UNLV earns road win in Portland
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Anthony Bennett scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds on Tuesday, as No. 21 UNLV shook off a slow start and defeated the Portland Pilots, 68-60, at the Chiles Center.
Anthony Marshall followed with 16 points and six boards and Justin Hawkins chipped in 15 points off the bench for the Runnin' Rebels (6-1), who earned their fourth straight victory despite the absence of junior forward Mike Moser as he deals with a hip injury.
Ryan Nicholas paced the Pilots (3-5) with 15 points, 19 rebounds and six assists, while Korey Thieleke chipped in 12 points in the setback, Portland's third in its last four games.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}UNLV shot just 24.2 percent (8-of-33) from the field in the first half, including a putrid 1-of-15 from beyond the arc, but the Rebels managed to hang around thanks to 11 points from Bennett as they trailed by just six, 28-22, heading into the locker room.
Portland built its lead to nine just under four minutes into the second half after Thieleke converted a three-point play to make it 40-31.
The Rebels, though, answered with the next eight points as part of a 13-2 run, which Quintrell Thomas capped with a dunk to give UNLV a 44-42 edge with 13:46 left in the game.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Portland regained its lead with a quick 5-0 surge, but Bennett buried a jumper to spark a 12-0 sprint from the Rebels. Hawkins connected on back-to-back triples during the run before Carlos Lopez-Sosa sank a free throw to make it 56-47 at the midpoint of the second half.
The Pilots wouldn't go quietly, as Nicholas' jumper spurred an 11-5 run to pull Portland within 61-58 with 5:28 left.
After Bennett hit a pair from the charity stripe, Thieleke nailed a jumper to cut the margin back to three, but the Pilots failed to score over the final 3:59 of the contest and the Rebels escaped with the victory.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game Notes
Moser, who is averaging a team-best 9.2 rebounds per game, aggravated a hip problem in Saturday's win over Hawaii ... Portland hosted a top-25 team for the first time since a 79-48 loss to then-No. 12 Kentucky on Nov. 19, 2010 ... The Pilots have dropped eight in a row to ranked opponents ... The teams were facing for the first time since 1967 ... UNLV leads the all-time series, 3-0.