Fouls, injuries put crimp in Rebels’ up-tempo style

the numbers

Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2003 | 9:53 a.m.

First Half: UNLV 30-26

The Man: Utah backup point guard Marc Jackson scored nine points during a 12-0 run as the Utes rallied from an early 23-14 deficit to take a 26-23 lead.

Turning Point: Rebel point guard Marcus Banks picked up his second foul with 4:36 left in the half and and joined fellow starters Dalron Johnson and J.K. Edwards on the bench.

Game within the game: Because of fouls and injuries, the Rebels were forced to go with a lineup that included walk-on Jon Knoche at point guard, Ernest Turner at off guard, Jermaine Lewis at small forward and backups Omari Pearson and James Peters up front. Not surprisingly, UNLV went scoreless over a 2 1/2 minute stretch.

Second Half: Utah 66-63

The Man: Banks scored 18 of his game-high 22 points in the final 9:56 to keep UNLV in the game down the stretch.

Turning point: After cutting Utah's lead to four points, 58-54, with 2:41 to go, Banks missed a layup and center J.K. Edwards missed a dunk on back-to-back UNLV possessions.

Game within the game: Turner, making his first college start for the injured Demetrius Hunter, finished with just two points (1-of-5 FG, 0-of-2 FT) and one rebound in 31 minutes.