Wood’s 18 points lead Rebels over Temple, 57-50
NEW YORK — Not much was working for Chris Wood. So the tallest player on the floor stepped out and knocked down a 3-pointer, and then everything started working inside.
He grabbed rebounds, swatted shots and dunked three times. The 6-foot-11-inch sophomore forward took over in the second half Saturday and lifted UNLV to a win it desperately needed.
“After I got a couple putbacks and a couple rebounds, I felt like I had it going,” he said.
Wood scored 16 of his career-high 18 points after the half and added a career-high 13 rebounds as the Rebels showed resiliency by beating Temple 57-50 in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic third-place game at the Barclays Center.
After taking a 29-point beating from Stanford on Friday, UNLV (3-1) salvaged something from the trip to Brooklyn.
“I felt bad after that game,” Wood said. “I don’t think I’ve ever lost by 29. It definitely hurt. But in college basketball, you’ve got to move on. We had to bounce back like we did and come back stronger.”
The Owls led 27-24 at halftime, when Wood went to the locker room with two points, three rebounds, one block and two turnovers. It was not looking like his night.
Forty seconds into the second half, however, his 3-point jumper gave the Rebels the lead for the first time all weekend. He followed with a dunk and then scooped in a driving layup to put UNLV up 35-30 with 16:08 remaining.
“He had one drive to the rim that went by three of our guys,” Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. “He decided to take his team to a win. I thought his mentality was, I’m not going to let my team lose this game.”
Wood was active in the paint on both ends, shooting 8-for-15 from the field and finishing with four blocks in 34 minutes.
A made 3 seemed to wake the sleeping giant, and ironically, that was a shot his coaches and teammates told him not to take. Wood, a 22 percent 3-point shooter in his college career, shot 1-for-4 from long range in the blowout loss to Stanford, a bigger team that controlled the low post.
“Don’t shoot any more 3s,” Wood said, recalling a message from teammates. “I can’t shoot as many 3s as I did (Friday) night. I’ve got to get in the paint. When you have 15 guys telling you to post up, it definitely clicks in my head.”
A dunk by Wood stretched the Rebels’ lead to 48-39 with 4:46 to go.
The Owls trimmed their deficit to 51-48 before UNLV freshman Patrick McCaw chased down a loose ball and scored on a breakaway layup with 50 seconds remaining.
Senior guards Jelan Kendrick and Cody Doolin each made two free throws in the final 35 seconds to seal the victory.
Temple (2-2) was a 20-point loser to No. 4 Duke in Friday’s semifinals, but it built an early seven-point lead against the Rebels and threatened to pull away.
“We played well enough to have a bigger lead in the first half,” Dunphy said. “I thought we lost the game in the first half.”
Will Cummings, a senior point guard, scored 21 points for the Owls, but he cooled off after getting 13 in the first half. Temple was inept on the offensive end, shooting 14-for-58 (24.1 percent), yet stayed close by hitting 18 of 24 free throws.
UNLV’s interior defense, led by Wood and 6-10 freshman Goodluck Okonoboh (seven rebounds, three blocks), deterred the Owls at the rim on several drives in the second half.
“We were challenging their shot blockers way too much,” Dunphy said.
Rebels coach Dave Rice praised Wood for being “extremely aggressive” in the low post on a night when leading scorer Rashad Vaughn shot 2-for-10 and was limited to seven points.
“I thought that was the best I’ve seen him play. He was fantastic,” said Doolin, who made two 3-pointers and finished with 10 points and five assists in 38 minutes. “Chris let the game come to him, we came to him and he delivered.”
Rice also praised his team for forgetting the Stanford game and zeroing in on Temple.
“We throw that one out and move forward,” Rice said. “Our guys were focused and ready to go.”
Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.
HALFTIME:
NEW YORK — Will Cummings scored 13 points to lift Temple to a 27-24 halftime lead over UNLV in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic third-place game.
Cody Doolin, who drove for a layup with four seconds left, and Patrick McCaw each scored five points for the Rebels.
Rashad Vaughn hit a deep 3-pointer to pull UNLV within 23-22 with 2:48 to go. On the next possession, Vaughn had a chance to give the Rebels their first lead of the weekend, but he missed two free throws.
The Rebels got off to a poor start for the second straight night. UNLV missed six of its first seven shots and trailed 9-2, forcing coach Dave Rice to use a timeout. McCaw responded by making a 3 to spark a rally and prevent the Owls from pulling away.
PREGAME REPORT:
NEW YORK — UNLV coach Dave Rice expected his basketball team to experience some growing pains this season. He never could have predicted it would get this ugly so early.
The Rebels were thoroughly embarrassed Friday in a 29-point loss, the most lopsided defeat in Rice’s 106 games over four seasons.
UNLV (2-1) faces Temple (2-1) in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic third-place game at 4 p.m. at the Barclays Center. The Owls were routed 74-54 by No. 4 Duke in the other semifinal.
It’s bounce-back time for the Rebels, who were handed an 89-60 beating by unranked Stanford.
“We were not very good,” Rice said. “We have to get better mentally. We have to pay attention to detail, do a better job of paying attention to scouting reports.”
Rice used nine players, including five true freshmen. Sophomore forward Chris Wood had 12 points and 11 rebounds, but not many UNLV players defended or rebounded well.
Temple has a physical team led by senior point guard Will Cummings. The Owls are 3½-point favorites, and the total is 135.
Duke is a 10½-point favorite over Stanford in the championship game.
Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.
