UNLV 65, San Diego State 63
By The Sports Xchange
LAS VEGAS -- It seemed only fitting that Jerry Tarkanian and the rest of UNLV's 1987 Final Four team would be honored at halftime during the Rebels' game against San Diego State on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
After all, you probably have to go all the way back to the Tark Era of Runnin' Rebel basketball to match the atmosphere during No. 14 UNLV's wild 65-63 victory over the 13th-ranked Aztecs.
With rapper/reality star Flava Flav sitting in the UNLV student section not far away from prize prep recruit Shabazz Muhammad of nearby Bishop Gorman High School and famed Gucci Row, the Rebels (22-4, 6-2) moved back into a tie for first place in the Mountain West Conference by finally finding a way to defeat Steve Fisher's squad.
Sophomore forward Mike Moser scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds and senior point guard Oscar Bellfield added 15 points as UNLV improved to 13-0 at home this season.
Including last year's Mountain West Tournament, San Diego State (20-4, 6-2) had won seven straight games at the Thomas & Mack Arena and its last six meetings with the Rebels, including a 69-67 victory on Jan. 14 in San Diego.
Despite a sellout crowd of 18,500 that many longtime UNLV basketball followers called the loudest since the Tarkanian era, the Aztecs jumped out to an 11-5 lead highlighted by a 3-pointer by point guard Xavier Thames.
The Rebels, behind a pair of baskets by Moser, used a 12-3 run to battle back to take a 17-14 lead.
The game see-sawed back and forth after that until UNLV finally took control with a 11-2 spurt to close the half to take a 37-29 halftime lead. Moser, who had a highlight-reel one-hand follow jam of an Oscar Bellfield miss, keyed the streak with five points, including a 3-pointer after an air ball by San Diego State's Chase Tapley.
The Rebels, with center Brice Massamba scoring five straight baskets, extended the lead to 13 points, 49-36, early in the second half.
But San Diego State rallied down the stretch behind Tapley (22 points). The Aztecs took a 63-62 lead on a Tapley trey with 1:27 to go.
UNLV then regained the lead when guard Anthony Marshall stole the ball and scored on a layup with 37.6 seconds remaining.
San Diego State twice set up plays for forward Jamal Franklin after that but both times he lost the ball while trying to get around Rebel forward Chace Stanback.
Stanback missed the front end of a one-and-one with 11.8 seconds to go but junior guard Justin Hawkins got the offensive rebound and was fouled. Hawkins sank the front end to make it 65-63 but San Diego State, out of timeouts, had one last chance.
However, Hawkins stole the ball from Thames near midcourt to seal the win.
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