UNLV falls to Syracuse

Steve Carp

Monday, Dec. 22, 1997 | 11:49 a.m.

There were no secrets at the Thomas & Mack Center Saturday. But even though UNLV knew the questions, it couldn't provide enough answers.

And it gave Syracuse a chance to leave Las Vegas with full pockets Saturday, as the 25th-ranked Orangemen connected on four 3-point field goals in the second half and held off the Rebels, 71-64 in the 2nd annual Las Vegas Shootout.

In the opener, Massachusetts got 21 points from Monty Mack and 17 from Lari Kettner to defeat Colorado, 79-68.

Having traveled all day Friday and with little time to prepare, the Orangemen may have seemed ripe for the taking. But when you're playing with confidence and you have many weapons at your disposal, it allows you to compensate for the obstacles laid in front of you.

And Jim Boeheim had enough bullets to fire at Bill Bayno's team. Whether it was Elvir Ovcina hitting treys over Kaspars Kambala or Todd Burgan and Ryan Blackwell able to work inside, the Orangemen made enough shots and stymied UNLV long enough to remain undefeated at 9-0.

"We won shooting the ball as bad as we can," Boeheim said. "But our execution was good. When we had to make a play, we did.

"It was a very good effort. To win here, I'm very, very thrilled."

The Rebels played inspired ball and were hoping to pull the upset. They were ahead 51-50 midway through the second half and the 13,146 at the Mack sensed something special was brewing.

But Greedy Daniels was sidelined with four personal fouls and despite Kambala's strong inside play and Tyrone Nesby returning to form with 20 points and eight rebounds, it wasn't enough against the Syracuse 2-3 zone.

A 10-2 spurt over a 3:10 span put the Orangemen ahead to stay, 59-53, as UNLV struggled to stay with Syracuse offensively. The Orangemen made just two field goals in the final 6 1/2 minutes, but it was enough to get out of town with the win.

"Shooting can overcome a lot of evils," Boeheim said of Ovcina, who had just six points, but they were all huge. "Elvir was probably responsible for 14-15 points.

"I was going to take him out when they went to the matchup, but he hit those two threes and he helped win the game for us."

The Rebels knew to have a chance they had to contain sophomore point guard Jason Hart and get out on Syracuse's perimeter shooters and they did a decent job of both in the first half. The Orangemen made only two 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes and Hart was saddled with early foul trouble, pciking up his second person with seven-plus minutes gone by.

But it was a battle on the glass and the Rebels were coming out second-best. Syracuse's Blackwell, Etan Thomas and Eric Williams dominated inside and it allowed the Orangemen to stay in it.

UNLV was unable to build on its 21-16 lead with 7:45 to go in the half and fell behind 24-23 three minutes later. Kambala was the lone Rebel willing to board and UNLV needed more than the big 6-9 Latvian to beat the Orangemen.

But a late UNLV flurry allowed it to lead at halftime. Donovan Stewart got out on the fast break, was fed by Greedy Daniels in stride, and scored on a driving layup while being fouled by Blackwell with 2:05 to go. Stewart made the free throw to put UNLV up 30-27.

Stewart was also responsible for the Rebels leading at the break as he again went inside to score with 11 seconds left, giving UNLV a narrow 33-31edge at intermission.

But the Rebels, who shot 57 percent from the floor in the first half, couldn't sustain the effort. They fell off dramatically, hitting only 34 percent from the field and making just 1 of 11 3-point tries. And Kambala, who had arguably his best overall game as a Rebel with 23 points and 15 rebounds, could not carry the team down the stretch.

Syracuse managed to hold him at bay in the late stages and even though the Orangemen were struggling from the field as well, they were getting to the line and made enough from the stripe to get to the finish line first. Syracuse made just 8 of 14 tries in the final 5:38.

But the Orangemen got balanced scoring with five players in double figures. Blackwell led Syracuse with 14 points, Thomas had 13, Marius Janluis and Burgan had 11 apiece and Hart finished with 10.

"We've got a team that fiits in well," Boeheim said. "It's a great win."