UNLV Basketball: Pitino gets his hostile crowd, Rebels, Bellfield get the win

Rick Pitino wanted his Louisville Cardinals to play in front of a hostile crowd prior to taking on archrival Kentucky in Lexington.  He got his wish.  He also got a loss.  UNLV outscored Pitino & Company 12-7 in the final 4:30, surviving a furious second half Louisville comeback to upend the sixteenth-ranked Cardinals 76-71 at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday. 

"We wanted to go into an environment before Kentucky that is very hostile, and has a very strong home court advantage" Pitino said earlier in the week.  On Saturday, a fired up crowd of 14,390 provided the Louisville coach with that and then some, a factor that certainly wasn't lost on the home team's coach.  "In basketball, I think the crowd can have such an impact," said UNLV coach Lon Kruger, whose 5-0 squad now likely resides squarely on the cusp of a top 25 national ranking.  "Our players feed off of that, and we appreciate that a great deal."

Kruger, no doubt, also appreciates his sophomore guard Oscar Bellfield, who came up clutch against the Cardinals for the second consecutive season.  Bellfield, who hit the game winning shot for UNLV in last season's upset win at Freedom Hall, scored six straight points late, answering Louisville's 30-11 second half run, which tied the ballgame at 64, to put the Runnin' Rebels ahead for good.  "Oscar was great.  He battled that pressure all night long," said Kruger. 

Bellfield, who ran the point guard position on Saturday, seemingly having to navigate his way through Louisville's relentless full court pressure all day long, nevertheless led the Rebels with 17 points.  Junior Tre'Von Willis did a little of everything against the Cards, scoring 16 points while pulling down 6 rebounds and dishing out a game high 9 assists, a pair of which led to emphatic alley oop jams by Derrick Jasper.  Senior forward Darris Santee played arguably his best ever game in a UNLV uniform, scoring 13 big points on 5 of 7 shooting while collecting 5 rebounds. 

"I thought Darris was terrific," said Kruger.  "I thought Darris worked really hard in there, really rebounded the ball well, knocked down a couple of big free throws...really happy for D."

Runnin' Rebel Notes:  With the victory over Louisville, the Rebels improved their early season RPI ranking to #8.  The Rebels next game will also be their first road game of the season when they travel to Tucson to take on Arizona at the McKale Center on Wednesday.  The Wildcats, who went 1-2 in the Maui Invitational this past week, are currently 3-2 on the season.