Rebels taking it to the Cougars
UNLV stormed out of the locker room and never allowed Brigham Young to get comfortable in a big Mountain West Conference showdown at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Rebels lead 56-34 at the end of a first half in which they led by as many as 29.
Tre’Von Willis torched the Cougars for 21 points in the half, and Matt Shaw hit three 3-pointers on his way to 11 points.
Jimmer Fredette has 13 points to lead BYU, but made just two field goals.
The Rebels have pulled down 19 rebounds to just 12 for the Cougars.
Quick Start
Tre’Von Willis hit a pair of quick 3s and went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line to help the Rebels jump out to a quick 15-2 lead.
Chace Stanback hit a 3-pointer and added a long jumper as part of the run.
UNLV had the Cougars completely out of of sync on the offensive end of the floor during the run, which had the crowd in an absolute frenzy.
BYU had to take its second timeout of the half after an Oscar Bellfield 3-pointer stretched the lead to 20-4. The lead just continued to grow from there.
Abused-O
UNLV looked like it was just waiting for BYU backup guard Charles Abouo to come into the game.
As soon as he entered the contest, the Rebels cleared out everyone and let Tre’Von Willis post up the sophomore.
Willis made one fake, then a quick move and went to the basket as if it was the pregame layup line.
Warm Welcome
Former Bishop Gorman forward Jonathan Tavernari came off the bench very early to a thunderous round of boos from the massive crowd.
It should happen every time he touches the ball.
Nothing against Tavernari, but this is a kid that played a year of high school in Las Vegas, but went to play in Provo for the arch-rivals in the conference.
He also plays with the type of arrogance that has made him the target of fans at just about every road arena in the conference.
All the more reason to let him hear the opinion of the fans in the Thomas & Mack.
Throwback day
The crowd inside this building is reminiscent in size and volume to those that were a mainstay during the glory years of the program.
The presence of two of the key figures of that era are here taking in the action.
Jerry Tarkanian and Larry Johnson are sitting together right down in the front row.
Hot shooting
UNLV knocked down 9 of 13 attempts from beyond the arc. It was good for a 69.2 percentage.
Matt Shaw and Tre’Von Willis each made 3 of 4 tries.
Stop Fouling
The Cougars are only as close as they are because of free-throw shooting.
BYU made all 12 of its attempts from the line.
Jimmer Fredette made all eight of his tries.
The Cougars made just nine field goals in the half.
