Willis spurs second-half surge

Another sluggish start turned into another halftime deficit, but this time it was junior guard Tre'Von Willis who led UNLV to the finish line.

"Everybody on the team felt like we needed to step it up," he said.

Willis scored 18 of his career-high 25 points in the second half, when the Rebels stepped on the gas pedal and blew past Southern Illinois for a 78-69 victory Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Willis was almost flawless. He shot 8-for-11 from the field and 7-for-7 on free throws and added seven rebounds and four assists.

"Tre made a ton of good plays," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "Combine his rebounding, his defensive effort and going to the line and making shots, and I thought, scoring aside, maybe it was his best game. And then he scored as well."

Matt Shaw scored 13 points, and Derrick Jasper had 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Rebels (3-0).

UNLV shot 77 percent (17-for-22) from the field in the second half to overcome the talented Salukis (2-1) of the Missouri Valley Conference.

"We spread them out and made plays for each other," Willis said. "We took advantage of their high-pressure defense and got guys open for shots. Everybody was making shots and getting after it on the defensive end. That's when we're having fun."

Southern Illinois came out firing and jumped ahead 18-6 just over six minutes into the game. But Jasper and Willis triggered an 18-2 run as the Rebels reclaimed the lead.

Jasper scored seven of the team's first 16 points. Jasper led a fast break and passed to Willis, who sank a 3-pointer from the corner to make the score 24-20 at the 8:47 mark.

UNLV fell behind 37-34 at the half, but Willis' three-point play tied the score at 56 with just less than 12 minutes remaining. Willis scored 10 points as the Rebels shot 10-for-12 during the eight-minute stretch after halftime.

Kendall Wallace followed by burying a 3 from deep in the left corner at the 9:44 mark. Willis hit two free throws, and then Willis dished to Darris Santee for a fast-break layup. Another Santee layup, off an assist from Oscar Bellfield, put UNLV up 65-56 with 7:10 left.

Willis orchestrated the 12-0 run that turned around the game.

"Tre did a great job of playing with a lot of aggression and swagger," Jasper said, "and we were getting great ball movement on offense."

Shaw's 3-pointer from the top extended the lead to 70-60 with 5:09 to go.

The Salukis cut their deficit 74-69 with one minute to go. But Kendal Brown-Surles was short on a 3-point attempt, Rebels freshman Justin Hawkins rebounded, and Shaw made two free throws with 35 seconds left.

"Before the game, Coach told us we have to concentrate on making more shots," said Shaw, who hit 4 of 7 field goals and all four of his free throws. "We were just trying to execute, and we were fighting to win."

UNLV had 38-29 edge in rebounds and held the Salukis to 5-for-26 shooting from 3-point range, including 1-for-13 after halftime.

Tony Freeman led Southern Illinois with 14 points and seven rebounds, and 6-foot-11-inch Salukis center Nick Evans added 12 points.

"SIU is a great defensive team," Jasper said. "It was a tough team to play, and it was a great test for us."

Chace Stanback and Wallace each had eight points for the Rebels.

In its previous game, UNLV also started slowly and trailed UNR by 12 points in the second half before Bellfield led the comeback for an 88-75 victory.

"I can't imagine two better games early in the season from which to learn," Kruger said.

• NOTES -- The Rebels next host Holy Cross on Wednesday and Louisville on Saturday. ... Larry Johnson, a no-show at the Nov. 10 ceremony honoring UNLV's 1990 national championship team, watched the game from the first row behind the Rebels' bench.

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

UNLV 78

Southern Illinois 69

S. ILLINOIS Min FG-A FT-A R A PF TP

Booker 9 0-1 2-4 0 0 2 2

Evans 19 4-6 4-4 2 0 3 12

Dillard 30 2-10 4-4 2 2 3 8

TFreeman 32 4-12 4-4 7 2 1 14

Bocot 24 2-6 2-2 1 2 1 8

Brown-Surles 19 2-5 1-1 2 2 3 5

Crowder 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

Teague 13 1-4 0-1 3 0 3 2

JFreeman 23 3-4 4-4 5 2 2 11

Fay 29 3-11 1-2 4 1 4 7

TOTALS 200 21-60 22-26 29 11 22 69

Field goals--35.0%. Free throws--84.6%.

Three-point goals--5-26, .192 (Bocot 2-4, T.Freeman 2-9, J.Freeman 1-1, Brown-Surles 0-2, Fay 0-4, Dillard 0-6). Team rebounds--3. Blocked shots--1 (Fay). Turnovers--9 (T.Freeman 2, Teague 2, Dillard 2, J.Freeman, Fay). Steals--2 (Fay, T.Freeman).

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

Stanback 26 4-8 0-1 5 4 2 8

Massamba 9 2-3 0-0 2 0 4 4

Bellfield 24 1-2 0-0 5 3 5 2

Jasper 26 3-3 4-9 5 7 0 11

Willis 26 8-11 7-7 7 4 2 25

Wallace 15 2-5 2-2 0 1 2 8

Marshall 12 1-3 0-0 2 0 2 2

Jones 17 0-1 0-0 1 0 0 0

Hawkins 14 0-2 0-0 3 0 1 0

Shaw 21 4-7 4-4 3 1 0 13

Santee 10 2-3 1-2 1 0 3 5

TOTALS 200 27-48 18-25 38 20 21 78

Field goals--56.3%. Free throws--72.0%.

Three-point goals--6-17, .353 (Willis 2-3, Wallace 2-5, Jasper 1-1, Shaw 1-4, Hawkins 0-1, Bellfield 0-1, Stanback 0-2). Team rebounds--4. Blocked shots--6 (Santee 2, Bellfield, Hawkins, Shaw, Massamba). Turnovers--15 (Marshall 3, Willis 3, Hawkins 3, Jasper 2, Bellfield 2, Stanback, Massamba). Steals--2 (Bellfield, Stanback).

A--11,651. Officials--Scott Thornley, Winston Stith, John Higgins.. Technical fouls--None.

Southern Illinois 37 32 -- 69

UNLV 34 44 -- 78