Rebels Make Noise, Bruins Show Poise : College basketball: UCLA makes 66.1% of shots, holds off UNLV, 89-82, for fourth consecutive victory.

Big lead, loud building. Time for another shattering collapse?

Saturday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center, the noise swelled, and the struggling Nevada Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels set loose a few staggering charges of energy and point production.

But this time, three weeks after Kansas blew past the Bruins in a dizzying second-half surge at Allen Fieldhouse, UCLA maintained its composure, made a season-high 66.1% of its shots, and pulled out an 89-82 victory before 9,935.

Not once, but twice, UNLV galloped off on runs that could have sunk UCLA. And both times, with a key pass or defensive stand or three-point basket here and there, the Bruins (6-3, with four victories in a row since the loss to the Jayhawks) survived.

With the victory, the Bruins’ third in a six days, UCLA Coach Jim Harrick moved past Pierce “Caddy” Works to No. 2 in school history with 174 victories. John Wooden won 620 games during his career.

Though UNLV (1-5) is certainly not on par with Kansas, for the Bruins, who have one nonconference game left before league play begins Jan. 4, the point was obvious: Turn a positive into an even bigger positive.

“I’d say we’re getting better,” said forward J.R. Henderson, who led UCLA with 25 points--18 in the first half. “A couple of weeks ago, we probably would’ve lost that lead and ended up losing the game.”

Said freshman center Jelani McCoy, who was credited with four blocked shots: “If you look, every time they got fired up and let their emotion into the game, we had an answer, and we kept them from taking over the game.”

The first Rebel challenge came in the middle of the first half, when UNLV went into a zone defense that triggered several fastbreak finishes by Clayton Johnson, who finished with a career-high 26 points, and Warren Rosegreen, who had 19 points and 14 rebounds.

That 14-3 spurt turned an 18-11 deficit into a 25-21 lead.

“I thought they played exceptionally,” Harrick said of the Rebels, who outrebounded UCLA, 38-32. “They played with great emotion. They jumped higher, shot straighter, ran faster than they have all year long, I think.”

But with Cameron Dollar off the bench in a now-familiar rescuer role and Henderson outworking the smaller UNLV frontcourt down low, UCLA found some creases in the zone and countered with a 24-9 flurry to finish the half ahead, 47-36.

In 24 minutes of action, in his third stint since his last start (against Kansas) as designated cool head in the midst of trouble, Dollar had a career-high 11 assists and grabbed five rebounds.

Dollar, a super-sub during last season’s title run, says his injured right pinky is getting stronger, but Harrick hasn’t told him when he might return to the starting lineup.

“I’m giving everybody a good example of going out there and having fun and just trying to contribute to the team,” Dollar said. “I’m not wanting to be the star, to be in the spotlight. That’s how you lose chemistry. I’m not about that.”

UCLA built a 20-point lead quickly in the second half, mainly on Henderson’s inside play and Toby Bailey’s continued strong outside shooting. Bailey, who finished with 18 points, made four of his seven three-point attempts--and was 12 for 20 in UCLA’s three victories this week.

But the Rebels--especially the 6-5 Rosegreen--began dominating the offensive boards and creeping back into the game.

“That guy’s incredible,” McCoy said of Rosegreen. “He’s one of the best leapers I’ve seen--he gets off his feet so quick.”

A few long three-point bombs by guard Damian Smith got UNLV as close as 75-68 with 5:02 to play, but the Bruins made a final, decisive push, scoring on seven of their last nine possessions against the press.

For a team full of bumbling and stumbling--and losses--in the early going this season, a four-game winning streak, and the ability to ward off UNLV, showed vivid signs of improving chemistry.

“It’s definitely there,” Henderson said. “We had a team out there. We were confident in everybody, everybody knew what each other was doing. It’s not like it used to be when we were throwing the ball away, we didn’t know what each other was doing.”

UNLV Coach Bill Bayno gave his players credit for their effort--then praised the winners.

“Those guys have talent, and they’re smart,” Bayno said. “If they can just figure some things out, they’re going to be in the Final Four at the end of the year, if you ask me.”