USC Finishes UNLV, 90-74 : NIT: With Rebels missing Rider, Trojans pull upset before crowd of 6,110.

With the normal fanfare that follows the Nevada Las Vegas basketball team absent because of an NCAA tournament snub and the suspension of J.R. Rider, the Runnin’ Rebels lost to USC, 90-74, in a first-round National Invitation Tournament game Wednesday night.

Before 6,110, its smallest home crowd of the season, UNLV’s matchup with the Trojans was merely another Las Vegas event at the Thomas & Mack Center on St. Patrick’s Day.

The Rebels’ supporters might have known something because USC dominated UNLV from the opening tap in handing the Rebels their eighth and worst loss in 152 games at the Thomas & Mack Center. Their previous largest margin of defeat was seven in 1986 against UC Irvine.

“It was really tough to go out there and play with all this . . . going on,” said UNLV’s Dedan Thomas, a former Woodland Hills Taft High standout. “I think it took a lot energy out of us. . . . First, we didn’t get to the tournament, then we lost J.R.”

After the game, Rider said he would hold a news conference in Las Vegas at noon today. “It is going to be some major stuff,” said Rider, who was suspended because a tutor was found to have written part of one of his English papers. “Hopefully, the lid will be blown off it.” Rider not would elaborate.

USC will play the winner of Friday’s Pepperdine-UC Santa Barbara game in a second-round game Monday at the Sports Arena.

It was perhaps the best performance of the season for the Trojans (17-11), led by sophomore forward Lorenzo Orr, who had 20 points and nine rebounds, and senior guard Phil Glenn, who had 18 points and 11 rebounds.

In defeating UNLV in their first meeting, the Trojans added another chapter to the Rebels’ book of recent problems.

Normally, a ticket for a home UNLV game is one of the hottest items in a city that worships the basketball program. That was not the case Wednesday. Instead of having its normal group of high rollers calling late for tickets hours before tipoff, UNLV’s ticket office had more than 300 call and request refunds.

“People are just upset and not that interested with the Rebels because of the problems they’ve had recently,” said Jack Daley, a Las Vegas limousine driver who has attended UNLV games in the past. “It’s too bad about J.R., but he’ll be off getting a million-dollar paycheck in the NBA next year and UNLV will get a couple of big guys to replace him.”

Not only was Rider, the nation’s second-leading scorer with a 29.1-point average, missing from UNLV’s lineup at the start of the game, but also absent were the Rebels’ trademark pregame fireworks and light show because of NIT regulations.

Despite a standing ovation given to Rider, who sat near UNLV’s bench, the Rebels got off to a slow start.

In its best half of the season, USC played inspired basketball, while UNLV struggled. The Trojans opened a 21-8 lead in the first eight minutes behind the outside shooting of Glenn, Rodney Chatman, Burt Harris and Dwayne Hackett.

“To be honest with you, I thought that we would have won even before Rider was declared ineligible,” said USC Coach George Raveling, whose team outrebounded the Rebels, 46-27. “The only thing is that if he played we may not have won by such a margin.”

Without Rider, UNLV was unable to get its offense untracked. The Rebels did make a run, led by Evric Gray and Dexter Boney, to close USC’s lead to 32-26 with three minutes remaining in the half.

However, the Trojans responded with Boyd scoring five points, Glenn adding two three-point baskets and Orr finishing the half with a steal and a thunderous rebound dunk of his own shot to give USC a 43-31 halftime lead. USC, which shot 59% in the first half, could have led by more but sank only five of 11 free throws in the half.

Trojan Notes

The smallest home crowd UNLV had during the regular season was 10,991 in a victory over Pacific Jan 14. For the season, the Rebels averaged 13,870 a game.