UNLV routs Pacific 96-70

Some of the technical aspects didn’t go so well — Pia Zadora flubbed the lyrics to the national anthem, and the scoreboard froze less than a minute into Friday’s game.

But what actually mattered, the play on the Thomas & Mack Center court, was nearly picture perfect.

UNLV played its most complete game of the young season, using two dominating runs in the first half and never letting up in routing Pacific 96-70.

“I felt good about the result, but tonight it was also good to see it happen convincingly,” UNLV coach Marvin Menzies said. “I think it was good to have a win against what I think is a very solid team in the (West Coast Conference). To get a win like that can help our guys continue to grow.”

The Rebels (3-1) used runs of 11-0 and 17-1 to surge to a 49-32 halftime lead over the Tigers (3-2). They followed those spurts with a 12-2 second-half run for a 70-42 lead to erase whatever, if any, remnants of doubt remained.

UNLV made 62.1 percent of its shots, including 11 of 27 3-pointers.

Five Rebels scored in double figures, led by Kris Clyburn’s 17 points. Cheikh Mbacke Diong scored 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting, Amauri Hardy and Shakur Juiston each had 13, and Noah Robotham dropped in 11.

UNLV had the game enough in hand at 83-54 that with 6:04 left four starters were taken out to the roar of the approving crowd.

“Everybody played relaxed, they play poised and they had the mindset of just go all out,” Juiston said. “And it worked. No one held anything back tonight. They played their role, and they did what they had to do.”

After opening the season with a 61-50 loss to Loyola Marymount, the Rebels have won three straight, each by double figures. This one was their most lopsided rout.

“Games are so mutually exclusive from each other that you can have a great performance, and everyone thinks you have a chance at the national championship,” Menzies said. “You can have a bad performance, and everyone says, ‘Oh, well, wait till next year.’

“This is one notch in our belt. We’ve got several other opportunities to grow and continue to build the culture of what we’re trying to do here.”

The next one is at 7 p.m. Friday against Southern Utah at the Mack. Southern Utah is off to a 3-0 start under former Rebels interim coach Todd Simon. Ex-Rebel Dwayne Morgan averages 13.3 points and 5.7 rebounds for the Thunderbirds.

More Rebels: Follow all of our UNLV coverage online at reviewjournal.com/Rebels and @RJ_Sports on Twitter.

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.