Rider Leads UNLV Past the Aztecs

He yelled, he smirked, he posed and he slapped Keith Balzer’s butt five times in about two seconds at one point in the second half.

The San Diego State men’s basketball team met J.R. Rider on Saturday, and it took all of Rider’s whirling and twirling for No. 22 Nevada Las Vegas to escape Peterson Gym with an 89-77 victory.

The Aztecs, aside from Balzer, avoided the spanking that many thought the Runnin’ Rebels would deliver. But Rider, a 6-foot-5 senior, had 29 points and 10 rebounds as UNLV came back from a one-point halftime deficit.

“He’s a presence out there,” SDSU Coach Tony Fuller said. “He’s every place you look. He’s getting the rebound, throwing the outlet pass, filling the lane, dunking it. He’s very alive out there.

“You know when they want a big basket, they’re going to him.”

Added Aztec forward Courtie Miller: “I don’t think he has a position. They just put him where they can get him the ball.”

Rider made 11 of 18 field goal attempts, including five of eight in the second half. He mugged for the television cameras and followed Miller off the court at halftime, just inches away, hollering in Miller’s ear.

And then there was the brief one-man act he delivered with 5:56 to play in the game and UNLV leading, 68-60. Balzer fouled Rider, and the UNLV forward turned and hollered in Balzer’s face. Quickly realizing he could get a technical foul for taunting, Rider broke into a grin and slapped Balzer several times on the behind.

“That’s just his game,” said Balzer, who led SDSU with 20 points and 13 rebounds. “I stood there and kept my mouth shut.

“He probably grew up on the playground doing that. I grew up alone, shooting jump shots.”

Balzer’s jumpers continually kept SDSU (2-3) in the game as the Rebels (2-0) threatened to pull away. But aside from Tony Clark, who scored 17 points, and Marcus Banks, who came in off of the bench and scored 10, Balzer didn’t have much help.

Joe McNaull, SDSU’s starting center, finished with only six points and four rebounds.

“In order for us to win, everybody has to contribute,” Fuller said.

Although the Aztecs out-rebounded UNLV, 41-30, and made more field goals, 31-28, the Rebels were 26 of 37 from the free-throw line. SDSU was 10 for 14.

And SDSU couldn’t answer UNLV’s pressure after halftime, when the Rebels went on 13-4 and 12-2 runs.

UNLV led by as many as 12 twice in the first 11 minutes of the second half, but the Aztecs crawled to within six, 71-65, on a Chris Walters three-pointer with 4:38 to play.

Rider, though, answered with two free throws and, after a Miller free throw, Rider scored from in the lane to make it 75-66. Balzer fouled out with 3:02 remaining, and the Aztecs were history.

But who would have believed that the crowd of 3,538 wouldn’t begin to filter out of this one until the final two minutes?

“We certainly improved in the passing game,” UNLV Coach Rollie Massimino said. “This is not an easy place to play.”

The Aztecs, doing their best UNLV impersonation, finished the first half with an 18-1 run and romped into the locker room with a 35-34 lead.

That’s when Rider gave Miller an earful.

“We were just asking each other what we wanted for Christmas,” Miller said.

What a run it was. UNLV took a commanding 25-15 lead, eventually increased it to 33-17.

Then, gangway.

SDSU freshman Berry Randle swished a three-pointer with 6:28 left in the half to make it 33-20, then Banks followed his own shot and Clark scored from inside.

After Reggie Manuel hit one of two free throws, Clark drove the lane after a Balzer steal and, after a Dedan Thomas double-dribble, Balzer scored from inside to cut UNLV’s lead to three, 34-31.

The Aztecs weren’t through. Walters stole the ball from Rider on the next Rebel possession, dribbled downcourt, pulled up and fired from 16 feet.

Swish.

Whether the Rebels were shook or shocked, who knew. But on their next possession, Rider missed, and Balzer tipped in a missed shot with 46 seconds left before halftime, giving the Aztecs just their third lead of the half.

“They made their run in the first half and we made ours,” Fuller said. “In the second half, they made theirs and that was it.

“We didn’t respond.”

Said Balzer: “They may have taken us a little too lightly, but I think after the first half, they realized they were in for a battle.”

And nearly a year after the Aztecs passed on former UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian, on the night on which it could have been Tark the Shark against his old university, SDSU basketball followers received a pleasant surprise.