UNLV outruns Wyoming

Tim Dahlberg

Friday, March 10, 2000 | 11:35 a.m.

LAS VEGAS - UNLV ran like the Runnin' Rebels of old against Wyoming. Now, the Rebels hope one more good show will put them in the NCAA tournament.

Mark Dickel's career-high 18 assists helped UNLV beat Wyoming Friday night to get to the finals of the Mountain West Conference tournament, where a possible NCAA bid will be at stake against Brigham Young.

Since the winner of the new conference doesn't get an automatic bid, UNLV figures to have to look impressive against a team it has already lost to twice this season to get in the tournament.

"Our team will be ready to play. That's why we ran all summer," Dickel said. "We're in the best shape of any team in the country."

UNLV is 22-7, but has beaten only one top 25 opponent all year. That was Utah, which fell from the rankings, and also fell to BYU in the earlier semifinal game.

Kaspars Kambala scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half and freshman Dalron Johnson had a career high 23 points before fouling out, as UNLV came from behind in the second half in a game played at a frenetic pace.

Wyoming, which split a pair of games with UNLV during the regular season, was more than happy to play all out with UNLV.

"This is the way the games are supposed to be played," Wyoming coach Steve McClain said. "I sat and watched two 50-point games earlier in the day and if they told me I had to coach that way I'd quit."

The Rebels trailed 80-71 with 8:05 left before going on a 16-4 run capped by a Kambala layup that gave UNLV an 87-84 lead.

Wyoming (19-12) came back to lead 88-87, but Trevor Diggs hit a 3-pointer to spark an 8-1 run that put UNLV ahead for good.

Playing before a home crowd, UNLV ran up and down the court with the Cowboys in a game that saw both teams shoot better than 50 percent.

Trevor Diggs, mired in a shooting slump all season, made five of six 3-pointers, including the 3-pointer that put UNLV ahead for good, 90-88, with a little over 3 minutes left in the game.

Diggs had 20 points.

LeDarion Jones dominated at times inside for Wyoming, scoring 27 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. But the Cowboys were hurt by leading scorer Josh Davis sitting on the bench for a long stretch in the second half, after picking up his foruth foul with 16:44 remaining.

Brett McFall had 17 for Wyoming.

The first half was vintage UNLV run-and-gun, a game the Cowboys showed they can also play.

With both teams shooting more than 50 percent for the half, Wyoming led most of the half, building up its biggest lead of the half, 44-35, on a layup by Anthony Blakes with 4:05 left.

UNLV then went on a 14-6 run the rest of the half, finally taking its first lead since 4-3 on a basket by Kaspars Kambala to make it 49-48 as time expired.