UNLV knocks off BYU to reach Mountain West title game

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tre'Von Willis finished with 18 points and made critical free throws down the stretch, as UNLV upended No. 14 BYU, 70-66, to reach the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

Willis finished 6-of-6 at the line, while Chace Stanback added 17 points and six rebounds for the third-seeded Rebels (25-7), who will face San Diego State in Saturday's final. The Aztecs knocked off top-seeded and eighth-ranked New Mexico earlier Friday.

Brice Massamba had 13 points and six boards for UNLV, which has won six in a row overall, as well as eight in a row against BYU on its home court.

Jimmer Fredette made all 12 of his free throws and finished with 30 points for the Cougars (29-5), who had won their last three. Michael Loyd, Jr. added 11 points in the loss.

"He's a terrific player," UNLV head coach Lon Kruger said of Fredette. "I thought he had to work all night long. Didn't give him too many easy ones. Didn't foul him too many times. Didn't need to."

BYU played without guard Tyler Haws, the team's third-leading scorer this season. Haws suffered a left eye injury in the Cougars' quarterfinal win over TCU, and he did not dress Friday, as the eye appeared swollen shut.

UNLV held a 57-47 lead with under eight minutes left before BYU charged back with a 14-2 run to take the lead. Fredette scored eight in the stretch, which Loyd ended with a jumper for a 61-59 edge with 2:51 to play.

But the Rebels scored the next four points to go back ahead, and with a minute left, Willis' bank shot put UNLV up 65-62.

UNLV's lead still stood at three, 67-64, after Willis made two foul shots with 36.8 seconds remaining. The Rebels pressured Fredette on the ensuing BYU possession, forcing the Cougars to find other options. Loyd eventually got the ball in the right corner and drove into the lane, but his shot didn't hit the rim and bounced off the glass.

"They're really good defensively at taking you out of your stuff," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "I thought our guys read that possession well. I thought we needed to capitalize on that basket."

Massamba missed his first free throw at the other end, but the second bounced in to make it a two-possession game, and Willis later made two more to seal the win.

UNLV shot 61.5 percent in the first half, when the Rebels made 7-of-10 three- point tries en route to a 41-34 halftime lead.

About three minutes into the second half, consecutive buckets from Massamba pushed the advantage to 47-36.

Game Notes

UNLV owns a 4-0 record all-time against BYU in the MWC Tournament. This was the first meeting between the teams in the semifinals as all three previous MWC Tournament matchups came in the title game...The teams split the regular season series...UNLV shot 55.6 percent overall, while BYU made 39.6 percent of its shots.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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