UNLV guard Cody Doolin (45) gets inside of UNR guard Marqueze Coleman (1) for a fast-break basket during the Mountain West Basketball Championships at the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday, March, 11, 2015.
Published Wednesday, March 11, 2015 | 1:30 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, March 11, 2015 | 4:31 p.m.
UNLV 67, UNR 46
Game over
Christian Wood scored 28 points with seven rebounds to lead UNLV into the quarterfinals with a 67-46 victory this afternoon against UNR at the Thomas & Mack Center. UNLV, the No. 7 seed, will meet No. 2 seed San Diego State at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Wood was limited a bit by foul trouble in the first half, but other than that he was great the whole game. Wood shot 9-of-13 from the field and 10-of-13 at the free-throw line, and with lots of NBA scouts in the building he attempted only one 3-pointer while consistently hustling up and down the court.
UNR committed 19 turnovers and despite grabbing 20 rebounds only scored nine second-chance points, the same as UNLV. The Rebels scored 21 points off turnovers and blocked eight UNR shots.
Freshman guard Jordan Cornish scored 13 points, a career high against Division I competition. Like Wood, Cornish was dialed in pretty much the entire game and shot 4-for-7. Overall the Rebels shot 41.8 percent from the field, but it was 52.2 percent in the second half.
Check lasvegassun.com later tonight for a full report from the Rebels' victory.
The Rebel Room
Conference Tournament Week
Four men's conference basketball tournaments take over three Las Vegas arenas this week, including the Mountain West tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center. Las Vegas Sun sports writers Ray Brewer and Taylor Bern discuss UNLV's outlook as the No. 7 seed.
More Coverage
- Rebels trying to focus on one game at a time entering MW tourney as 7 seed
- Mountain West puts Wood on second team while injured Vaughn captures award
- Bern’s-Eye View: Boise State should sweep the major Mountain West awards
- Kendrick has career night in Rebels’ 13-point victory at San Jose State
- The Sun's UNLV basketball section
It was bad enough for UNLV losing to UNR in the Thomas & Mack Center once this season. It would be worse for the 2014-15 season to end the same way today in the Mountain West tournament.
The Rebels (17-14, 8-10) and Wolf Pack (9-21, 5-13) tip-off today at 2:30 p.m. following the New Mexico and Air Force contest. The game will stream on the Mountain West Network and Campus Insiders.
After defeating UNLV on Jan. 7 on Marqueze Coleman’s shot in the final seconds, its fourth straight win, the Wolf Pack lost seven straight and 13 of its final 16. Many expect UNR to fire sixth-year coach David Carter after the season and there’s been a clear lack of motivation in many of the Wolf Pack’s games over the past several weeks.
I say all that to emphasize how bad it would be for UNLV, an 8.5-point favorite, to lose this game. The court’s different and however many stick around from this rowdy New Mexico crowd don’t figure to be supporting UNLV, but this is still a game at the Mack against a dreadful version of an in-state rival.
The Rebels have had plenty of issues this season, obviously, but most of their league losses have still come down to end. Meanwhile, UNR has routinely been blown off the floor.
All of the pressure is on UNLV. That shouldn’t matter because with freshman Pat McCaw returning to the lineup the Rebels have the superior lineup and shouldn’t lack for motivation, but it will be very interesting to see how they react if this game is close going into the final minutes.
Bern’s prediction: I think Reno has given up, so I wouldn’t be surprised by a 12- to 15-point UNLV victory but considering the propensity for close games I’ll pick the Wolf Pack for the cover. UNLV 68, UNR 60
Season: 16-14 ATS
Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.
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