UNLV Slows It Down, but Still Leaves Titans in the Dust

There were so many little acts of kindness by Nevada Las Vegas Saturday, and they made so little difference.

The Runnin’ Rebels played some zone defense and they held the ball at times when points were there for the taking.

There was none of that famous UNLV full-court man-to-man pressure, and precious little intimidation.

Little, that is, other than the sort that comes from watching a team that makes domination look like a matter of course, as UNLV did in a 103-85 victory over Cal State Fullerton in front of a sellout crowd of 4,000 in Titan Gym.

Even UNLV’s Greg Anthony seemed mild, and he is a trash-talker of such ability that he has been called for two technicals in the past three games even though his broken jaw is wired together.

The Rebels were road-weary by the time they played their fourth game this week. But they still ran away from Fullerton in the first half, going up by as many as 23 points while making 68% of their shots, many of them fast-break layups.

“We were running really well and that’s what blew the game open for us,” UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian said.

They weren’t running hard so much as well. UNLV could jog down on a two-on-two break; no matter, the Rebels’ passing was sharp enough to get the basket.

“We just couldn’t stop their running game,” said Fullerton’s Cedric Ceballos, whose own style thrives on an up-and-down game. He scored 34 points, tying his career high. “I guess that’s why they call them the Runnin’ Rebels. They ran, and we couldn’t run with them. We run, too, but we don’t run like that.”

The Rebels run at the slightest occasion.

“They run of the made shot, off the miss, off their defense on a turnover,” Fullerton Coach John Sneed said. “We couldn’t keep them in a halfcourt game.”

Fullerton (12-15 overall, 6-12 in the Big West Conference), a once-promising team, finished the regular season by losing seven games in a row.

“We are disappointed after this loss, like we are after any loss,” Sneed said. “Now we have to practice well to get ready for the tournament.”

UNLV, led by David Butler’s 26 points and Anderson Hunt’s 22, shot 65% for the game and became the first team to score 100 points against Fullerton since 1980, when Portland scored 100 in the first game of a 4-23 Titan season.

And the Runnin’ Rebels didn’t even try that hard to do it. Many a team will rush pell-mell toward the basket when it has 99 points. UNLV, leading 99-85 with more than a minute left, played keep-away until David Moody fouled Butler, sending him to the line for points 100 and 101.

The Rebels (26-5, 16-2), ranked second in the Associated Press poll before being upset by UC Santa Barbara Monday, will enter next week’s Big West tournament as the second-seeded team for the first time in the eight years they have been in the conference.

This is also the first time UNLV has ever shared the conference title.

New Mexico State, which tied for first place with a 16-2 record, is seeded first because it beat third-place Santa Barbara twice, while the Rebels split with the Gauchos.

“I don’t care so much what we’re seeded in the Big West tournament,” Tarkanian said. “I’ll be very interested in where we’re seeded in the big tournament (the NCAA).”

Fullerton will play UC Irvine in the first round Wednesday, with the winner meeting UNLV Friday.

The game marked the end of a UNLV regular season marked by controversy and injuries, and one that included a number of suspensions for minor NCAA rules violations.

Just Thursday, the Rebels played at Utah State in a rematch of last month’s fight-marred game. The game was without much incident, but a water bomb was left near the UNLV bench, where it exploded before the second half, drenching Tarkanian.

“It’s been a really hard season,” said Larry Johnson, who scored 11 Saturday. “All the distractions off the court took their toll. The five games we lost, we lost. But we didn’t lay down. . . . This was a good game for us.”

Titan Notes

Cal State Fullerton’s five seniors were honored before their final game in Titan Gym: Van Anderson, Cedric Ceballos, Mark Hill, David Moody and Marlon Vaughn. Anderson and Vaughn, who are normally reserves, joined the others in the starting lineup. . . . Hill set the school career record for three-pointers, breaking Richard Morton’s record of 140. Hill had two Saturday for a total of 141.

Pairings for the the Big West tournament at the Long Beach Arena:

Wednesday--Cal State Fullerton vs. UC Irvine, 7 p.m.; San Jose State vs. Fresno State, 9 p.m.

Friday--New Mexico State vs. San Jose-Fresno State winner, 1:30 p.m.; Cal State Long Beach vs. Utah State, 4 p.m.; UC Santa Barbara vs. Pacific, 7 p.m.; UNLV vs. Fullerton-UCI winner, 9 p.m.