Rebels get to the point against Pan American

Thursday, Dec. 30, 2004 | 9:14 a.m.

Ricky Morgan's knee-high-socks look turned a week old Wednesday, he began wearing those long braided locks at Pontiac (Mich.) Northern High and his mother, Sandra, instilled an ultra polite demeanor in him long ago.

"My mom always taught me to say 'Yes, sir ... no, sir,'" he said Wednesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center. "It gets you a long way."

Morgan, in his first start for UNLV, and Jerel Blassingame provided the Rebels with a lethal one-two punch at the point in their 74-54 victory over Texas-Pan American.

The UNLV duo wasn't polite about it, either, finishing with a combined 22 points, six assists and two turnovers.

Pan Am point guard Eric Montalvo finished with 12 points, three assists and six turnovers in 38 minutes. That distribution inefficiency spread to the rest of the Broncs, who combined for six assists and a dozen turnovers.

However, Pan Am owned almost all of an intramural-like first half. Montalvo drained his third 3-point shot in as many attempts to boost the Broncs' lead to 32-25 with 45 seconds to go before halftime.

Then UNLV awoke.

After Romel Beck quickly answered with a 3-pointer of his own, Blassingame swiped the ball from Montalvo about 20 feet from the UNLV basket and sailed in for an easy layup.

When UNLV (6-4) regained control of the ball with 4.5 seconds left, Rebels coach Lon Kruger called a timeout, set up a play and then watched Blassingame barely beat the buzzer with another driving layup for a 32-32 tie.

Kruger said a sense of urgency was responsible for that aggressive ending to the first half, and his guards continued that theme in the second half.

Morgan badgered Montalvo into getting called for a five-second violation, Pan Am's fifth turnover in a seven-possession stretch five minutes into the second half, then Morgan raced downcourt to sink a 3-point shot.

That gave UNLV a 43-36 advantage and its first real breather of the game. Then Blassingame came in, and a minute later Broncs coach Robert Davenport finally allowed Montalvo a chance to catch his breath on the bench.

Montalvo, a natural shooting guard, had played the point non-stop for 147 minutes, 33 seconds, since regular point guard Sergio Sanchez broke two bones in his right hand in practice Dec. 19.

Sanchez had been sixth in the nation in scoring when he was sidelined.

"We played to the scouting report well in the first half, except for that last minute," Montalvo said. "That really hurt us. In the second half, they made shots, and we got tired and made bad choices."

The 6-foot Morgan hounded Montalvo, a 6-1 senior, during his 17 minutes on the court. But the 5-8 Blassingame nearly pestered Montalvo for 94 feet.

"Yeah, I got tired," Montalvo said. "They did a good job playing me full court all game long, and that just got me tired. I'm going hard, trying to help my team. Hopefully, I'll learn from this experience."

Blassingame, UNLV's regular starting point guard, gave the Rebels a double-digit lead, at 58-47, that they never relinquished when he made two free throws with 7:29 left.

Morgan agreed that UNLV will not be able to get away with slumbering for most of Sunday's first half in Austin, Texas, against the 15th-ranked Longhorns.

"But I know we'll play hard," he said.

Blassingame, the usual starter, began Wednesday's game on the bench for being tardy to a recent practice. Three seasons ago, Morgan started 11 times for Iowa State.

"Jerel didn't pout one bit about not starting," Morgan said. "He took it like a man, and he came in and performed. You can't let little things like that set you back. He understands that, and I think he did a good job tonight."

Morgan has lately understood that he's most valuable to UNLV as a distributor and tenacious defender. Over the summer, he was so enthused about his improvements on offense that he looked for his shot too much.

He believes that hurt team morale.

"I'm better at settin' people up, just runnin' the show, dictatin' things and moving the ball," said Morgan, 22. "I'm just happy to be here. If I get in two or 20 minutes, I'll do the best I can for these fans, my teammates and my coaches.

"I love everybody and I'm here to make the best out of my opportunities. I wasn't guaranteed a second opportunity and I realize the significance of me making something of myself."