UNLV Warms Up--Just in Time : Rebels Hit Some Free Throws to Eliminate Idaho, 68-56

BOISE, Ida. —  Kermit Davis, Idaho’s 29-year-old coach, looked at Nevada Las Vegas on film and decided the Rebels could be beaten, and by his team.

It would take an exceptionally good performance by Idaho and some cooperation--perhaps at the free-throw line--from UNLV.

For a while, it looked as if the Rebels were going to comply. They opened their first-round game of the NCAA West Regional playing poorly, and shooting worse.

But they recovered after trailing early to score a 68-56 victory before 12,241 fans--most of them for Idaho--in Boise State Pavilion.

The victory sent the Rebels (27-7) into a second-round game against DePaul Saturday.

UNLV started the game stone-cold, making only three of its first 20 shots. David Butler alone missed five shots in the lane in the first half, and the Rebels together botched 11 shots from the lane, shooting just 32% in the half.

Had Idaho built a safer lead, it might have made things more interesting.

But the Vandals--who were led by Riley Smith’s 20 points on body-banging inside play--went up by only six. Then, trailing by five, UNLV’s Stacey Augmon hit a 13-foot jumper, follwed by a three-pointer. The Vandals’ lead was gone.

After one more basket, Idaho fell into a five-minute scoreless spell that lasted into the second minute of the second half--by which time UNLV had a 32-22 lead.

Davis, well aware of the Rebels’ 63% free-throw percentage, still thought his team might have a chance in the late going.

But UNLV hit 73% of its free throws--including 17 of 21 in the second half.

“If that team shoots free throws like that they’re very hard to beat,” Davis said.

UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian, with the win in his pocket, could make somewhat light of the Rebels’ frequent trouble.

“We hit some free throws,” he said. “They were the sort that bounce around the rim and bounce in. I’ll take them. I’d like to hit them like that for five more games.”

Stacey Augmon (17 points) and David Butler (16 points) led the Rebels in scoring, but UNLV got a crucial performance from Moses Scurry, who scored 10 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and made four of five free throws, despite averaging only 47%

“He’s my main man, now,” Tarkanian joked.

Davis, the son of former Mississippi State Coach Kermit Davis Sr., guided the Vandals to 25 wins in his first season.

He would have liked that to have been 26.

“They just don’t give you anything cheap,” Davis said of UNLV. “Even sometimes when they don’t play real well, they always compete. And when you have great athletes competing, you’re never out of the ball game.”