PCAA Men’s Tournament : UNLV Beats Up on New Mexico St., Looks Ahead to NCAA Tournament

Unlike the seven other teams competing, Nevada Las Vegas didn’t need to win the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. tournament to be invited to the 64-team party the NCAA is throwing this month.

That invitation was only a formality. The Rebels came into the tournament with 28 wins and were assured of attending, regardless of what happened this week at the Forum.

About all the PCAA tournament represented to Las Vegas was a chance to pad its win total and maybe get a better draw in the NCAA tournament pairings.

But that was apparently all the motivation the Rebels needed. Las Vegas won three games by a total of 49 points, including a 75-55 victory over New Mexico State before 9,138 spectators in Saturday’s championship game.

New Mexico State made it suspenseful for a while. The Aggies staged a 12-1 run at the end of the first half and left the court trailing, 31-29. With 12:38 to play, Las Vegas had no better than a 45-42 lead.

But the Rebels have made a habit of toying with PCAA opponents, playing it close for a spell before striking quickly and winning going away. This time, the wake-up call came with about 11 minutes to play. From that point on, the Rebels outscored New Mexico State, 30-13, to end the suspense.

Las Vegas forward Anthony Jones had 22 points, including 9 in the last 10 minutes, and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Armon Gilliam added 18 for the Rebels, who will take a 31-4 record and No. 13 ranking into the NCAA tournament.

Rebel Coach Jerry Tarkanian, whose Las Vegas teams have an 11-1 record in this tournament, said winning wasn’t as easy as it might have looked.

“It was tough enough,” he said. “The No. 1 team I didn’t want to play in this tournament was Fullerton. The No. 2 was Fresno. We had to play both of them.

“We didn’t have an easy road in this tournament, at least not from my frame of mind.”

With the exception of two losses to UC Irvine, the PCAA race was something of a stroll for the Rebels. They won their fourth straight conference title with a 16-2 record. Tarkanian’s biggest task was keeping his players motivated. He shouldn’t have that problem from here on.

“I think we’ll get more fired up for the bigger games against ranked teams,” Jones said.

New Mexico State (18-12) could have received the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with an upset. But the Aggies needed more than a good game from forward Gilbert Wilburn to beat Las Vegas, and that was about all they got. Wilburn had a game-high 23 points, but was the only Aggie to score in double figures.

“Gil did all he could,” Aggie Coach Neil McCarthy said. “He’s had a great career at New Mexico State.”

Guard Kenny Travis, who had 27 points in a semifinal win over the University of the Pacific Friday night, was held to seven against the Rebels. New Mexico State shot just 38.6% (17 of 44) from the field.

Wilburn and Travis were both named to the all-tournament team. UOP’s Rich Anema and Las Vegas’ Gilliam and guard Freddie Banks were the other players selected.

Gilliam, who led the Rebels with seven rebounds, said Las Vegas is ready for whatever happens in the NCAA tournament. “We’re playing as a unit now,” he said. “There were times in the year when that was kind of suspect.”

While McCarthy used the post-game press conference to lobby for a bid in the National Invitation Tournament, Tarkanian lobbied for a good draw.

“It would be nice if we could get the third seed in the West,” he said. “I’d be happy with that. We’re 31-4. I don’t know what more we could have done all year.”