Day after first defeat, UNLV bounces back, tops Iowa State

Bothered by what went down the night before, UNLV freshman Anthony Bennett arrived at the arena Saturday with a bad attitude.

"We came out with a chip on our shoulders," he said.

Junior forward Mike Moser confirmed that report.

"I was real frustrated, and I know the team was frustrated," Moser said. "The biggest thing was to get a win and get that frustration out of us."

Bennett scored 22 points, and Moser had 15 points and 12 rebounds as the 18th-ranked Rebels rebounded from their first loss by defeating Iowa State 82-70 in the Global Sports Classic third-place game at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Anthony Marshall scored 15 of his 16 points in the second half for UNLV, which pulled away in the final six minutes to improve to 3-1.

The Rebels' 20-game regular-season home winning streak was stopped Friday night by Oregon, which lost to No. 22 Cincinnati in Saturday's championship game, 77-66.

Moser and Marshall struggled in the four-point loss to the Ducks, with neither team leader scoring in double figures and each contributing to the team's mess of mistakes.

"It was a punch in the face," Moser said. "I felt it sent a message to stop listening to everything around you and how good you are because the rankings by our name really don't mean anything."

It took awhile for the message to sink in, as UNLV's play was sloppy for a majority of the first half. Freshman forward Savon Goodman came off the bench to provide a burst of energy, scoring all eight of his points before halftime.

"As a team, I think we had a sense of urgency," Goodman said. "We started the game kind of mad at each other."

The Cyclones (4-2) were hanging around and trailing by three points before a Bennett dunk ignited a Rebels rally. A 3-pointer by Moser made it 65-57 with 4:48 left. Justin Hawkins followed with a fast-break layup, and Marshall's two free throws stretched the lead to 71-60 with 3:21 remaining.

Moser, who was passive offensively and held to nine points against Oregon, recorded his first double-double of the season.

"If Mike plays like he did today, with the energy and effort he did, we've got a chance to win every basketball game," UNLV coach Dave Rice said.

All of Moser's 12 rebounds were on the defensive end, where the Rebels allowed Iowa State to grab 24 offensive rebounds. But the Cyclones did miss 54 field-goal attempts (27-for-81) so there were plenty of rebounds up for grabs.

"We've got to do a better job on the defensive boards, and we will address that," Rice said.

Will Clyburn's 21 points and 15 rebounds led Iowa State, which was outscored 28-8 on free throws.

Bennett, a 6-foot-8-inch power forward, continued to impress and gave UNLV a stronger inside presence by also compiling seven rebounds and four blocked shots.

Rice credited Goodman for giving the Rebels a "huge lift," and sophomore guard Bryce Dejean-Jones bounced back from a poor game Friday with nine points and four steals.

After UNLV launched 30 3-pointers Friday, Rice said a "concerted effort" was made to shoot fewer, and the result was a 4-for-10 finish from 3-point range.

"We took a couple bad ones," Rice said, "but I'm not going to be a guy who micromanages shots."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.