There’s Nothing Fancy About UNLV Win : College basketball: Rebels stick to the basics against Fullerton, and result is usual Big West blowout, 76-47.

There was nothing fancy or complicated about Nevada Las Vegas’ defense against Cal State Fullerton Monday night.

The Rebels played zone the entire game, shifting between a 1-2-2 and a 2-3. There was no box-and-one or amoeba-and-one to combat Titan shooting guard Joe Small. No full-court press or half-court traps.

Yet, UNLV was able to completely dismantle Fullerton’s offense in a 76-47 Big West Conference blowout of the Titans before 14,275 in the Thomas & Mack Center.

The victory extended the 12th-ranked Rebels’ nation-leading win streak to 20 and its nation-leading homecourt win streak to 46. UNLV improved to 23-2, 15-0 in conference. Fullerton had its win streak ended at three games and fell to 10-12 and 6-7.

The Rebels used their superior size inside to block six shots and alter several others, and their quickness on the perimeter to cause 18 Titan turnovers. Fullerton shot 30% from the field, and Small was held scoreless for the first time in his Titan career.

It was the second poor performance for Small at Thomas & Mack. In last season’s loss, Small made only three of 16 shots and scored 11 points.

J.R. Rider led the Rebels with 23 points, including 19 in the first half. Dexter Boney had 16 points, and center Elmore Spencer had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Forward Agee Ward scored 14 points and center Sean Williams had 13 for Fullerton, but Titan perimeter players Small, Aaron Sunderland and Bruce Bowen combined for six points.

UNLV led by 12 points at halftime, but the Rebels opened the second half with a 17-4 run to take a commanding, 56-31 lead. UNLV pushed the lead up to 35 points (74-39) with 5:16 remaining before both Titan Coach John Sneed and Rebel Coach Jerry Tarkanian emptied their benches.

“Now you see why they’re the No. 1 team in the nation in field-goal defense,” Sneed said. “Most zones are created to stop the inside game. But that zone does things with its quickness on the perimeter, and they have the big guys to stop the inside game.”

Entering the game, UNLV had limited opponents to 36.6% shooting from the field, and Tarkanian, once a devout proponent of man-to-man defense, now praises the zone defense.

“The (1-2-2) zone has changed our season around,” Tarkanian said. “We went from being an average team to a nearly great team. And now that were running, it gives us a different dimension.”