ragland’s 3-pointer broke a tie with 11:10 left in the first half.

While the Rebels went almost eight minutes without a field goal, Wichita State ripped off a 17-5 run to further fuel a hostile crowd of 10,466 in Koch Arena. Ragland made all five of his 3s and scored 19 points en route to a 47-32 halftime lead.

“They got anything and everything they wanted,” UNLV coach Dave Rice said. “We dug ourselves into a really deep hole at halftime. Even though we were down 15, we felt like we could come back.”

But the second half followed the same theme, and as Rice said, “We just could not get a stop.”

Ragland continued his 3-point barrage, burying his eighth to put the Rebels in a 21-point grave with 3:07 remaining.

“I had a couple open shots early that dropped for me. Once I made those couple shots, I figured I could shoot every time if I was open,” said Ragland, who had made only five 3-pointers and was averaging 8.7 points through Wichita State’s first six games.

Shockers coach Gregg Marshall said his team “executed beautifully” on the offensive end. But the Rebels were a step slow to contest passing lanes and shots, and Ragland was not the only hot shooter.

Working the interior were muscular forward Carl Hall, who hit 7 of 10 shots and had 17 points, and 7-foot Garrett Stutz (13 points), while guard Toure’ Murry added 11 points and eight assists.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game for us,” said senior forward Chace Stanback, who led UNLV with 16 points. “I feel like we played hard, but we were making mistakes on the defensive end. But give them a lot of credit. They played a great game for 40 minutes and didn’t let up.”

Moser, who had 12 points and seven rebounds, hit two 3-pointers but the Rebels misfired on 15 of 20 attempts from 3.

Senior center Brice Massamba provided some offensive flow through the post with 11 points, but UNLV guards Oscar Bellfield and Anthony Marshall struggled on both ends of the floor.

“They came out real intense, and they gave us their best shot,” Marshall said.

After a week in which the Rebels beat UC Santa Barbara in two overtimes and knocked off then-No. 1 North Carolina, they appeared lethargic against a hungrier opponent.

“It’s really important for us to learn that part of the responsibility of starting out 8-0 and being ranked is we’re going to get everyone’s best shot, and we certainly got that,” Rice said. “Without question, they had more energy than we had.”

Rice also praised the “really terrific” performance by Ragland, who helped hand UNLV its worst loss since a 75-56 setback to Kansas ended the 2008 season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Moser said the Rebels can recover from this beating: “It’s one game in a 30-game season.”

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