No. 20 Rebels brace for North Carolina, 13 months after breakthrough

In the moments before UNLV set out to knock off the nation's No. 1 team, Anthony Marshall could smell an upset cooking.

"You could kind of sense it in the air in the locker room and in warmups," he said. "Guys weren't really laughing and smiling like we usually do. It was just a focus that I really can't explain."

Early in the game at Orleans Arena, Marshall's driving dunk in traffic set the tone for the evening. At about the same time, Katin Reinhardt was sitting on a bus in the Los Angeles area with his Mater Dei High School team.

"I was telling my whole team, 'We're going to win this game,' " said Reinhardt, who had signed with the Rebels. "I was watching it on my phone. I kept checking the score."

Two days after Thanksgiving, North Carolina was stripped of its air of invincibility in college basketball's biggest early-season stunner, a 90-80 loss to UNLV in the Las Vegas Invitational championship.

Fans stormed the floor. Marshall recalled it like it happened yesterday.

"It was a big win for us," coach Dave Rice said, "but that was last year."

Thirteen months later, the script is nowhere near as sensational. The Rebels (11-1) are ranked 20th, and the Tar Heels (9-3) are unranked as the teams prepare to meet again at 11 a.m. Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2, but it's not the collision of top-10 teams that once was anticipated.

Four of North Carolina's starters from last year's game - Harrison Barnes, Kendall Marshall, John Henson and Tyler Zeller - were selected in the first round of the NBA Draft in June.

Three UNLV starters who played major roles in the upset - Chace Stanback (28 points), Mike Moser (16 points, 18 rebounds) and Oscar Bellfield (16 points, nine assists) - won't suit up in the rematch. Stanback and Bellfield graduated, and Moser is out while recovering from a dislocated right elbow.

"That showed us that we could compete with the elite teams. That game definitely kind of propelled us into the national spotlight," said Marshall, who scored 13 points against the Tar Heels. "But now we're two totally different teams."

The Rebels have won nine consecutive games, including three on the road, since a Nov. 23 loss to Oregon. The team's top scorer, 6-foot-8-inch forward Anthony Bennett, is a freshman.

The Tar Heels have won four of their past five, but the loss in that stretch was by 18 points to Texas, and Butler and Indiana blew them out in November. North Carolina's star, 6-9 sophomore forward James Michael McAdoo, was an insignificant player in last year's game while scoring six points off the bench.

But Tar Heels coach Roy Williams still has a roster loaded with talent, and for UNLV, it's a shot to make another statement by beating a major-conference opponent on the road.

"It's a tremendous challenge, and it's an exciting opportunity for us," Rice said. "We're both different, so there's not a huge correlation between last year and this year. The most important stat is that they are 6-0 at home."

Moser, the Rebels' No. 3 scorer and No. 2 rebounder, practiced full speed Wednesday for the first time since suffering an ugly elbow injury Dec. 9 at California. Rice indicated there was a "slim chance" the junior forward could play Saturday.

"Mike's made unbelievable progress considering how it looked that day at Cal," Rice said. "I wouldn't rule it out, but I would guess that probably he's a little ways away from being ready to go into a game."

Moser said there's "no way" he can play against North Carolina, and he's shooting for a return Jan. 5 against Cal State Bakersfield or Jan. 9 at New Mexico.

Reinhardt, a freshman guard who has started every game for UNLV, has looked forward to the trip to North Carolina for more than a year.

"As a little kid, watching basketball growing up, I've always wanted to play in Chapel Hill," Reinhardt said, "so it's going to be a fun game.

"They are kind of in a little slump, you could say, for North Carolina. Now we're the ranked team going in there. They are going to want to get revenge."

Marshall is certain of that much, saying he guarantees Williams is reminding his players about what happened last year.

"I know they're still talking about it," Marshall said. "They really haven't played their best basketball as of late. But anytime we play a team, we always seem to get their best shot, so I'm sure it's going to be tough. It's a big game for both teams.

"Anytime you can go to Chapel Hill and get a win, it's big on your resume. Being able to beat North Carolina twice would leave a legacy."

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