BYU basketball: Supporting cast provides difference in UNLV victory

LAS VEGAS — When teams plan to stop the UNLV Rebels, the three guys on their radar are Wink Adams, Rene Rougeau and Tre'Von Willis.

But in spoiling BYU's plan to end a five-game skid at the Thomas and Mack Center on Saturday night, it was UNLV's supporting cast that led the Rebels to the 75-74 win. The Cougars, now 8-4 in the MWC, fall back into a tie for second with San Diego State and New Mexico.

"We were able to make some shots in that second half to get a little bit of a lead, and then make enough free throws to win a ball game," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said.

The game was really a tale of two halves for both teams. The Rebels shot 29 percent in the first, while BYU managed only 32 percent. In the second half, however, the two teams combined for 105 points, with UNLV coming back with 44 percent shooting and BYU 47 percent.

But the difference came about a fourth of the way through the second half when Rebel reserve guards Kendall Wallace and Mareceo Rutledge went on a short tear that broke the game open.

"We were both kind of in a spot where we were not shooting the ball well, and those guys came in and buried shots," Cougar Lee Cummard said.

With the score tied 37-37, Wallace hit two deep 3s and then answered a BYU bucket with a tough driving layup to quickly push UNLV ahead by six. Prior to those two 3s, Wallace had made only one of his previous 14 3-point shot attempts.

"Three or four possessions there, that back-to-back-to-back, where they were able to get some separation, that seemed to be the difference in the game," BYU coach Dave Rose said.

That run was followed up by back-to-back three-point plays from Rutledge, which gave the Rebels a 54-45 lead with eight minutes remaining. From there, Adams added back-to-back 3-pointers to push UNLV's lead to 60-48 and officially put BYU in scramble mode.

"We were not getting stops," Cummard said. "That affected our offense, but it all started on the defensive end."

The Cougars, with a frantic run in the final minute, almost caught the Rebels. Trailing 72-64 with 40 seconds remaining Cummard dunked to cut the lead to six. Then, after Adams hit one free throw, a Jackson Emery layup cut the margin to five. One more free throw by Rougeau pushed it back to six before Jonathan Tavernari hit a trey for BYU with nine seconds on the clock. The Rebels again made only one-of-two, after which Cummard nailed a trey with three seconds on the clock to cut UNLV's lead to 75-74.