Vaughn scores 29 to lead Rebels over Albany, 75-59
Rashad Vaughn scored 29 points and Chris Wood added 19 to lead UNLV to a 75-59 victory over Albany at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Rebels (4-1) shot 52.9 percent from the field, and Vaughn made five of their nine 3-pointers. Dwayne Morgan finished with 10 points.
Peter Hooley’s 18 points paced the Great Danes (2-3).
Vaughn, a freshman guard, topped his previous career high of 26 points in the season opener.
HALFTIME:
Rashad Vaughn hit three 3-pointers and scored 15 points to lift UNLV to a 37-25 halftime lead over Albany at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Jelan Kendrick added nine points and Chris Wood had seven for the Rebels, who held a lead at the half for the first time in five games.
Vaughn connected on his first 3 with 9:42 remaining. He added two more on back-to-back possessions with just over six minutes to go.
UNLV made 6 of 12 3-pointers and shot 50 percent from the field.
PREGAME REPORT:
Freshman guard Rashad Vaughn and sophomore forward Chris Wood have taken turns carrying UNLV’s offense in the first four games of the season. The next step is for Wood and Vaughn to get hot in the same game.
The Rebels are one of the lowest-scoring teams in college basketball, ranking 312th in scoring offense at 59.0 points per game, and coach Dave Rice wants his team to pick up the pace.
UNLV (3-1) plays host to Albany (2-2) at 3:30 p.m. today at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Rebels are 8-point favorites, and the total is 128.
The Great Danes, led by junior shooting guard Peter Hooley, returned two starters from a team that won the America East Conference and reached the NCAA Tournament last season.
Vaughn scored 44 points in the first two games before shooting 4-for-19 and totaling 14 points against Stanford and Temple last weekend, when he was slowed by an illness.
Wood picked up the slack, scoring a career-high 18 points as the Rebels defeated the Owls 57-50 in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic third-place game in New York.
Today’s game time was moved up because of the 7:30 p.m. kickoff for the UNR-UNLV football game.
Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.
Who will win? See our staff picks here.
