Rebels’ ugly victory one to forget

The good news is UNLV officials won't have to spend time editing game tape from this one. ESPN Classic won't be calling.

Maybe one of those blooper shows, though.

Send in the clowns, is right.

You feel terrific when you win this kind of wacky basketball game and are looking for the nearest bridge when you don't, so the Rebels will at least embark on their voyage to Earth's end (translation: Laramie, Wyo.) with confident grins.

They beat New Mexico 63-62 on Saturday before 13,843 at the Thomas & Mack Center, and the only things missing for both teams during a mistake-filled final 1:14 were big red noses and floppy shoes.

"It was crazy," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "We tried to give it back there in the end. Kind of a quirky finish to it."

Yeah. That's one way of putting it.

What you had was two teams unable to get out of the other's way those final 74 ticks, closing a game with bad passes and bad fouls and bad decisions, a matchup that was hardly a Picasso the previous 38 minutes or so. Six turnovers during that final stretch. A missed layup. Two missed free throws.

It was a mess out there.

But a fourth Mountain West loss this early would have brought UNLV one giant step closer to needing to win the conference tournament so as to enjoy Selection Sunday. As it is, the Rebels (15-5, 3-3) aren't a lock for anything right now.

They played much harder than in losing to Colorado State here Wednesday. They fought for things more. They shot the ball better than they have in weeks. They made 6 of 13 3-pointers, far better than -- no, the following is not a misprint -- the 12-of-73 effort they managed the previous four games. Chace Stanback (20 points, nine rebounds) is still one of the league's best players when he performs as he did Saturday. UNLV still gives up too many second-chance points.

It's not fully in sync by any means, no better than a fourth-place team today, and yet the difference between winning and losing this kind of game at home is indescribable. You can say UNLV didn't lose it more than it took anything from the Lobos.

"We just weren't smart," New Mexico coach Steve Alford said. "We talked about playing harder and smarter. We got the harder part down today. I'm not sure we got the smarter down."

I am. They didn't come close. Neither did the Rebels.

Fact: That wasn't a pair of Phi Beta Kappa teams of basketball intelligence out there.

"It was a must-win for us," UNLV guard Tre'Von Willis said. "We talked about the team that lost this one would have a fourth conference loss and that would not have been good for us. Hopefully, we can now use this as momentum and carry on. It was a dramatic ending. We're just happy we pulled it out."

I don't know why New Mexico guard Dairese Gary intentionally fouled Willis on a breakaway and the Lobos up one with 27 seconds remaining; I have no clue why UNLV senior Derrick Jasper -- his team up one with 2.6 seconds left -- didn't call timeout or throw the ball toward the backcourt or, here's an idea, ball-fake his inbounds pass before throwing it. Instead, the pass went directly to New Mexico's Kendall Williams, who was fouled on a shot that, had it fallen from 12 feet, UNLV today probably would be mourning a second straight home loss.

I'm still trying to figure out how UNLV center Carlos Lopez (nine points, two rebounds) could be so tired after just 12 minutes of hardly perfect but at least active play that he couldn't go any of the final 3:37 and was replaced by Brice Massamba, who quickly picked up two fouls and missed a layup. Massamba played 31 minutes in two games this past week and totaled two rebounds. Quintrell Thomas played 28 in two games and grabbed 10 boards. Thomas needs to play more. That has been obvious for some time.

"We wanted to make sure we fought for every possession -- defensively and offensively," Stanback said. "We were definitely (embarrassed) after the loss (to Colorado State). We needed to come out today and get back to playing the way we normally play."

There wasn't anything normal about this one.

It wasn't the classic that a one-point margin suggests.

For UNLV, it was simply a much-needed win that came in bizarre fashion.

Big red noses. Floppy shoes.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM.