Rebels restore order, roll over Hawaii

Senior guard Justin Hawkins briefly lost his cool during a near-scuffle, something that rarely happens. But as UNLV was blowing a big lead, something that does tend to happen, he never lost his sense of calm.

"We weren't worried at all," Hawkins said.

Maybe that's because he had Anthony Bennett on his side.

Bennett totaled 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots to help the 24th-ranked Rebels hold off a second-half rally in a 77-63 victory over Hawaii on Saturday.

At the conclusion of a six-game stretch to open the season at the Thomas & Mack Center, Hawkins succinctly assessed where UNLV (5-1) stands.

"We're good," he said. "We can get better in a lot of areas."

In a 40-minute game that served as a case study, the Rebels' areas of excellence were highlighted for a half before their areas in need of improvement were exposed. The roller-coaster ride kept a crowd of 15,431 entertained, at the least.

UNLV allowed a 22-point halftime lead to dwindle to eight with six minutes remaining. But then Hawkins and Katin Reinhardt each hit a 3-pointer to help turn back the Warriors (4-2).

Savon Goodman finished with 13 points, and Reinhardt had 10. Add the contribution from Bennett, and the Rebels got 39 points from their three standout freshmen.

"We've talked about it all along that we're a work in progress, and I know people are getting tired of hearing it," coach Dave Rice said. "We'll get there. I'm excited about our development."

Bennett's 10 points and Goodman's nine pushed UNLV to a 49-27 halftime lead. The Rebels forced 12 turnovers and were running in transition, shooting 58.8 percent (20-for-34) from the field with the help of several dunks and layups.

"We did a terrific job building a lead," Rice said. "We lost our intensity a little bit in the second half, and a lot of that was our offense wasn't nearly as effective."

Hawaii coach Gib Arnold utilized a zone defense and more pressure to flip the flow of the game. UNLV went cold and scored just eight points in first 10 minutes after the half.

"We needed to have that hit-first mentality, and I think we did. I thought we took it to them," Arnold said.

Christian Standhardinger, a 6-foot-8-inch forward who repeatedly cut through the defense with hard-charging drives to the basket, led the Warriors' comeback and finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds.

"I think the world of UNLV's players," Arnold said. "That second half, I thought (Standhardinger) was the best player on the floor."

Hawaii fell short partly because of its 1-for-18 3-point shooting. Vander Joaquim, a 6-10 center, hit his team's only 3 with 3:30 remaining. Joaquim, who had 12 points and nine rebounds, had narrowed the gap to 61-53 with two free throws with 6:03 to go.

The game was delayed with 4:15 remaining when Hawkins and Joaquim got tangled up chasing a loose ball. After the officials reviewed video, it was obvious no punches were thrown, and each player was assessed a technical.

"As a team, I kind of felt like we laid back and let them punch us in the second half," Goodman said.

Timely 3s from Hawkins and Reinhardt rescued the Rebels, who shot 6-for-24 in the first 14 minutes after intermission, from a potential collapse.

"We've had a hard time playing with a lead," Rice said. "I told the guys, 'Let's keep getting a 22-point halftime lead so we can keep working on that.' And I was only half-serious saying that."

Junior forward Mike Moser, who had 10 points, left the game with six minutes remaining and never returned. Rice said Moser hurt his right hip or thigh, and his status will be evaluated today.

The Rebels hit the road for the first time Tuesday to play Portland in a game scheduled as a homecoming for Moser.

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