Northern Iowa’s late three buries Rebels in OKC, 69-66

By Ryan Greene

Published Thursday, March 18, 2010 | 3:49 p.m.

Updated Thursday, March 18, 2010 | 6:31 p.m.

Final, UNI wins 69-66

OKLAHOMA CITY — UNLV needed one more defensive stop to force overtime after a furious comeback on Northern Iowa, but one time leaving Ali Farokhmanesh open proved to be too many down the stretch.

The Northern Iowa senior guard hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game with less than five seconds to play, ending UNLV's season with a 69-66 setback.

Farokhmanesh led all scorers with 17 points, hitting three of those five deep balls in the second half.

UNLV overcame a late nine-point deficit to tie the game with 37 seconds to play with an Oscar Bellfield trifecta, but the Rebels instead will go home tomorrow with a 25-9 record and a long wait until next November.

Bellfield and Tre'Von Willis each led the Rebels with 13 points, and it was the team's first loss this season when leading at halftime.

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

3:37, second half, UNI leads 62-61

OKLAHOMA CITY — Just as UNLV was on the verge of letting this one slip for good, Chace Stanback was there to lead the charge back.

After hitting only one of his last seven shot attempts, he's hit three of UNLV's last four, and it's again a one-point game after the Rebels trailed by nine just moments ago at 58-49.

Stanback first hit a step-back trey, then a baseline jumper and finally a second-chance layup after his first attempt was swatted by Jordan Eglseder, who has been kept quiet in the second half.

In that stretch, Oscar Bellfield also hit his second three of the game atop the key, giving him 10 points on the night.

In turn, UNLV has re-discovered its defensive aggression, forcing a jump ball just before the current TV timeout. The Rebels will take the ball out of it with a chance to go back ahead.

Remember, UNLV was up 36-35 at the break. This season, the Rebels are 19-0 when leading at the half.

7:43, second half, UNI leads 53-49

OKLAHOMA CITY — For UNLV right now, it's coming in spurts.

The Rebels do not quite look like the team which held the clear upper hand in the opening minutes of the game so far in the second half, and in turn trail Northern Iowa, 53-49, with under eight minutes to play.

UNLV is just 5-of-17 from the floor this half, and all looked well when Kendall Wallace came in to hit both an 18-footer and a three from the right wing to give the Rebels an offensive spark.

But on defense, UNLV is just letting Ali Farokhmanesh shake free a little too often, as his two deep balls from well beyond the arc this half have been a huge difference-maker.

Another blow of late for the Rebels is Chace Stanback picking up his fourth foul of the game just before the current TV timeout. He has just four points tonight on 1-of-7 shooting.

15:46, second half, UNI leads 39-38

OKLAHOMA CITY — UNLV doesn't look quite as spirited to start the second half, and Northern Iowa is trying to use it to its advantage.

Drawing fouls against the Rebels' pressure defense is crafty point guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe. Tre'Von Willis recently picked up his second whistle of the game while applying pressure near mid-court.

However, on the offensive end, UNI's Adam Koch, who was the Missouri Valley Conference's Player of the Year, recently picked up his third foul of the game and headed to the bench.

UNLV is looking a bit uncomfortable on offense, as creating good shots against Northern Iowa's defense will be big. They came much easier in the first half than they are now.

UNLV's only points so far this half came off of a put-back dunk by Anthony Marshall.

Halftime, UNLV leads 36-35

OKLAHOMA CITY — Northern Iowa made a small push before the half and even took a two-point lead late, but a Tre'Von Willis 3-pointer late gave UNLV a 36-35 halftime lead.

Willis has 11 points for the Rebels, and showed signs late of busting loose after looking somewhat uncomfortable on the offensive end in the first half.

Matt Shaw leads all scorers so far with 12 points, including two of four UNLV connections from deep. However, he missed a pair of bonus free throws late in the first half, as the Rebels struggled from the line to close out the half.

Northern Iowa appeared to get a bit more comfortable late in the first half against UNLV's pressure defense, but clean, open shots are still coming at a premium for the Panthers.

Here are some other nuggets and numbers of note from the first half ...

— While taking a charge late in the half, UNLV forward Brice Massamba appeared to bang knees with the Panther driving the ball. He got up and slowly walked off under his own power, and his return to action is questionable.

— For UNLV, Oscar Bellfield has had a hard time looking comfortable shooting the ball. He's 1-of-6 so far and 0-for-3 from deep. However, he has two assists to no turnovers, which is always the key with him.

— Outside of his 11 points, Willis has three assists, no turnovers and two rebounds.

— UNLV was 13-of-29 from the floor and 4-of-10 from deep, while UNI is 11-of-27 and 4-of-9, respectively.

— Jordan Eglseder, who had a big impact early for UNI, leads the Panthers with nine points and seven rebounds. Still, UNLV hasn't let him hurt them too much.

— UNI is winning the rebounding battle, 22-15, and has 10 offensive boards. That's what needs fixing more than anything else for the Rebels in the second half.

7:29, first half, UNLV leads 24-20

OKLAHOMA CITY — After UNLV grabbed an eight point lead, Northern Iowa finally found a way to make a push back, going hard at the rack and earning its way to the foul stripe.

Adam Koch hit a pair of free throws after Chace Stanback attempted to block his shot in the open floor, and that closed UNI to within two points of the Rebels, but Tre'Von Willis answered on the other end with his second bucket of the game, putting the score where it currently stands, with UNLV up 24-20.

Northern Iowa appears to have finally settled in some on offense and is no longer as flustered by UNLV's pressure defense. Sharp-shooter Ali Farokhmanesh finally shook three for an open look and hit his first trey of the game.

Any way possible, UNLV needs to find a way to stay fresh down the stretch run of the first half. In terms of intensity and fight, Northern Iowa deserves a lot of credit for withstanding UNLV's initial punch and keeping things pretty even.

10:18, first half, UNLV leads 18-12

OKLAHOMA CITY — UNLV's excessive force on the defensive end and under the glass is starting to have an effect on Northern Iowa, who just got burned for the first time.

After Matt Shaw cashed UNLV's first 3-pointer of the game, Justin Hawkins came up with a huge defensive rebound off of a guarded three by Adam Koch on the other end.

Anthony Marshall missed a jumper on the other end, but Hawkins came up with a steal off of the defensive board, feeding Chace Stanback for a deep ball to put the Rebels ahead by six at 18-12.

Matt Shaw has been a real difference-maker on the offensive end tonight, as Northern Iowa looks sort of confused with him out there.

15:10, first half, UNLV leads 8-7

OKLAHOMA CITY — UNLV leads by just one at 8-7 after the opening minutes in Oklahoma City against Northern Iowa, but it's very clear who the more uncomfortable of the two teams is.

The Panthers have come close a couple of times to turning the ball over but have not quite broken.

At the same time, UNLV is being patient on the offensive end and cleanly picking its spots.

Still, Jordan Eglseder has proven so far that he'll be a load for UNLV to manage all night. Brice Massamba got the first crack at him, then Darris Santee. Lon Kruger will rotate his big men and try to stay fresh on the 7-foot, 290-pound center. But expect him to still get numbers tonight.

So far, Tre'Von Willis, Oscar Bellfield, Anthony Marshall and Santee have each scored a bucket for the Rebels.

Chace Stanback earns some mention, too, as he has two rebounds against Eglseder, as his athleticism and leaping ability has won out both times.

Pregame

OKLAHOMA CITY — After weeks of bubble talk on the outside on potential seeding speculation, UNLV is finally here — warming up to play in the NCAA tournament for the third time in four years.

The Ford Center cleared out some after the conclusion of a crazy morning session, which included BYU's 99-92 double-overtime victory over Florida and Kansas State's routine 82-62 thrashing of North Texas.

Don't expect it to stay empty for long.

Soon enough, a bevy of Kansas fans here for the nightcap between the tournament's top overall seed and 16-seed Lehigh will be in the building, awaiting the winner between No. 8 UNLV and No. 9 Northern Iowa.

Over the last several days, we've dissected this match-up every way humanly possible and from every angle.

With what we learned, here is a Cliff's Notes what you need to keep in mind 30 minutes before tip-off.

— In terms of size, Northern Iowa has a distinct advantage. In terms of athleticism, UNLV has a distinct advantage.

— The Panthers will try to play this game in the 50s or 60s. The Rebels want it in the 70s or 80s.

— Tre'Von Willis's left ankle is healthy, while Derrick Jasper is hoping to make his return to action for UNLV after missing the last 12 games with a left knee injury.

OK, now on to tonight's three keys to UNLV victory, prediction and 'Pick to Click'

1) UNLV's top concern should be slowing down UNI point guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe. He leads the team in assists per game, but also turnovers per game. Like the TCU team UNLV has faced twice this season, the Panthers don't have a ton of ball-handlers. That said, the pressure defense is more important tonight than maybe any other time this season, considering what's on the line.

2) Chace Stanback and Matt Shaw will be key in trying to draw UNI's big men out of the paint. Jordan Eglseder and Adam Koch are both big, but could be neutralized if UNLV's 6-foot-8 duo can be on with its outside touch.

3) I think Anthony Marshall and Oscar Bellfield have great opportunities to take the game over early by creating transition opportunities and points on the break. Both have shown tendencies to step up big in the big games. Bellfield called this the biggest game of his career. So ... yeah, put two and two together.

Prediction: Well, Vegas has been pretty spot-on with the odds today, and this line, in case you forgot, shifted 2.5 points in UNLV's favor. That said, I'll take UNLV, 74-60.

'Pick to Click': It's hard not to go with Oscar Bellfield. So, yeah. I'll take Oscar.

Be back shortly after tip-off.