National Basketball Association
UNLV 82, Mississippi St. 66
When: 10:30 PM ET, Monday, December 23, 2013
Where: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials:
# Jeff Malham, # Marques Pettigrew, # Jon Stigliano
Attendance:
3618
By SportsDirect Inc.
UNLV 82, Mississippi State 66: Kevin Olekaibe scored 17 points and Deville Smith added 15 as the Rebels rolled past the Bulldogs in the championship game of the Las Vegas Classic at Orleans Arena.
Roscoe Smith recorded his eighth double-double this season with 12 points and 12 rebounds for UNLV (8-4), which recorded its fifth straight double-digit victory. Khem Birch added 11 points and Bryce Dejean-Jones had nine.
Craig Sword scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half for Mississippi State (9-3), which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end. Colin Borchert made six of his 12 shots and finished with 12 points.
Deville Smith, who scored a season-high 21 points in Sunday’s 92-71 victory over Santa Clara, scored 11 points in the first half and was named the tournament MVP. UNLV led 42-24 at the break after shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 56.3 from beyond the arc.
UNLV cooled off in the second half and Mississippi State cut the deficit to 53-40 with just under 11 minutes to play, but the Rebels answered with a 14-4 run and were never threatened again. The Rebels shot 11-for-26 from 3-point range, while the Bulldogs missed 11 of their 12 attempts from beyond the arc.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Seven of UNLV's eight wins have come by at least 19 points. … UNLV improved to 8-1 at Orleans Arena since the start of the 2006-07 season. … Sword, the Bulldogs' leading scorer, has scored in double figures in 11 straight games and has shot at least 50 percent from the field in eight straight contests.
Top Game Performances
| Mississippi St. |
|
UNLV |
|
Craig Sword 18 |
Scoring |
Kevin Olekaibe 17 |
|
Craig Sword 3 |
Assists |
Deville Smith 5 |
|
Colin Borchert 6 |
Rebounds |
Roscoe Smith 12 |
|
Roquez Johnson 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Khem Birch 5 |
|
Colin Borchert 2 |
Steals |
Khem Birch 1 |
|
Colin Borchert 2 |
Blocks |
Khem Birch 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Mississippi St.
|
66 |
47.5 |
1-11 |
9-12 |
9 |
25 |
2 |
9 |
14 |
| UNLV
|
82 |
44.1 |
11-26 |
19-24 |
16 |
33 |
5 |
3 |
19 |
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