Rebels shoot down zone ‘D’

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Dec. 23, 2004 | 9:28 a.m.

UNLV got its first real look at playing against a zone defense this season Wednesday night against Florida Atlantic.

They obviously liked what they saw.

The Rebels (5-4), who came into the contest shooting a dismal 29.9 percent from 3-point range, connected on six of their first nine attempts behind the arc en route to an early 22-15 lead and wound up with a season-high 13 threes and a 83-66 victory against the Owls (1-7) before an announced crowd of 10,337 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Senior swingman Andy Hannan, who had made just three 3-pointers in 16 attempts in his two-year Rebels career, made three in a row to start the game and four of six for the night, while senior guard Romel Beck continued his hot shooting by scoring a game-high 23 points, including 6-of-12 3-pointers, as UNLV shredded Florida Atlantic's 1-2-2 zone.

"We haven't really seen any zone and it was a good experience for us," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "I thought they moved the ball well. I thought they did a nice job of looking for each other and moved the ball well."

"I think we did a great job of being patient and moving the ball," Beck added. "I was in a good rhythm. My teammates did a nice job of getting me the ball at the right place at the right time. As a shooter, it's easy when you get wide-open shots."

The Rebels finished with a season-high 25 assists, six more than their previous best in a 86-61 victory against Oregon State on Nov. 26.

Hannan, making just his second start of the season, scored eight of UNLV's first 13 points, including two 3-pointers as the normally slow-starting Rebels bolted out to a quick 13-4 lead.

"It definitely felt good to hit that first shot," said Hannan, who also had five assists and two steals. "The last game the starting group was pretty frustrated with the way we started, and I came out with the mindset that I wanted to bring some energy and focus on defense and rebounding. And when you do that, the shots just start to fall for you. I felt like that's what happened because I was focused and ready to go."

"It's always nice to get off to a quick start," said senior point guard Jerel Blassingame, who finished with nine points and eight assists. "We usually start off the game slow. It's big to play ahead instead of playing from behind."

Florida Atlantic, behind the play of forwards Mike Bell (19 points) and Rodney Webb (18 points), chipped away at UNLV's early nine-point lead and closed to within one point, 22-21, on a drive by Bell with 10:58 left in the first half.

But the Rebels, behind some strong bench play by forward Dustin Villepigue (four points in a 2 1/2-minute span) and Curtis Terry (eight points), went on a 16-9 run to go into halftime with a 38-30 lead.

UNLV, thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Beck, another trey by Hannan and a couple of mid-range jumpers by senior forward Odartey Blankson (14 points, 12 rebounds), opened the second half with a 14-7 spurt to increase its lead to 15 points, 52-37. The Owls never got any closer than six points the rest of the way.

The Rebels now take three days off for Christmas before returning to practice Sunday. UNLV plays host to against Texas-Pan American on Dec. 29.

"It's nice going into the break with a couple of wins," Kruger said. "It makes the Christmas break that more festive, and that's good."