Defense pulls Rebels through at UC Riverside

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Four highly entertaining dunks by Derrick Jones Jr. provided the highlights for UNLV.

When the Rebels' double-digit lead disappeared and things threatened to get ugly, Ben Carter and Patrick McCaw did the dirty work. Carter and McCaw got the job done on both ends, but they punched the clock first on the defensive end.

"Defense translates into offense," McCaw said. "I think I focus more on my defense."

McCaw totaled 17 points, eight rebounds and seven steals to lift UNLV to a 73-62 victory over UC Riverside on Saturday at SRC Arena.

"Patrick was phenomenal, just like he has been all season," said Jones, who scored all 12 of his points in the first half.

Carter finished with 15 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots for the Rebels (8-2). The junior forward also gave a speech that counted for something, showing his leadership after a narrow loss at Wichita State on Wednesday.

"It was a game we should have won, but losses happen," Carter said. "I told the guys right after the game, 'Don't hang your head, because we have another tough game coming up.'"

UNLV made it appear easy early. Jones put on a dunking exhibition, and the Rebels shot 46.5 percent (20 of 43) on the way to a 40-26 halftime lead. The margin swelled to 18 points before Taylor Johns got going to spark the Highlanders (5-4).

Riverside used a 20-4 run to close the gap to 54-52 on Johns' layup with 7:55 remaining. McCaw scored the next five points in a 45-second span, hitting a jumper before his steal and 3-pointer helped the Rebels keep their distance.

"We're getting great play from McCaw," UNLV coach Dave Rice said. "It was hard to have him off the floor. He makes so many plays."

Johns scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half. He also had 13 rebounds and three blocks. Jaylen Bland added 16 points, and his 3-pointer from the corner pulled the Highlanders within 66-62 with 55 seconds to go.

Ike Nwamu, Stephen Zimmerman Jr. and McCaw each made two free throws to seal the outcome. Nwamu finished with 11 points. Zimmerman, who went to the bench with three fouls with 10:10 to go in the first half, had seven points in only 13 minutes.

The Rebels' full-court pressure and trapping forced Riverside into 22 turnovers that translated to 23 points for UNLV, which never trailed.

Jones dunked twice and drilled a 3-pointer during a 2½-minute burst midway through the first half. On Jones' third dunk, he missed a short jumper, grabbed the rebound with his left hand and slammed it in one motion. On his fourth dunk, he flew down the middle of the lane and forcefully threw down a pass from McCaw.

"It's always entertaining seeing him dunk," McCaw said. "It never gets old. It gets us going."

Jones' throwdowns also juiced the announced crowd of 1,772, with UNLV fans accounting for about 70 percent of that total in the tiny gym.

"If the opportunity presents itself, I'm not going to lay the ball up," the 6-foot-7-inch freshman said. "I'm not trying to impress anybody. Dunking is just something I do.

"We came out with the mindset we were going to put our foot on their throat."

But Jones was not a factor after halftime, when Johns took over and the Highlanders pulled the proverbial foot off of their throat and forced the Rebels into several empty offensive possessions.

"It shows we're a work in progress. We've got to play for 40 minutes," said Rice, who attributed UNLV's second-half slump to fatigue and poor shot selection.

Carter and McCaw provided defense, rebounding and a majority of the timely plays that put the Rebels back on track.

"Teams go on runs. It's part of basketball," Carter said. "Their run was longer than we wanted it to be, but the way we stopped it was defensively."

UNLV's next challenge is to defend its home court when Arizona State visits Wednesday.

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