Wink Adams’ 10 Most Memorable Games

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When he reminisces about his first time, Wink Adams wants to hide his eyes. It was far from his best basketball game.

Adams made his UNLV debut on Nov. 18, 2005, against Long Beach State at the Thomas & Mack Center. He says he’ll never forget it.

"I was so nervous," he said. "I just wasn’t ready for that type of college pressure."

His first shot was a 3-pointer that banked in, and he got dunked on in an embarrassing play. He finished with seven points and six turnovers in the Rebels’ 108-73 win.

There were more memorable moments and plenty of highlights to follow. Adams will play in his 130th career game Wednesday, when UNLV hosts Air Force on Senior Night.

"I can’t remember every game," he said. "My mother has all the DVDs. She has every game since my freshman year."

Adams, a 6-foot guard, helped carry the Rebels to two Mountain West Conference Tournament titles and three NCAA Tournament wins the past two years.

He has a unique nickname, wears jersey No. 1 and ranks seventh on the UNLV career scoring list with 1,821 points. He will leave a distinctly positive imprint on the program.

"There’s so many times where he hit big shots throughout his career," said coach Lon Kruger, who recruited Adams out of Gulf Shores Academy in Houston.

With an assist from Adams, who has started 118 games and scored in double figures 96 times, here’s a shot at ranking his top 10 games:

1. UNLV 89, TEXAS CHRISTIAN 88 (MARCH 13, 2008)

With an NCAA Tournament bid close to slipping away from the Rebels, Adams saved the season in the MWC tournament quarterfinals. He rose over a crowd to make a 10-foot jumper, was fouled and finished a game-winning three-point play with 3.4 seconds remaining.

"I didn’t even expect to hit the shot. I just threw it up there and it went in," he said. "We could have lost that game, and that game meant a lot. The TCU game was definitely my best performance."

Adams scored 19 of his 29 points in the second half. The Rebels survived a major scare from the seventh-seeded Horned Frogs, who shot 17-for-23 from 3-point range.

2. UNLV 79, ARIZONA 64 (DEC. 20, 2008)

Adams is the definition of a streak shooter, and he was riding a horrendous streak in November and December of this season. He shot 3-for-33 on 3-pointers over a seven-game stretch before the Wildcats visited the Thomas & Mack.

But he busted out of the slump in a big way, sinking seven consecutive 3s and finishing with a season-high 25 points as the Rebels rolled to a key nonconference victory.

3. UNLV 76, BRIGHAM YOUNG 61 (MARCH 15, 2008)

Two days after his heroics against TCU, Adams made a sensational stretch of big plays to lead the Rebels to the Mountain West championship and an automatic NCAA Tournament berth for the second straight year.

He scored a game-high 23 points, including 14 straight points for UNLV over a 41/2-minute stretch late in the second half. He was named tournament Most Valuable Player.

4. KANSAS 75, UNLV 56 (MARCH 22, 2008)

Relentlessly driving to the basket, Adams drew foul after foul and hit 15 of 17 free throws while scoring 25 points against the Jayhawks in the NCAA Tournament second round in Omaha, Neb.

Adams ranked this as his second-best game because Kansas went on to win the national championship. But as well as he played, it still was a 19-point loss.

5. UNLV 78, WYOMING 71 (JAN. 23, 2008)

Adams poured in a career-high 33 points by making four 3-pointers and 11 of 12 free throws, rallying the Rebels from an eight-point halftime deficit.

6. UNLV 68, SAN DIEGO STATE 61 (JAN. 23, 2007)

A halftime snapshot of UNLV’s top three players showed Kevin Kruger sporting a blue dress shirt, Wendell White outfitted in his warm-ups and Adams wearing a collar. Adams, a sophomore, had zero points on 0-for-8 shooting.

But he finished with 20 points, shooting 6-for-8 in the second half and making all four of his 3-pointers to lift to the Rebels, who trailed 25-23 at halftime, to a home victory.

7. UNLV 76, BYU 70 (JAN. 21, 2009)

In a stunning turnaround, Adams led the Rebels back from a 13-point halftime deficit at the Marriott Center, where the Cougars had a 25-game winning streak against MWC opponents.

Adams scored a game-high 22 points to go with eight rebounds. He had eight points during UNLV’s 25-5 run to open the second half.

8. UNLV 82, BYU 72 (JAN. 11, 2006)

In his fourth career start, Adams shot 9-for-11 and had 23 points, five steals and four assists.

9. UNLV 68, COLORADO STATE 57 (JAN. 18, 2006)

Adams was beginning to flourish as a freshman when he scored 20 points and tied the school record with eight steals.

10. UNLV 83, BYU 75 (JAN. 13, 2007)

The Cougars will be happy to see Adams graduate. As a sophomore, his 27 points lifted the Rebels to a win at the Thomas & Mack.

"The BYU games kind of overpower my list," Adams said. "It seems like when we play BYU, we’re not just winning that game for ourselves. Everybody in Vegas gets an extra boost, and everybody wants to beat BYU. It’s something serious, so I’ve got to have a good game."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.