MWC LIVE BLOG: Third time’s a charm as Marshall leads UNLV’s 73-61 rout of Utah

By Ryan Greene

Published Thursday, March 11, 2010 | 1:15 p.m.

Updated Thursday, March 11, 2010 | 10:39 p.m.

Final, UNLV wins 73-61

It took two-and-a-half meetings, but the Rebels finally broke Utah when it mattered most. With a chance to all but lock up a trip to the NCAA tournament, UNLV avenged two previous losses to the Utes in resounding fashion.

The Rebels used a 10-0 second half run sparked by freshman guard Anthony Marshall to punish the Utes, 73-61 on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament.

The win, combined with BYU's 95-85 victory over TCU earlier in the evening, sets up a third meeting between UNLV and the rival Cougars on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. back at the Thomas & Mack Center.

New Mexico and San Diego State will square off in the first semifinal at 6 p.m.

Marshall did everything for the Rebels, finishing the night with 13 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block.

Tre'Von Willis added 13 of his own for the Rebels, while Chace Stanback scored 10 points and six rebounds.

Utah was offensively frustrated all night, finishing just 13-of-40 from the floor with 15 turnovers.

For full postgame coverage, including stories, photos, video, stats and The Rebel Room: Postgame Edition, stay tuned to lasvegassun.com/rebels.

11:59, second half, UNLV leads 53-37

After Utah closed to within a point at 31-30 out of the half, UNLV got every bit of lift it needed from freshman guard Anthony Marshall.

The Mojave High product contributed in every way to a 10-0 run to help the Rebels get some separation on the scoreboard, and since then has dropped in a pair of acrobatic lay-ups.

The Rebels now lead the Utes, 53-37, with 11:59 to play. It's looking more and more likely that a semifinal showdown tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. with BYU is imminent.

Marshall has nine points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and most recently a block against 6-foot-7 Jay Watkins.

Utah has 13 turnovers, and in the second half is just 1-of-8 from the floor this half.

Halftime, UNLV leads 29-25

Offense didn't come easy in the first half for UNLV, but the Rebels got just enough, plus set a nice defensive tone early and, in turn, hold a 29-25 lead in their quarterfinal match-up with Utah at the half.

The Rebels led by as many as 13, and that was sparked by an impressive 11-0 run.

UNLV is an efficient 10-of-23 from the floor so far, but the problem has been coming by open shots. Tre'Von Willis, who averaged just under 18 points per game this season, has only five points and is not getting any help from the refs on repeated hard drives to the bucket.

Utah, however, is just 6-of-20 from the floor and has turned the ball over nine times.

UNLV could show some nice life early in the second half, as Oscar Bellfield and Chace Stanback were both limited in the first half with two fouls apiece. The only real foul trouble on the Utah side belongs to Luka Drca, who picked up his third foul late in the half on the offensive end.

7:59, first half, UNLV leads 18-8

The offensive dam had to break at some point, and it broke in UNLV's favor.

After Kendall Wallace dropped in a floater over 7-foot-3 David Foster, Matt Shaw hit a baseline jumper. Four free throws were then followed by a Steve Jones lay-up against 6-foot-7 Jay Watkins, and UNLV's defense is in return bothering Utah to no end.

The Utes are just 2-of-12 from the floor with seven turnovers.

What once didn't really feel like a true UNLV home game is now starting to as the crowd is feeding off of the Rebels' hounding defense.

11:39, first half, game tied 8-8

This is the pace UNLV wanted, with a frantic defensive effort forcing Utah to be creative on the offensive end.

But the Rebels are seeing a similar effort on the other end, and open shots are coming at a premium, with the game tied 8-8 just over eight minutes in.

The two teams are a combined 5-of-18 from the floor, while the Rebels have forced five turnovers.

Utah center David Foster got the start, but then re-aggravated his ankle injury and missed a few minutes of action. Since coming back in, he's scored four points, including a big dunk just before the last TV break.

8:15 p.m. — Jimmer Fredette scores 45 points in BYU win, UNLV-Utah roughly 20 min. away

Jimmer Fredette gets a lot of foul calls to go his way, yes.

But give the BYU junior super-guard some credit. He did hit 23 of his 24 free throw attempts.

His 45 points in the Cougars' 95-85 victory over TCU was a Mountain West Conference tournament record. The previous high mark was set by UNLV's Lou Kelly in 2002, when he scored 35 in a triple-overtime victory over New Mexico.

BYU will get the winner of the night's final quarterfinal match-up between UNLV and Utah.

The blog today is a bit different than most of my game-day blogs, but gotta keep up with certain traditions so that said, here are tonight's three keys to UNLV victory, prediction and 'Pick to Click.'

1) Matt Shaw needs to be a difference maker. It's arguable that behind Kendall Wallace, he's UNLV's best 3-point gun. Utah's 7-foot-3 David Foster is listed in the starting lineup, so it looks like he'll play. Utah coach Jim Boylen said that Matt Shaw can neutralize Foster by pulling him out of the paint with his ability to shoot from deep. The Rebels need the rust to be gone from his sprained ankle.

2) UNLV can't allow Carlon Brown to have a dribble-drive field day like the one he enjoyed in the February victory over the Rebels. A lot of the onus for that will fall on Tre'Von Willis and Oscar Bellfield.

3) The Rebels need to play great defense in the first seven minutes like they have in the last four games. It's been the difference-maker in terms of setting the tone and creating early offense. Other than Brown, the Utes don't have many guys who can hurt you off the dribble or create their own look.

Prediction — I'm taking the Rebels by nine, 74-65.

Pick to Click — I like Chace Stanback. He quietly had an OK game in the loss in SLC, and if Kim Tillie is hobbled, Stanback could take advantage of that match-up all night.

Talk to you after tip-off.

7:00 p.m. — TCU hanging tough, leading BYU at the break, 40-39

Hey, remember when BYU embarrassed TCU last Saturday night in the regular season finale in Fort Worth by 30 points?

Yeah, neither do the Horned Frogs.

Behind 15 points from Ronnie Moss, including a 10-foot floater as the first half clock expired, TCU is making an upset bid of its own in the day's third quarterfinal.

BYU isn't doing anything really wrong. I mean, come on, the Cougars never play defense. They're, you know, just not scoring enough. TCU is the kind of team that can easily score 80 points and lose by 30. But Jim Christian's club can also score in the triple digits.

The freaky thing about this game, actually, is the atmosphere. There really aren't very many BYU fans here. We all know the economy's in the toilet, but this is what BYU fans live for. Wonder what's behind the no-shows.

4:45 p.m. — Aztecs just get by, edge Rams, 72-71

Well, it looks like four bids to the NCAA tournament are now that much more likely for the Mountain West Conference, as San Diego State scratched and clawed to get by Colorado State, 72-71.

On a day in which bubble residents Memphis and UAB both lost in the Conference USA tournament, an upset defeat for SDSU would have been monumentally disappointing — especially when you consider that the Aztecs had a choke hold on the Rams early in the first half.

With :23.6 to play, D.J. Gay hit two free throws to push SDSU ahead by one, and a Dorian Green turnover ended the Rams' prime opportunity to make the upset bid a reality.

The big story for SDSU was the play of the frontcourt trio of Billy White, Kawhi Leonard and Malcolm Thomas. They combined for 42 points and 17 rebounds.

Seriously, though, you can't commend Colorado State coach Tim Miles enough for what he's done in three years in Fort Collins. And keep in mind, the second half comeback was executed without their leading scorer and rebounder, Andy Ogide. He was ejected in the first half after shoving/hitting SDSU center Brian Carlwell.

The best part of all of this? The San Diego State gecko lives to see another day at the MWC tourney. Well, at least that's my favorite part. SDSU and New Mexico will meet at 6 p.m. tomorrow in what is sure to be an absolute war.

Next up will be BYU-TCU, which is set to tip at around 6 p.m.

I'll be back just before tip-off with some more.

3:45 p.m. — Aztecs hold strong 41-33 halftime lead over Rams

About half of Albuquerque showed up for this morning's quarterfinal between No. 8 New Mexico and Air Force, and while half of them left before Colorado State and San Diego State got underway, those who stuck around were treated to some, um, fireworks.

As expected, San Diego State's size is the difference so far as the Aztecs hold a 41-33 halftime lead on the Rams.

And it has frustrated CSU's big men to uncomfortable lengths.

So much so that junior forward Andy Ogide, who averaged roughly 12 points and six rebounds a game this season for the Rams, shoved/hit SDSU's Brian Carlwell after grabbing a defensive rebound. He was called for an intentional technical foul and was ejected from the game. Since then, the Rams haven't been much of a threat.

(Honestly, I can't say Ogide deserved to get thrown. The technical? Yes. Absolutely.)

At the half, freshman guard Chase Tapley has been the offensive hero for SDSU with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting in 14 minutes.

The atmosphere in this game is much different from the first. Colorado State traveled enough fans for anyone in attendance to count using fingers and toes. Meanwhile, SDSU has a decent showing, including the famed Gecko from the student section at Viejas Arena. Kudos to the kid for making it two years in a row here at the MWC tourney.

2:15 p.m. — New Mexico knocks off Air Force, 75-69

I cannot think of another player in the Mountain West Conference who is his own worst enemy more than New Mexico's Darington Hobson.

He can be great at times, and that was shown with his 28 points and 15 boards in the Lobos' 75-69 victory over Air Force in today's first quarterfinal at the Mack.

Then there are moments where you just have to shake your head at the kid.

One came in the first half, when it was still a game. He got so angry after a foul call that he took out his red mouthpiece and chucked it the entire length of the court, drawing a couple of interesting looks from the refs.

The refs got their payback, so to speak, when Hobson then yelled to the crowd after a second half layup. He drew a technical foul, and for the rest of the afternoon got no favors from the officials.

Now, of course against Air Force, there's some breathing room for such antics. But if those same refs are back tomorrow or Saturday when UNM is playing? Don't think they'll forget it.

But the truth of it all is that Hobson is still the most ridiculous talent in the league. At 6-foot-7, he can play five positions, do a little bit of everything and plays a good, strong team game.

Several UNLV fans still wonder why Lon Kruger didn't bring Hobson — a Vegas native and lifelong Rebels fan — aboard. I can't say I blame him, at times. Is having that kind of talent worth paying the price of having to keep the attitude in check at times? Different coaches will give different answers to that, and that's just the truth of it.

Here are a couple of other notables from quarterfinal No. 1 ...

— New Mexico's 'Snake' is by far the best fan in the Mountain West. You'll never get me to think otherwise. Never. He's here this weekend, and all I can say is thank goodness for that.

— You have to give Air Force a tip of the cap. Just like last year, they got a win in the conference tournament, then pushed the top seed for 40 minutes a day later. Last year, they did it to BYU. Today, four Falcons scored in double figures, they were 27-of-50 from the floor as a team and were just flat-out pesky.

— New Mexico point guard Dairese Gary, who was a first team All-MWC performer, had 20 points, including a 14-of-15 showing at the free throw line, to go with his four rebounds and four assists. However, he looked like he suffered some sort of a stinger in his lower back, as he was nursing it all afternoon. That's something worth remembering.

— UNM reserve Will Brown wins the award for angriest player in the league. He twice came to the bench after picking up fouls and gave a good beating to the Powerade cooler behind him. I can see on the final box score why he was so worked up. In 11 minutes, he picked up three fouls.

— Steve Alford is now 1-2 in first-round MWC tourney games at New Mexico. But I'm sure he still hates playing it in the Mack. That's about as safe a bet as you'll find.

The Lobos advance to tomorrow's 6 p.m. semifinal against the winner of the next quarterfinal between San Diego State and Colorado State.

The arena doesn't have the buzz it did just about 30 minutes ago, as several New Mexico fans opted for Vegas's other entertainment options. And can you blame them?

The atmosphere might be a little flat, but San Diego State can't afford to reflect that. The Aztecs are in the same boat as UNLV — They have to keep winning to further solidify that NCAA tournament resumé. And in Steve Fisher's mind, they probably have to win the whole damn thing.

Talk to you in a bit.

1:15 p.m. — New Mexico leads Air Force, 46-39

Well, if you're planning on making your way down to the Thomas & Mack Center for the Mountain West Conference tournament, pick some soothing music for the ride and try to relax yourself.

You'll want to, since traffic getting in here is absolutely insane.

It reflects the buzz surrounding this year's event, and the atmosphere inside for the day's first quarterfinal is truly electric.

Roughly half of Albuquerque apparently made the trip up to Vegas to watch the No. 8 Lobos try to win three games in three days.

So far, things aren't coming so easy.

New Mexico led just 38-31 at the half over lowly Air Force. The Falcons earned their way into this one by knocking off Wyoming, who after a tumultuous regular season looked even more lowly yesterday in the opening round game.

The Lobos opened the game on fire with a pair of Roman Martinez treys right out of the gates.

But after that, it leveled off some, as the pace has been somewhere in between Air Force's slowed-down preference and New Mexico's up-and-down style.

Maybe the most interesting tidbit from the first half was a last-second 3-pointer by Air Force's Evan Washington to make it a seven-point game at the break.

According to a fellow media member a few seats down from me, New Mexico was a 10-point first-half favorite. There's got to be some angry gamblers out there, eh?

Plus, as always, there's the Darington Hobson sideshow.

The Las Vegas native and MWC Player of the Year is being his usual temperamental self.

He at one point got so frustrated late in the first half that he chucked his mouthpiece clear across the court. But how mad can he be? He's already got a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

(He also deserves a pat on the back, as he lost a ball during half-time warm-ups and knocked over my water near my computer on press row. He removed said mouthpiece and apologized. That will earn some points in my book.)

I'll talk to you more as the day goes on, and feel free to follow more of my updates from today on Twitter at twitter.com/ryanmgreene.