Bellfield steps up late for Rebels - Sports

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Nov. 29, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Bellfield steps up late for Rebels

Guard steadies team in upset of No. 16 Louisville

By MATT YOUMANS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

UNLV Basketball - Men

UNLV -- 76
LOUISVILLE -- 71

KEY: Oscar Bellfield scored eight of his 17 points late in the game after the Rebels blew a 19-point lead.

NEXT: UNLV at Arizona, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Fox College Sports Pacific (Cox 332), KWWN-AM (1100)

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UNLV forward Brice Massamba celebrates Saturday after scoring against Louisville during the second half of the Rebels' 76-71 victory over the 16th-ranked Cardinals at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Photos by John Locher

UNLV forward Darris Santee dunks against Louisville's Jared Swopshire during the Rebels' 76-71 victory Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

At the most critical stage of UNLV's young season, Oscar Bellfield felt the heat of the spotlight. He was cool and clutch, the sophomore guard performing the role of a star.

"No really nervous moments," he said. "But it was like, 'The bright lights are coming. OK, this is where we need to buckle down and execute on offense.' We knew it was time, and we didn't want to lose this game."

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The Rebels threw away all of a 19-point lead in the second half before Bellfield led the way to a 76-71 upset of 16th-ranked Louisville on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Bellfield finished with 17 points, including eight straight for UNLV during a three-minute span late in the game.

The Rebels (5-0) beat a ranked Cardinals team for the second year in a row. Bellfield's short bank shot with 16 seconds remaining lifted UNLV to a 56-55 win at Louisville on New Year's Eve. In the rematch, Bellfield made more than one big shot.

"Oscar was amazing," Rebels junior Derrick Jasper said. "I think he has Louisville's number. I'm real excited for him."

UNLV led 53-34 with 14 minutes to play, and the crowd of 14,390 was roaring and sensing a blowout.

But the Cardinals made a determined charge and tied the score 62-62 on Edgar Sosa's 3-pointer with 5:17 to go. At a point when the Rebels could have broken, Bellfield bowed his neck.

Bellfield started his run with two free throws. After Louisville's Rakeem Buckles scored inside to knot the score again with 4:24 left, Bellfield sliced through the Cardinals' zone and hit a runner in the lane.

Fouled on a jumper, Bellfield sank two more free throws. Jerry Smith missed a 3-pointer for Louisville, and Bellfield then made a play reminiscent of his New Year's Eve moment. He drove the right side of the lane and scored over 6-foot-9-inch Samardo Samuels to put UNLV up 70-66 with 2:25 to go.

"I thought he was about to block it, but I got it over him," said Bellfield, who also hit the winner over Samuels last year.

Senior forward Darris Santee helped seal the victory for the Rebels by rebounding a short miss by Smith. Santee was fouled and made two free throws. On the Cardinals' next possession, Santee stole an entry pass intended for Samuels.

In 20 minutes off the bench, Santee dunked twice and produced 13 points and five rebounds. Samuels, Louisville's star big man, was held to 13 points and three rebounds in 29 minutes.

"Samardo is a very strong guy, and I was up for the battle," Santee said. "It was very physical. My mindset was to go to the hole strong. I knew their guys were big and they would block your shot, so I was going strong."

The Cardinals (4-1) never led, but coach Rick Pitino found some positives in the experience.

"I hate losing. But I really like the game," Pitino said. "It's really going to be beneficial for us. This was a good game for us to play early in the season. It will make us stronger and tougher.

"I think (UNLV) is a very good basketball team because they play so hard at the defensive end."

Sosa, who led Louisville with 18 points, hit three 3-pointers in the second half to spark the comeback. Buckles had 10 points and 11 rebounds, also doing most of his work after halftime.

Tre'Von Willis scored 16 points and Jasper 12 for the Rebels. Willis threw two alley-oop passes to Jasper for dunks.

One highlight late in the first half came after Jasper missed a 3-pointer from the right corner. UNLV's Steve Jones chased down the rebound and batted the ball to Bellfield, who passed to Willis.

Jasper flew in from the baseline and Willis threw a high lob that Jasper slammed.

"I just kind of looked at Tre," Jasper said. "We've been playing basketball together for a while now, so I gave him that look, and he gave me that look and he threw it up. I had to put my springs on."

Bellfield consistently beat the Cardinals' full-court pressure. In half-court sets against a zone defense, Jasper flashed to the middle and created in the lane or moved the ball around the perimeter.

"Oscar was great," Rebels coach Lon Kruger said. "He battled that pressure all night long, and when you do that, it's fatiguing. Their pressure is relentless. Yet I thought we were able to handle it."

Bellfield's nine points lifted UNLV to a 40-30 halftime lead. Willis banked in a runner at the halftime buzzer. The Rebels shot 15-for-27 (55.6 percent) from the field in the first half, and stayed hot while extending the lead to 19 points.

"We hung in there," Willis said. "We let the lead slip away, but we grinded it out. We learned how much character we have and what it takes to close out games."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. Jon wrote on November 30, 2009 09:02 AM: One major reason the rebels let L'Ville back in the game was because the crowd went silent for a good 6 minutes. Right when the crowd got back into it thats when we took back control of the game. IF YOUR AT THE GAME THEN YOU SHOULD BE SCREAMING AND YELLING THE ENTIRE GAME, THERE ARE NO EXCUSES NOT TO. I did my part, as i still have no voice today. But overall it was a great game... we dominated the entire game except for about 6 minutes. This team is very young and i truly believe they will be competing for a national title these next few years. matt wrote on November 29, 2009 05:58 PM: great game. fun to watch. when you're playing a team as good and as deep as louisville, i don't care how we get the win as long as we get it. letting a 19 point lead vanish may make the rebels look young and timid, but holding on to win showed a lot of grit and determination. go rebels! Carl G wrote on November 29, 2009 02:47 PM: This team is young and exciting to watch. They are only going to get better as a group and if they remain unselfish, who knows how good they can be. Very good W no doubt. RebFan wrote on November 29, 2009 02:35 PM: they are a much improved team and they will only get stronger as time passes, but what they still need to work on is free throws. in the past 5 games, if we would have made all the FTs, we would have averaged about 8-10 points increase each game. regardless, im very excited to see us do well in the MW CM wrote on November 29, 2009 11:15 AM: The Rebels played a great game, but they have a long way to go. They blew a 19 point lead and made a lot of sloppy mistakes. At one point during the game, I thought their guards were allergic to the left side of the court. The rebel ball-handlers need to be able to dribble with both their right and left hands. If L'ville played smart, they would have made the rebels suffer for that. Lucky they didn't play smart. We've got a lot of talent on our team, but the rebels need to get their confidence up if they're going to make a bid for a national title. GO REBELS! JAAAY wrote on November 29, 2009 10:40 AM: THIS TEAM CONTINUES TO IMPROVE EACH GAME. YET THEY ARE SO YOUNG. WATCH THEM DO A LOT OF DAMAGE IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST. Tom S. wrote on November 29, 2009 08:35 AM: The Referees tried to give the game to Louisville in the last fourteen minutes. They called nine fouls on us to one for Louisville. Some of the foul calls were so blatantly wrong, like when their player pulled Masamba down under the basket and they called a double foul. TD wrote on November 29, 2009 08:29 AM: I think everyone knew Louisville was going to make a run. The question was how would this young team handle it. I think we are witnessing a program on the verge. We need that shot blocker now and a high riser under the boards. Jasper, Bellfied and Willis all had good games. But santee was great. keep it up Santee. mike wrote on November 29, 2009 08:09 AM: I understand the guys let a 19 pt lead slip, but look at it this way, most other teams would just fold and let louisville take over and get the win. Our guys stayed strong and even at the toughest point they were able to grab the lead back and win it. The team is looking up and they will only get better from here! pau wrote on November 29, 2009 08:02 AM: I commend the Rebels for beating the Cardinals but noticed they let a big 19 point lead slipped away. The killer's instinct is lacking. Hope I can see more of this instinct in future games.