Las Vegas Runs Past Fullerton

The crowd in Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Gym swelled to twice its normal size Monday night, presumably because it’s fun to watch the 14th-ranked Nevada Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels run, jump and fly through the air with the greatest of ease . . . even if the game isn’t close.

The 4,256 on hand got a heavy dose of showtime, all right, but it came from an unexpected source in the first half. Fullerton’s Kevin Henderson was 7 of 8 from the floor and had 19 first-half points--including a couple of spectacular drives and two three-point baskets--and the Titans, playing as well as they have all season, led by 11 points on three occasions before the intermission.

Las Vegas, however, is the Grand Canyon of the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. We’re talking deep. The Rebels have enough talent to field two teams that would likely finish in the upper echelons of this conference.

The Rebels rebounded from their lackadaisical first-half performance to outscore Fullerton, 16-3, in the first seven minutes of the second half. And, in the end, it was a rout as anticipated as UNLV walked off with a 78-69 win that increased its stranglehold on first place in the PCAA. UNLV is 13-1 in conference and 20-3 overall. Fullerton fell to 9-6 and 13-11.

“We played with tremendous emotion in the first half,” Titan Coach George McQuarn said. “We were overachievers in the first half. But it was only a matter of time before their personnel and depth would take its toll.”

Fullerton got the crowd into the game in a hurry, opening a 15-4 lead and Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian was beginning to see visions of 1983 when he brought a top-ranked, 24-0 team into this gym and came away with his first loss of the season.

“Hell, in the first half, I was thinking we were headed for another Dec. 8 (when Georgetown humiliated the Rebels, 82-46),” Tarkanian said. “But we had a great, great second half. We attacked their zone much better, played great defense and turned it around in front of their crowd.

“I’m so pleased, I gave them tomorrow off . . . they’re still talking about that.”

No matter which side you were rooting for, though, it was hard not to smile through this game. There were flying dunks, alley-oop-behind-the-head dunks, all-alone-fast-break-which-one-should-I-do? dunks, rebound dunks . . . half the time, it felt like you were watching a season highlight film.

But it was mostly Las Vegas’ show in the second half and, well, hardly anybody does it better. The combination of a stifling man-to-man defense and a high-powered, low-post offense put the Rebels ahead, 63-48, after they outscored Fullerton, 35-11, in 14 minutes after halftime.

UNLV center Richie Adams finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds and Spoon James, celebrating his 22nd birthday, scored 19.

“We attacked their zone better, sure, but we beat ‘em with defense in the second half,” James said. “We were after ‘em.”

And the Titans didn’t have the stamina to keep up. Henderson, who played all 40 minutes, finally succumbed to the pressure of having to bring the ball up against three different defenders (Freddie Banks, Anthony Jones and Gary Graham) and he managed just nine second-half points.

“You would have to say, yes, I was fatigued,” Henderson admitted. “The difference in this game was endurance.”

The Rebels required considerably less. Only Adams played more than 33 minutes.

“We could not have played better in the first half and it would take two halves like that to beat Las Vegas this year,” McQuarn said. “I think they’re better and deeper than last year.

“They started getting two and three shots and I attribute that to fatigue. We missed a lot of free throws and I attribute that to fatigue. We missed easy shots and I attribute that to fatigue.”

You get the picture. McQuarn was just too tired to pinpoint anymore reasons.

The Rebels, on the other hand, are looking forward to taking a hard-earned rest today.