Rebels trail at San Diego State
San Diego State has grabbed a 33-25 lead at halftime in San Diego as UNLV tries to avoid its second two-game losing streak of the season.
Green Valley High School product Billy White has nine points and three rebounds to lead the Aztecs.
Kawhi Leonard added five points and eight rebounds and Chase Tapley has seven points.
Anthony Marshall has eight points in just his second career start to lead the Rebels. Matt Shaw added six points, but Tre’Von Willis has just two points on 1 of 7 shooting.
The Rebels are 1-for-7 from 3-point range as a team, and are just 10 of 30 overall.
San Diego State, one of the more athletic teams the Rebels see all year, has already blocked seven shots and recorded five steals.
Bad stretch
Matt Shaw pulled down a rebound on the defensive end with UNLV trailing 20-17 with about 7:05 left in the first half.
It was poked away and thrown immediately to Chase Tapley, who hit a wide open 3- pointer.
Shaw was then doubled-teamed in the post on offense, but tried to force up a shot. He was hammered, but no foul was called.
The shot missed badly and Kawhi Leonard hit another 3-pointer in transition to stretch the lead quickly to nine points.
There could have easily been a foul called on either the steal or the shot, but instead San Diego State got six quick points and some separation in what had been a very tight game.
Stanback feeling the wrath
Lon Kruger was clearly unhappy with Chace Stanback’s play early on and he was letting the sophomore forward hear about it.
At one point, Kruger called Stanback over to the bench on a dead ball and yelled something in the player’s ear. Stanback responded by forcing a shot that was blocked.
Kruger then spent the first 15 seconds of a timeout yelling at Stanback, whom he pulled out of the game soon after.
He finally checked back in with 7:37 to play in the first half.
Stanback hit a pair of free throws and blocked a shot soon after returning.
Marshall successful early
Anthony Marshall made the first two shots of his second career start.
The freshman also blocked a layup by Billy White that had the large contingent of UNLV fans out of their seats in celebration.
Marshall has a team-high eight points in the first half, and perhaps more surprisingly, made both of his free-throw attempts.
Brice Massamba again got the start at center for the Rebels.
Take a Chance
Chace Stanback had a tough half all around. Not only were the coaches riding him, but the public address announcer can’t get his name right.
Every time his name is announced in the arena, he’s referred to as Chance.
Even Stanback’s shoes weren’t cooperating.
He lost one on an offensive play and struggled to get it tied again. Essentially, UNLV played an entire possession with four guys.
It resulted in a layup. Maybe its something they should try more often.
