Rebels Finished Off A Closely Contested Matchup With Southern Utah Saturday Night
UNLV struggled but closed out a 19-point victory over Southern Utah
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Rebels are 6-0 for the first time since the 2011-12 season
It wasn’t pretty, but the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels are 6-0 for the first time in six seasons.
Jordan Johnson led all UNLV scorers with 24 points off 7-11 shooting and Shakur Juiston had 22 points and 16 rebounds. Brandon McCoy added a modest 15-point, 14-rebound double-double for the undefeated Rebels.
UNLV held a tight 69-67 advantage with 8:51 remaining, but then went on a scoring explosion down the stretch, outscoring the Thunderbirds 32-15 the rest of the way. The Rebels had a three-point barrage to finish the game, as Anthony Smith, Jordan Johnson and Amauri Hardy all sunk a triple in the final three minutes.
Despite its formidable interior presence, UNLV was outworked by the pesky Southern Utah front court. The Rebels just barely won the rebounding battle by two boards, while SUU led in both second chance points and and points in the paint.
UNLV plays Northern Iowa in the MWC/MVC Challenge next time out in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Northern Iowa is fresh off an impressive Battle 4 Atlantis performance, topping SMU and North Carolina State before dropping a competitive matchup to Villanova. The Rebels will have to show a much stronger effort to notch their first true road victory on Wednesday.