UNLV blows past NAIA opponent Carroll College
UNLV was well on its way to an 87-51 victory over Carroll College in its second-to-last nonconference game of the season Sunday, and every Rebel who saw the Thomas & Mack Center floor had scored.
When senior walk-on guard Nick Walters of Coronado High checked into the game late in the second half, his teammates made it clear what they wanted to see from him.
“The job was to get a big enough lead to get Nick in the game,” forward Kalib Boone said. “We did that and told him to shoot a 3-pointer and score.”
Walters drilled a 3-pointer for his first points of the season. His teammates and the crowd erupted for the loudest cheers of the game as all 12 Rebels who played scored against Carroll, an NAIA school in Montana.
Guard Justin Webster led UNLV (6-5) with 16 points, one of five Rebels who scored in double figures. Boone added 15 points, guards Luis Rodriguez and Jackie Johnson each scored 12, and forward Rob Whaley Jr. 11.
“The goal was simple — it was coming in and trying to establish our identity,” Webster said. “In our first 10 games, I felt like we haven’t really established our identity of running, guarding the ball and rebounding. For the most part, we did that.”
UNLV showed signs of rust from a nine-day break early in the first half, as a scoring drought of more than three minutes had Carroll tied with UNLV 9-9.
The Rebels began to take control once they started to take advantage of 17 Carroll first-half turnovers. Rodriguez forced a steal that led to a Boone dunk to end their scoring drought, and the Rebels went on a 15-0 run the next seven minutes.
UNLV forced 25 turnovers and scored 17 of its 28 points off turnovers in the first half.
“To go on that run, create a little separation, it was definitely the turning point,” coach Kevin Kruger said.
UNLV led 42-20 at halftime after a 33-8 run in the final 12:30 and Carroll shooting 29.6 percent. UNLV scored 20 of its 46 points in the paint in the first 20 minutes despite being outrebounded 19-17.
The Rebels shot 45.9 percent and scored 26 points from their bench in the second half while receiving contributions from Whaley, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half, and Brooklyn Hicks. Junior guard Shane Nowell scored five points in 17 minutes for his first points of the season after missing the first eight games with an ankle injury.
“There’s a lot of value in that, especially at this point of the year,” Kruger said of getting all 12 active players minutes in the game.
The Rebels will host Bethesda University, a private school in Anaheim, California, that’s a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association, at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Cox Pavilion because of “Disney on Ice” taking place at the Thomas & Mack. The game was added to the schedule after UNLV’s Dec. 6 game at Dayton was canceled because of the campus shooting in which three professors were killed.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
