NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : WEST REGIONAL : UNLV Makes Point in a Hurry

Nevada Las Vegas and Arkansas Little Rock have in common the symmetry of their school names--three-syllable state name, two-word city name.

Other than that, not much.

“I think in summary it’s obvious why we were the 16th seed and they are the first seed,” Arkansas Little Rock Coach Mike Newell said after his team lost to second-ranked Las Vegas, 102-72, in the first round of the NCAA West Regional Thursday in the Huntsman Center. “The committee was definitely right on that.”

The Rebels let the Trojans know what they were in for in a hurry.

UNLV’s Anderson Hunt missed a three-point shot to open the game, but Stacey Augmon followed the shot for the first basket. On the other end, Augmon blocked a shot and passed ahead to Hunt, who lofted a pass toward the basket for Augmon, who slammed it home.

On the other end again, Greg Anthony took the ball away from Carl Brown, the Trojans’ 5-foot-10 guard and leading scorer. Anthony sent the ball out to Hunt, who dropped a nifty pass behind his back to David Butler for an easy basket. The points didn’t count after Hunt was called for traveling, but the intimidation did.

UNLV bolted to a 44-25 halftime lead, and its starters retired with a little more than seven minutes gone in the second half.

Augmon had 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals in 23 minutes. Larry Johnson had 13 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots in 23 minutes. David Butler had 14 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes. Hunt had 11 points and four assists in 21 minutes.

UNLV (30-5) also got a strong performance from its reserves, which extended the lead the starters gave them. James Jones, Barry Young and Travis Bice all scored in double figures off the bench.

It was the sort of game that offered something out of the ordinary, such as Augmon throwing the ball against the backboard on a fast break in order to dunk off the rebound.

He was called for walking on the play, but once again, the intimidation counted. He and other starters left the game after the play.

Jerry Tarkanian said he “was dumbfounded” on the bench.

“That’s not like the Stacey I know, he said. “At no time in three years have I ever seen Stacey do a play for showboating.”

Augmon said he “probably” wouldn’t try it again.

Arkansas Little Rock (20-10) didn’t play its best game, shooting only 32% from the field.

“In order for us to be in the ballgame, we had to do some things,” Newell said. “We had to play a near-perfect game. We had to shoot between 52 and 55%, and we just weren’t capable of doing that.”

James Scott led Arkansas Little Rock with 23 points. Derrick Owens added 17, and Rod Wade 14.

In two other first-round games:

Ohio State 84, Providence 83-- The Buckeyes came back after trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half to force overtime when Alex Davis hit a three-point shot with four seconds left in regulation.

Ohio State (17-12) went ahead by three in overtime and held on. Freshman Jimmy Jackson, who scored six of Ohio State’s 12 points in overtime, hit both ends of a one and one with four seconds left to seal the victory.

Providence (17-12) cut the margin to one on a three-pointer by Eric Murdock at the buzzer.

Ohio State advances to a second-round game against Nevada Las Vegas Saturday.

Alex Davis led Ohio State with 24 points. Mark Baker had 17 and Perry Carter and Jackson each had 15.

Carlton Screen scored 20 for Providence and Murdock had 17.

Louisville 78, Idaho 59--The Vandals took a 17-10 lead and then watched the Cardinals erase it. Louisville outscored Idaho, 26-2, to take a 17-point halftime lead.

Louisville (27-7), seeded fourth in the West, got 18 points from Everick Sullivan, 17 from center Felton Spencer, 16 from LaBradford Smith and 15 from Jerome Harmon.

The Cardinals advance to a second-round game against Ball State Saturday.

Idaho (25-6) was led by center Riley Smith, who had 28 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 4:32 remaining.