UNLV-TCU: Rebels Rebound With a 71-57 Victory

12,178 very happy fans left the Thomas and Mack Center and breathed a collective sigh of relief as the UNLV Runnin' Rebels bounced back from their disappointing two-game overtime losing streak with a relatively easy 14-point victory over the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. The final score: UNLV 71-TCU 57.

The game started pretty much the same slow way that has caused the Rebels to have to play catch-up for the last 20 minutes. The Horned Frogs, attempting to sweep the season series after defeating the Rebels on their home floor in January, jumped out to an early 12-4 lead and held the Rebels to nine points for the first 10 minutes of the game.

The first half was an exercise in sloppy play as each team was turning the ball over on countless trips down the floor.

Enter senior Wink Adams, who put his team on his shoulders and frankly for the first time this season looked like the Mountain West Conference's preseason Co-MVP in the league. After an errant pass, Wink took over, and by game's end he had a game-high 21 points, including three threes, and four assists.

This was the same Wink Adams I have been watching for the past four years, and the Runnin' Rebels will go only as far as Wink can take them. Tonight he looked like a dominant postseason player.

Joe Darger, Tre'Von Willis and Rene Rougeau all hit for double figures as the Rebs shot 50 percent from the floor and forced the Horned Frogs into 26 turnovers. Many of those were turned into easy Rebel layups, which saw them down eight at the halfway point of the first half to have a nine-point lead at halftime.

The Horned Frogs were led by Zvonko Buljan, who produced a double-double, scoring 11 points to go along with a game-high 13 rebounds. This was TCU's fifth straight conference loss, and their promising start has deteriorated to their present level.

The Rebels, now at 6-4 in the Mountain West Conference, have six games remaining with three each at home and on the road. The next game should be another payback game against Colorado State this Saturday on the Rebels' home court.

I still feel that the Rebels have to win out to secure a bid to the NCAA Tournament without having to win the Conference Tournament. So now it's "Senior Time," as the Rebels will rely heavily on their seniors Wink Adams, Joe Darger, and Rene Rougeau, and on a limited minute level they hope to get meaningful contributions from seniors Rob Ketchum and Mareceo Rutledge.

Tonight's overall was a good performance, but keep in mind, TCU isn't Utah, BYU, or San Diego State, three teams the Rebels still have to face before this season is through.