UNLV Starts in a Nice Way, Then Rolls Over UC Irvine

The rag-tag UC Irvine Anteaters hit the big time Thursday night, facing ninth-ranked Nevada Las Vegas before 18,632 at Thomas & Mack Center.

Predictably, the big time hit back as Irvine fell with a thud, 103-67, its ninth consecutive loss.

As bad as it was, it didn’t come close to the 72-point loss Irvine suffered against UNLV on Dec. 16, 1975, but it was bad enough.

UNLV led by as many as 49 points with 10:26 left.

“Vegas is a great team, but we were pathetic,” Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan said.

UNLV’s scoring barrage started slowly, allowing Irvine to hang close for the first eight minutes, and finally picked up steam.

The Rebels buried Irvine under an avalanche of dunks and three-point shots (14 for the game) from which better teams would not have recovered.

As it was, the Anteaters were thoroughly beaten in every sense of the word.

By halftime, UNLV led, 48-17. It was the second-lowest total UNLV had given up in a half.

The Rebels outscored the Anteaters, 40-9, over the final 15 minutes of the first half.

“Billy’s team is just a mystery,” UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian said. “Our pressure defense really bothered them in the first half.”

Just to be kind, UNLV let the smoke clear from the pregame fireworks before laying waste to the Anteaters.

“I thought Tarkanian was nice to us,” Mulligan said. “I don’t know what else he could have done to keep the score down.”

Irvine was within 12-10, when the Rebels suddenly awoke.

David Butler’s inside move and a free throw got the Rebels started. A steal and a dunk by Greg Anthony a moment later set the stage for some impressive three-point shooting.

Barry Young, Anderson Hunt and Travis Bice made three-pointers for UNLV, then Stacey Cvijanovich added another and it was 29-12. The lead swelled to 31 after Chris Jeter slammed home a miss by Stacey Augmon just before halftime.

Irvine shot 19.2% from the field in the first half, 39% for the game. UNLV, which pressured Irvine into 19 turnovers, shot 54.8%.

Larry Johnson had a game-high 20 points to lead UNLV (12-3 overall, 6-1 in Big West Conference play). Rod Palmer’s 16 points led Irvine (2-14, 0-7).