Jan. 23, 2010

Box Score

FORT WORTH, Texas - UNLV connected on nearly 60 percent of its field goal attempts en route to posting a 79-70 victory over the Horned Frogs in Mountain West Conference action at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum on Saturday evening.

The Runnin' Rebels - who improved to 16-4 on the season and 4-2 in conference play - connected on 59.2 percent (29-of-49) of their field goal attempts, including 63.6 percent (14-of-22) of their field goal attempts in the second half of action.

UNLV jumped out early on the Frogs and held an eight-point advantage at 15-7 following a jumper by Tre'Von Willis at the 14:00 mark in the first half of action. Willis notched 30 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 11-of-14 from the charity stripe, to go along with six rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes of action.

A pair of three-pointers by forward Matt Shaw gave the Runnin' Rebels a nine-point advantage at 27-18 with 8:51 remaining in the first half, but the Frogs were able to close the gap to three points at 29-26 following a three-pointer by senior Edvinas Ruzgas (Vilnius, Lithuania | Weatherford College) with 6:49 left prior to intermission.

A 9-4 run by the Runnin' Rebels over the final five minutes of action gave UNLV a 38-30 lead at intermission. In the first half of action, UNLV connected on 55.6 percent (15-of-27) of its field goal attempts compared to 43.5 percent (10-of-23) for the Horned Frogs.

In the second half of action, the Runnin' Rebels jumped out to an 11-point advantage at 46-35 with 17:39 left in the game following a pair of jumpers by Willis. The Frogs got the deficit to one-point, 53-52, after going on a 17-7 run over the next four minutes, highlighted by a three-pointer by Greg Hill (Gary, Ind. | Midland College).

With the game tied at 60-60 with 8:35 remaining in the game, the Runnin' Rebels went on a 9-0 run with five points coming from Willis and four points from Chace Stanback to give UNLV a 69-60 lead with 4:33 left in the game.

A lay-in by Zvonko Buljan (Split, Croatia | Vincennes University) at the 1:05 mark cut the visitor's lead down to 72-70, but UNLV was able to close the game on a 7-0 run to secure a 79-70 victory.

Nikola Cerina (Topola Oplenac, Serbia | Nikola Tesla S.S.) led the Frogs with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting to go along with two rebounds in a career-high 31 minutes of action. It was the second straight double-digit scoring performance for the TCU freshman.

Hill notched 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including a trio of three-pointers in 18 minutes of action while notched 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 36 minutes of court time.

Ruzgas notched 11 points, including three three-pointers, in 28 minutes of action and Ronnie Moss (Fort Worth, Texas | Christian Life Academy) collected nine points, six assists and four rebounds in 37 minutes of action.

Stanback collected 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting while Shaw notched 10 points in nine minutes of action.

With the setback, the Frogs evened their record at 10-10 overall and 2-3 in Mountain West Conference action.

The Frogs will be back in action on Wednesday when TCU travels to Fort Collins, Colo., for a Mountain West Conference showdown against Colorado State. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m. Central Time.

TCU Athletics Media Relations