Fullerton Meets Its Mismatch at UNLV : College basketball: Titans run into a Nevada Las Vegas team that does nearly everything right in a 94-66 victory.

As always, the possibility nags at the mind.

Imagine if Nevada Las Vegas could hit its free throws.

Cal State Fullerton, for one, would prefer not to.

Twenty minutes into UNLV’s game against Fullerton Wednesday, the Runnin’ Rebels had bounced 13 foul shots off the rim and backboard.

They had a 17-point lead to show for it.

What’s a poor opponent to do? Fullerton accepted its fate, losing to 10th-ranked UNLV, 94-66, in front of 19,010 in the Thomas and Mack Center. Fullerton Coach John Sneed, who watched his team helplessly, was blunt afterward.

“I think that’s the team that’s going to win the national championship,” he said.

UNLV’s Jerry Tarkanian was more reserved.

“I was pleased,” he said.

Pause to consider. Twice last season, games between UNLV and Fullerton were decided by last-second three-pointers.

Greg Anthony hit one at the buzzer to give UNLV a victory over Fullerton at Las Vegas, and Wayne Williams hit one at the buzzer in overtime to give Fullerton a victory at Titan Gym.

This time, Fullerton could have hit nine three-pointers in the final minute and still would have lost by a point.

UNLV was that good.

The Runnin’ Rebels ran. The Runnin’ Rebels played in-your-face defense. And the Runnin’ Rebels outrebounded Fullerton, 69-44. Except for a 21-rebound performance by Cedric Ceballos, the best of his career, it would have been worse.

And the Runnin’ Rebels missed a bushel of free throws, making only 17 of 34.

No matter.

UNLV (8-2, 3-0) could have beaten Fullerton about any way it wanted. The Rebels did it behind the shooting of Anderson Hunt, who scored 28 points on the heels of another 28-point performance in a victory over Arkansas Saturday.

Larry Johnson added 14 for the Rebels.

Sneed didn’t hold out much hope for other Big West Conference teams that must play UNLV in Las Vegas this season. “I don’t know if anyone in our league is good enough to play with them in the Thomas and Mack,” he said. “Maybe somebody will get them at their place.”

If they’re lucky, he meant.

The place was all UNLV’s Wednesday.

“We got beat by an excellent ballclub tonight,” Sneed said. “I’m disappointed we got beat by so much. We can’t break down on offense like we did tonight and expect to be in the ballgame.”

They weren’t for long.

Fullerton had leads of 3-0 and 5-4, and that was all. UNLV led by seven after four minutes, by 12 after a little more than 15, by 17 at the half.

The biggest lead was 32.

On one end, UNLV’s noses-to-their-sternums man-to-man defense kept pushing the Titans farther and farther from the basket. Mark Hill, Fullerton’s three-point shooter, was hard pressed to break free for an open shot under the close guard of Hunt and Greg Anthony, who took turns at him. When Hill did break free in the first half, he often missed, making only three of 12 shots, two of seven from three-point range.

Hill found some room and a touch against a UNLV zone in the second half, scoring 15 points to finish with 25. But by then of course, it was over.

While UNLV kept Fullerton’s offense at bay, the Rebels pretty much had their way on the other end. Fullerton’s matchup zone was often effective against UNLV last season. This time UNLV took care of it with quick passes and good ball movement, forcing the Titans to adjust and stretch the zone until UNLV found an open shot.

Often enough in the first half, Hunt was the man who was open. He hit three of six three-pointers and six of nine shots from the field, several off the fast break. By halftime, he had 17 points.

The Titans’ zone wasn’t working. But what is a team to do? Go to a man defense? Against Larry Johnson?

“It was men against boys out there some of the time,” Sneed said. “Our kids had excellent effort, but they were bigger, stronger, and jumped higher. . . . We couldn’t match up.”

UNLV’s running game was on, too, and the Runnin’ Rebels ran up the score.

For Fullerton, it was a disappointment. A year ago, the Titans nobody expected anything of played UNLV to the wire in two of three games, and won one.

This year--the game spoke for itself.

“It was an experience,” Ceballos said.

Ceballos, working mostly off of offensive rebounds, scored 16 points in the first half. He added only three more, finishing with 19.

“I had to rebound to get the ball,” he said. “Sometimes that’s the only way to get it.”

Fullerton (6-4, 0-1) finds itself in the midst of a skid that seems ordained by the schedule. With one game remaining of six in a row on the road, they have lost four of their past five. They have fallen to Colorado State, UCLA, Wyoming and now UNLV, beating only Middle Tennessee State. They must play Utah State at Logan, Utah, Saturday.

Titan Notes

Cedric Ceballos and Mark Hill accounted for all but 22 of Cal State Fullerton’s points.. . . Before the game, UNLV presented Stacy Augmon with an Olympic bronze medal, replacing the one he won with the U.S. Olympic team but lost. . . . David Moody started at center over freshman Aaron Wilhite and injured John Sykes (eye irritation). Sykes did play.