The Carters shine in Rebels’ 72-69 victory against No. 13 Indiana

By Taylor Bern

Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015 | 8:30 p.m.

Ben Carter saw that help was needed so he chased the play, sprinting back for a block that took all of his momentum and sent the Rebels’ junior forward sliding backwards into the lap of his No. 1 fan. As crazy as it seems now, the man who helped Carter back to his feet once wouldn’t speak to the Bishop Gorman High grad, but that’s only because that smiling, gyrating man, Mike Carter, so desperately wanted father-son moments like today.

“We didn’t talk for two days after he decided to go to Oregon,” Mike Carter said. “It hurt me, it really did, because I wanted him home.”

UNLV coach Dave Rice felt Mike Carter’s pain, regularly calling Ben Carter’s decision in 2011 one of his worst recruiting losses. They both got their wish a year and a half ago when Ben Carter decided to transfer home to Las Vegas, and their gain has been UNLV’s, too, with no better evidence than tonight’s 72-69 upset against No. 13 Indiana in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational fifth-place game. Carter’s second block of the game basically sealed it with less than a second left, and the guy known for filling up the stat sheet did just that with a career-high 16 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal.

“This is just the beginning,” Ben Carter said.

Rice said he was concerned after Monday’s 77-75 loss to UCLA, but that feeling was gone by this morning. When you spend as much time around a group as a coach does with his team you get a sense of what to expect, he said, and the Rebels expected to win.

“I could tell,” Rice said after beating a ranked team for the ninth time in his tenure. “We’ve got a big-game team.”

UNLV (5-1) led wire-to-wire in a victory that’s big both for what it finishes and what it starts. Leaving the Maui Jim Maui Invitational only defeating Chaminade wouldn’t have done the Rebels any good, and now they begin a three and a half week stretch that features four top-25 opponents, according to kenpom.com, with a resume-building win already secured.

“When Coach Rice recruits his players, this is what he tells us,” said Ben Carter, who has been one of UNLV's most consistent players despite missing most of the offseason following back surgery. “We're going to play against the best because we want to be the best.”

The Rebels’ start against Indiana (4-2) was just as good as Monday’s against UCLA. Sophomore guard Pat McCaw filled passing lanes and senior guard streaked for breakaway dunks that helped UNLV lead by as much as 15.

This time when the opponent went to a zone defense the Rebels had no issues getting the ball inside, and Indiana quickly went back to man. Whatever the Hoosiers tried, McCaw carved them up at both ends, registering 20 points, five steals and six assists to one turnover. That helped to overcome limited production from freshman Stephen Zimmerman Jr. (two points in 15 minutes), who battled foul trouble and fatigue from the illness that affected him most of the trip.

McCaw secured his fourth straight 20-point game with a dagger-like corner 3-pointer that put UNLV ahead 13 with 4:07 left, but Indiana quickly countered with two 3s and the end of the game got real sloppy.

Senior guard Ike Nwamu had his best game as a Rebel, scoring 16, but he’d rather forget the final two minutes. He went 0-for-4 at the free-throw line, fouled a 3-point shooter to set up a four-point play and threw an errant inbounds pass that gave the Hoosiers a last gasp with 3.9 seconds remaining.

In 62 games at Oregon, Ben Carter scored in double digits three times and recorded multiple blocks only twice. His final play secured both for the first time in what was probably the best game of his career.

“I knew they were looking for a 3,” Ben Carter said. “I saw Pat was trailing his man a little bit, so I knew I had to help.”

Rice asked Carter for his help Wednesday morning. Rice wanted to put sophomore forward Dwayne Morgan into the starting lineup to tinker with the defensive rotations, and Carter’s response: OK, whatever you need.

“When you have guys like Ben Carter who have been starting and in a big game like this, I say you're going to come off the bench and his response, 16 points and five rebounds, that's all you need to know,” Rice said.

Mike Carter was UNLV’s unofficial mascot the entire game. Sitting between his oldest son and UNLV President Len Jessup, Mike Carter waved his finger like Dikembe Mutombo, cooked like Lil B and had as much fun cheering as his old friend Bill Walton did commentating.

“My dad is one of the biggest fans not only that I have, but our team has,” Ben Carter said while Nwamu nodded in agreement next to him. “He cheers for each and every guy as hard as he can. It was so special to be able to have him and my brother out here to support me during this trip.”

Mike Carter credits the Rice brothers, both UNLV’s Dave and Bishop Gorman’s Grant, for their coaching during Ben Carter’s career, but the 17-year professional player overseas also makes it clear that everything started with father coaching son on the Las Vegas Lakers grasketball team. Dave Rice agreed.

“Coach Carter may dance a little bit, but he's a heck of a basketball guy,” Rice said.

Mike Carter still spends time in the gym with Ben, forever pushing and adjusting. It’s exactly what the father always wanted, the chance to go along for the ride and help whenever possible along the way.

UNLV showed some more of its potential this week and surviving the next stretch, culminating with a Dec. 19 trip to No. 11 Arizona, will require even more of it to come to the surface. Mike Carter knows that it will.

On a sweltering July day a year and a half ago, Mike Carter stood outside a Las Vegas gym with sweat dripping down his forehead and calmly predicted the Rebels would reach the 2016 Final Four. Replace heat with humidity and the scene on Maui wasn’t any different.

“Don’t be surprised if we’re in Houston,” he said.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.