A 14-0 Rebel Run Knocks Down Louisville : UNLV: Cardinals miss their first six shots as Tarkanian’s thin squad wins its 10th in a row and completes perfect home season, 91-81.
A perfect opening six minutes Saturday against Louisville capped a perfect home season for fourth-ranked Nevada Las Vegas.
The Rebels used a 14-0 spurt to open the game and never trailed en route to a 91-81 victory over the No. 16 Cardinals that ended UNLV’s home season with a 17-0 record, the team’s best.
“This is not an easy place to win even playing a bad team, and they’re a very good team,” Louisville Coach Denny Crum said. “They just jumped on us real quick and got a big lead on us.”
UNLV’s stifling defense forced three turnovers and Louisville missed its first six shots as the Cardinals dug themselves into a hole from which they couldn’t recover.
“The pressure defense early was incredible,” UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian said. “They never had a chance to get in their offense early.”
Larry Johnson had 22 points and 15 rebounds and all five UNLV starters scored in double figures as UNLV won its 10th game in a row.
Rebel guard Greg Anthony, wearing a mask to protect a jaw he fractured four games ago, came back after being knocked to the floor in a jarring collision during the opening minute to add 16 points.
“I just had to make up my mind to go out there and play physical,” Anthony said. “I’ve been knocked down a few times so I don’t really worry about it now. I expect to be hit.”
Johnson scored four of his points during an 8-0 run by UNLV with five minutes remaining that broke open a 73-69 game.
Center Felton Spencer scored 24 points before fouling out with 2:43 left to lead Louisville, which was playing without its leading scorer, Jerome Harmon, suspended for two games because of academic problems.
“If we hadn’t got the ball to Spencer, we’d have gotten beat by 30 points,” Crum said.
UNLV took advantage of foul trouble by Louisville to score 12 of its last 18 points on free throws and pull away to the victory. UNLV outscored Louisville, 18-5, at the foul line in the second half.
UNLV, beset by injuries and playing its 10th game in 24 days, used only two reserves for a total of 22 minutes.
“I found myself praying for the game to end,” Anthony said. “I was just fatigued.”
Tarkanian said the grueling schedule caused his team to let down defensively after the opening minutes.
“It’s incredible how many games we played without any rest,” Tarkanian said. “We played with so much courage, so much heart. We have nothing left in us.”
UNLV, which ends its regular season with three Big West Conference games on the road, improved to 24-4. Louisville, losing two in a row for the first time this season, fell to 20-7.
LaBradford Smith added 20 points for the Cardinals. Anderson Hunt had 17 and Stacey Augmon scored 16 for UNLV.
Louisville trailed by five at halftime and kept within reach of the Runnin’ Rebels, drawing to within 68-65 on a basket by Cornelius Holden with 8:10 remaining.
UNLV answered with five points in a row, however, and the Cardinals were able to get no closer.
After UNLV’s opening spurt, Tony Kimbro’s jumper sparked an 11-2 spurt that pulled the Cardinals within 16-11.
UNLV stretched the lead to as many as 13 points midway through the half, but Louisville scored 10 of the last 13 points of the half to pull within 42-37 at halftime.