Rebels put their game on the line

Steve Guiremand

Friday, March 11, 2005 | 10:07 a.m.

Game 1 -- UNLV (16-12) vs. Utah (26-4), 6 p.m. TV -- KFBT (6). Radio -- 920-AM.

Game 2 -- New Mexico (24-6) vs. San Diego State (11-17), 9 p.m. TV -- ESPN (30).

DENVER --- Ricky Morgan said he wasn't very proud of his free-throw shooting this season entering Thursday afternoon's Mountain West Conference tournament quarterfinal game against Wyoming. And for good reason.

A 6-foot junior from Pontaic, Mich., Morgan had connected on just 18 of his 30 attempts, a dismal 60 percent.

But Morgan did a pretty nice Calvin Murphy impression in the second half against the Cowboys, nailing 18 consecutive free throws, including 12 in the final 2:27 as the Rebels (16-12) held on for a 70-63 victory before a crowd of 7,603 at the Pepsi Center.

UNLV will play conference regular-season champion Utah (26-4), a 62-49 winner against Colorado State, at 6 tonight in one of the first semifinal. New Mexico plays San Diego State in the second game.

Morgan missed his first free throw of the game to finish 18 of 19 (94.7 percent) for the game. He set a Mountain West tournament record for both makes and attempts and tied the school mark of 18 consecutive free throws made in a game set by Kaspers Kambala against Louisville on Nov. 21, 2000.

"I was thinking just shoot the ball straight and nice and soft because these rims are pretty tough and hard for shots to go down," Morgan said. "I was just trying to get it and shoot it the right way, following through and things like that. Fortunately for me, I got a couple of rolls and they went in."

When informed he had broken several MWC tournament records for free throws, Morgan just smiled.

"I'm honored to be anywhere in the Mountain West record book," he said. "That's big not just for me but for UNLV as a university. I was just happy to make those free throws and happy that we could advance."

"Ricky did a terrific job down the stretch running the club and getting to the free-throw line and converting all of those opportunities," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "After he got the first couple down I thought the guys did a nice job of getting the ball in his hands knowing Wyoming was going to foul. Ricky just kept making them and his confidence just kept going up."

UNLV made 23 of its 29 free-throw attempts in the contest (79.3 percent) while Wyoming, which held the distinction of being the worst free-throw-shooting team in the Mountain West this year (66.9 percent), made just 16 of 25 tries (64.0 percent).

"We did what we wanted to do and they had other guys step up and make big plays," Wyoming coach Steve McClain said. "The difference in the game is at the free throw line."

Morgan finished with a career-high 22 points and four rebounds while sophomore guard Michael Umeh added 21 points, 20 of them in the first half when the Rebels built up a 28-21 halftime advantage.

The Rebels also got key minutes from junior center Joel Anthony (four points, eight rebounds), who was credited with three blocked shots but appeared to have at least three more, senior point guard Jerel Blassingame (three points, six assists, just one turnover) and swingman Curtis Terry (seven points in 15 minutes).

Morgan and Blassingame also did an outstanding defensive job on Jay Straight, the Cowboys' first-team all-conference guard who finished with 14 points on just 5 of 18 shooting and had as many turnovers (five) as assists (five).

Blassingame, in fact, made two huge plays on defense toward the end of the first half when he drew two charging fouls on Straight in a four-minute span. The frustrated Cowboys star then seemed content to spend the rest of the game firing jump shots.

"Jay Straight is a great player," Blassingame said. "I was just anticipating and trying to get him frustrated. I was able to pick up those two fouls on him. I think that was key for us in the first half in getting the lead."

Anthony took control of the paint in the second half, altering a number of Wyoming inside shots. He also picked up his share of floor burns diving to the floor to get loose balls.

"He's changing eveything," Kruger said. "He blocked shots. He changed shots. He's got a great feel in there defensively and did a real good job."

"I just wanted that ball," said Anthony, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound junior from Montreal. "Sometimes you have to go on the floor and get it. When they say leave it on the floor, that's what you've got to do."

The Rebels won despite shooting just 33.9 percent (20 of 59) from the floor and getting a combined seven points from starters Odartey Blankson (five points on 1 of 10 shooting), Louis Amundson (two points) and Andy Hannan (scoreless in 13 minutes). But Morgan and Umeh, who scored the team's first 14 points, made up for it.

"That's been the nature of this group," Kruger said. "It's different guys at different times. Odartey and Michael have been there every time. But different guys have been able to step up and complement their play."