Seniors seize moment
It was as if UNLV senior Curtis Terry was allowed to write the script for his final regular-season game.
But before he put the finishing touch on his work, he wrote in a major role for the Rebels’ other senior, Corey Bailey.
With the game up for grabs and time winding down, Bailey elevated for a tiebreaking dunk and Terry followed with a clutch 3-pointer to lift UNLV over Utah, 70-63, on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
"I’ve been able to hit some big shots throughout my career, and it feels great to cap it off with that one on Senior Day," said Terry, who finished with 22 points and 10 assists.
The Rebels finished the regular season 23-7 overall, 12-4 in the Mountain West Conference.
Brigham Young (25-6, 14-2) won the conference championship. Second-place UNLV next plays at 6 p.m. Thursday against Texas Christian in the Mountain West tournament at the Thomas & Mack.
In front of a crowd of 12,366 that included former UNLV great Larry Johnson, the Rebels didn’t give their best performance, but Bailey and Terry bailed them out.
"I couldn’t be more pleased to see them go out on a positive note like that," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said.
The score was tied at 61 when Wink Adams missed a 3-pointer and Rene Rougeau missed a put-back attempt. The ball bounced off the rim and Bailey flew through the lane and slammed it to put the Rebels ahead with 1:26 left.
On the Utes’ next possession, Terry and Joe Darger sandwiched 7-foot-1-inch center Luke Nevill, who was stripped by Darger. Kruger called timeout with 52 seconds to go.
"The play was drawn up for Wink to get into the lane and create," Terry said. "I was just kind of floating around. Wink did a good job getting it to me."
Terry, planted in the right corner in front of the UNLV bench, took a bullet pass from Adams and hit a 3-pointer with 37 seconds left to make the score 66-61.
"It was a good read by Wink, and Curtis had to step up and make the shot, which he did," Kruger said.
The margin was three points before Bailey, a 54 percent free-throw shooter, went to the line and made two shots with 21 seconds to go.
"I was really focused. I knew we really needed this game," Bailey said. "It felt good knowing it was my last (home) game and I was able to contribute the way I’ve been wanting to contribute all along."
Bailey, who was averaging 6.7 points, shot 6-for-7 and had 14 points and five rebounds.
"I thought Corey had a lot of bounce in his step," Kruger said. "It’s so great to see him finish with the dunk and the free throws."
Adams finished with 14 points, 13 in the second half. The Rebels trailed 34-29 early in the second half before Adams got going. His 3-pointer tied the score at 44, and Terry beat the shot clock with a 3 to give UNLV a 47-46 edge with 9:45 to go. Terry hit again from long range to put the Rebels up 55-50 at the 5:33 mark.
Utah answered with a 7-4 run, with Nevill scoring all seven points on two dunks, a layup and a free throw. Carlon Brown’s two free throws pulled Utah into a tie at 61 with just under two minutes to go.
The Rebels were mostly helpless to defend Nevill, who finished with 22 points and six rebounds to carry the Utes (16-13, 7-9).
UNLV shot well, going 9-for-19 on 3-pointers (Terry made four) and 15-for-18 on free throws. Sophomore forward Matt Shaw made all three of his 3-pointers and had nine points and six rebounds
"I just wanted to leave it all on the court and give it everything I had so we could get this win," Terry said. "We’ve worked too hard this season to let it slip away."
Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2907.
UNLV 70
Utah 63
UTAH Min FG-A FT-A R A PF TPS
Tillie 16 2-7 2-2 4 1 3 6
Green 34 1-4 0-0 3 2 3 2
Drca 36 3-10 0-0 6 5 2 7
Borha 19 1-3 0-0 2 1 2 2
Brown 31 4-6 2-3 1 3 2 10
Bryant 27 5-11 0-0 2 0 2 12
Kepkay 8 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 0
Grim 2 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 2
Nevill 27 9-15 4-5 6 2 3 22
TOTALS 200 26-57 8-10 28 14 18 63
Field goals–45.6%. Free throws–80.0%.
Three-point goals–3-15 (Bryant 2-7, Drca 1-4, Borha 0-1, Brown 0-1, Green 0-2). Team rebounds–3. Blocked shots–2 (Nevill 2). Turnovers–10 (Drca 4, Nevill 3, Bryant, Kepkay, Tillie).Steals–5 (Nevill 2, Tillie, Kepkay, Bryant).
UNLV Min FG-A FT-A R A PF TP
Bailey 34 6-7 2-2 5 1 3 14
Darger 20 1-5 0-0 2 0 1 3
Adams 34 2-7 9-11 3 1 2 14
Rougeau 38 4-11 0-0 8 2 3 8
Terry 38 7-12 4-4 5 10 3 22
Rutledge 14 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 0
Wallace 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Shaw 20 3-4 0-1 6 1 1 9
TOTALS 200 23-47 15-18 31 16 15 70
Field goals–48.9%. Free throws–83.3%.
Three-point goals–9-19 (Terry 4-6, Shaw 3-3, Darger 1-3, Adams 1-5, Rougeau 0-1, Rutledge 0-1). Team rebounds–1. Blocked shots–3 (Rougeau 3). Turnovers–13 (Terry 6, Bailey 2, Adams 2, Rutledge, Rougeau). Steals–6 (Rougeau 2, Adams, Rutledge, Terry, Darger).
A–12,366. Officials–Randy McCall, Verne Harris, Jimmy Casas. Technical fouls–Utah: None. UNLV: None.
Utah 30 33 — 63
UNLV 29 41 — 70
UNLV — 70 UTAH — 63 KEY: Rebels senior Curtis Terry, who had 22 points and 10 assists, hit a clutch 3-pointer with 37 seconds remaining. NEXT: UNLV vs. Texas Christian, 6 p.m. Thursday, Mountain West Conference Tournament, The Mtn. (334), KWWN-AM (1100) MWC MEN’S TOURNAMENT, THOMAS & MACK CENTER WEDNESDAY (PLAY-IN GAME): WYOMING (8) VS. COLORADO STATE (9), 11 A.M. THURSDAY’S GAMES: NOON – BRIGHAM YOUNG (1) VS. COLO. ST./WYO. 2:30 P.M. – SAN DIEGO STATE (4) VS. AIR FORCE (5) 6 P.M. – UNLV (2) VS. TEXAS CHRISTIAN (7) 8:30 P.M. – NEW MEXICO (3) VS. UTAH (6) L.A. POINT GUARD COMMITS TO UNLV Oscar Bellfield, a 6-foot-1-inch senior point guard from Westchester High School in Los Angeles, gave an oral commitment to UNLV on Saturday. Bellfield also considered Southern California and Washington State. He becomes the fourth member of the Rebels’ 2008 recruiting class. He joins Brice Massamba, a 6-10 forward from Findlay Prep; Deshawn Mitchell, a 6-6 forward from Monmouth Aademy in Howell, N.J.; And 6-8 forward Darris Santee from Midland (Texas) College. Justin Hawkins, a 6-3 junior guard from Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft, committed in earlyCoctober and is the first member of the 2009 recruiting class. REVIEW-JOURNAL
