UNLV Puts Its Game in Overdrive

USC Coach Bibby had been fiddling under the hood all preseason, fitting new players here, ratcheting others there. Against Nevada Las Vegas on Tuesday, USC cranked it up and at times the Trojans were running as smoothly as grandpa’s old Buick.

But UNLV is a high-powered, fuel-injected team, and eventually it sped away from the Trojans in an 82-72 victory at the Sports Arena before 2,949.

Seniors Gary Johnson and Gary Williams led the Trojans with 18 and 12 points, respectively, but two plays by UNLV’s Edwin “Greedy” Daniels proved the difference late in the game.

The Trojans had pulled into a 66-65 lead with 6:45 left when Daniels scored on a layup after stealing the ball from Johnson. He scored again moments later after stealing the ball from freshman forward Shannon Swillis to put UNLV ahead for good, 71-68.

“He was the difference tonight,” Bibby said. “He’s a guy we recruited all year and we thought he was going to come here. “Those were big plays when they needed them.”

After the game, Bibby didn’t look like a coach whose team had just played its best game of the season.

Sophomore forward Jarvis Turner left the game with 11:47 left in the first half clutching his left hand. Doctors diagnosed the injury as a broken bone, and Bibby said Turner will be out for four to six weeks.

“That’s the way its been,” Bibby said of the team’s injuries. “We got to regroup. You lose a player like Turner and that hurts.”

Turner was an integral part of the Trojan offense as a starter last season and was expected to play a key role for the Trojans thi season.

He scored six points and pulled down three rebounds early in the game.

“I hit my hand against somebody’s back early in the game,” Turner said. “It hurt, but I thought it was just a jam.”

With Turner and Williams getting the ball, the Trojans took the play right to 6-foot 9, 250-pound Kaspars Kambala.

Kambala picked up two early fouls, and the Trojans, who are without a player taller than 6-foot-8, suddenly found themselves facing a similarly height-challenged team.

The Rebels led at the half, 43-39, thanks to the outside shooting of Corky Ausborne, who hit four of five three-point shots and the inside play of preseason All-American Tyrone Nesby.

In the second half, the Trojans improved their rebounding by boxing out the Rebels’ big men. USC outrebounded UNLV, 52-40.

Freshman swingman Jeff Trepagnier, who in the first four games had looked confused at times, finally showed a glimpse of his ballyhooed athleticism against UNLV.

Trepagnier, showing no trepidation, grabbed six rebounds and scored 11 points, including a three-pointer, and also had four blocks.

He also made the play of the game for the Trojans. With a little more than seven minutes to play, Trepagnier got the ball on the baseline and raced past his defender.

It appeared that he was too far from the basket--and that he would miss embarrassingly on a dunk--but soaring through the air, Trepagnier extended his right arm high over his head and tomahawked the ball through the net.