Riverside--The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team had thoughts of an upset dancing in their heads Saturday evening, but despite a 21-point, 13-rebound double-double from Taylor Johns, #28 UNLV was able to escape with a 73-62 victory.
The last time the Highlanders played a team at home ranked as high as the Rebels was back on March 5, 2005 when they hosted #17 Pacific.
The Rebels methodically built a 14-point halftime lead thanks to a defense that held UCR to 29.6 percent shooting from the floor (8 of 27) and 27.3 percent from three-point range (3 of 11). They also forced 13 UC Riverside turnovers and dominated in the paint to the tune of a 22-8 advantage.
Derrick Jones led all scorers with 12 points off the bench for UNLV, while Secean Johnson's 10 points paced the Highlanders.
The Rebels scored the first four points coming out of the break, and still led by 18, 50-32, with 16:43 to go. That's when the Highlanders made there move. Over the next eight-plus minutes, UCR outscored UNLVÂ 20-4, closing the lead to two, 54-52. Taylor Johns scored a dozen points in the run.
The Rebels puhsed the lead back out to 10 with 4:20 to go, but the Highlanders had one more run left in them slicing the lead to four on a Jaylen Bland three-pointer with just under a minute to play. UNLV made seven of eight free throws down the stretch, though to secure the victory.
Johns' 21 points led all scorers, and he was joined in double figures on the Highlanders by Bland with 16 and Johnson with 13. Patrick McCaw's 17 points and eight boards paced the Rebels.
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