New Coach, Familiar Look in UNLV’s Victory Over Irvine

Those weren’t the Runnin’ Rebels of old, but they did succeed in running up the score on UC Irvine in No. 22 Nevada Las Vegas’ 115-97 victory Saturday night.

The crowd of 14,727 in the 20,000-plus capacity Thomas & Mack Center for Rollie Massimino’s first home game as UNLV coach was sparse and subdued compared to the years when Jerry Tarkanian was coach. But what they saw was more vintage UNLV than Villanova.

“That’s like two games worth of points at Villanova,” Irvine Coach Rod Baker said. “That game was not coached like a Villanova game. (Massimino) did what the players he had demanded that he do. He went to their strengths, which means he’s a good coach.”

There were no sharks in sight, the crowd-meter flickered mildly, and only when J.R. Rider dunked off Dexter Boney’s behind-the-back pass on a fast break did the crowd break into old “Rebels, Rebels” chorus that used to echo almost constantly.

UNLV (3-0) scored more than 100 points for the first time under Massimino, and only the second time over the last two seasons since Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon and company left.

“It sounds too simple, but we let this team score too many points,” Baker said. “This team got 115, and they got it pretty easy.”

Massimino accepted the jokes contrasting the Rebels to Villanova.

“We didn’t score 115 points in four games, sometimes,” he teased. “I’m not used to giving up 97 points in a basketball game. It doesn’t happen very often.”

The game, the Big West Conference opener for both teams, was emotionally charged for Irvine point guard Lloyd Mumford, who was kicked off the Villanova team by Massimino in 1991 after being charged with attempting to break into two suburban homes. Mumford was later cleared of all charges except a misdemeanor disorderly conduct offense after a judge accepted his claim that he was only looking for a girlfriend’s home.

Mumford scored 21 points--17 in the first half, when he made five of 10 shots and three three-pointers. By the end of the game, his percentage had swooned, as he made only six of 17, trying to forge a comeback. Mumford’s teammate Keith Stewart had 24 and LaDay Smith added 18.

At game’s end, as the two benches emptied to shake hands, Mumford and Massimino did a little cautious shuffle of a greeting and moved on.

“He came up to me and said, ‘Great game, you’ve improved. Keep playing,’ ” Mumford said. “I shook his hand and went on to congratulate the others.”

The Anteaters’ defense did little to slow Rider, who finished with 27 points. Or Evric Gray, who had 26. Or Boney, who scored 21. UNLV shot 57% in the game.

“They create so many matchup problems,” Baker said. “You end up with your center trying to guard J.R. Rider. Then who is your power forward going to guard?”

Forward Jeff Von Lutzow ended up trying to guard Boney in man, and not succeeding very well. Von Lutzow, who had double-doubles in Irvine’s first three games, had only eight points and nine rebounds.

Irvine (1-3), plagued by turnovers and poor shooting, trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half, but cut the lead to seven with 11 seconds left on Stewart’s three-pointer. But Rider came right back with a three-pointer at the buzzer for a 55-45 halftime lead.

Irvine trimmed the lead to seven in the first minutes of the second half, but UNLV stopped it there. A 16-4 run keyed by Gray, Boney and Ken Gibson helped UNLV go ahead, 75-56, in the first seven minutes of the second half.

Irvine trailed by as many as 25 points, and got no closer than 13.

Irvine, prone to slow starts so far this season, turned the ball over on five of its first eight possessions of the game, and shot 39% in the first half. But UNLV didn’t sprint from the gate either, so despite the Anteaters’ troubles, they were tied with UNLV, 12-12, before UNLV opened its first sizable lead with a 9-0 run.

Five of those nine points came from the free-throw line--a trend that marked the first half. Irvine committed its seventh foul with about 12 minutes left and its 10th with more than nine minutes remaining. UNLV went to the line 25 times in the first half alone, scoring 16 points on free throws.

The Rebel lead grew as large as 12. Irvine staged little rallies, but they never held.

Anteater Notes

Dee Boyer, who was thought to be out three to six weeks when he was diagnosed with a pre-stress fracture condition 1 1/2 weeks ago, played eight minutes off the bench as Irvine Coach Rod Baker tried to find an edge in Irvine’s conference opener . . . Jerry Tarkanian’s firing as coach of the San Antonio Spurs inspired this not altogether impartial headline in the Las Vegas Review-Journal/Sun: “Tark loses (fair?) fight” . . . A souvenir shop named Tark’s in the Las Vegas airport didn’t respond very quickly to the news. Spurs shirts of many varieties were still on prominent display.