National Basketball Association
UNLV 89, Canisius 74
When: 10:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 22, 2012
Where: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials:
# Rick Batsell, # Dan Chrisman, # Kipp Kissinger
Attendance:
14533
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 18 UNLV 89, Canisius 74: The Runnin Rebels' Canadian duo of Anthony Bennett and Khem Birch combined for 41 points and 15 rebounds as host UNLV rolled in a non-conference game.
Birch, playing in his third game after transferring from Pitt, had 20 points on 7-for-8 shooting and added six blocks as the Rebels (11-1) won for the ninth straight time. Bennett, the freshman star, flashed his inside and outside game hitting three 3-pointers to go with several dunks on the way to a team-high 21 points.
Billy Baron led Canisius (8-3) with 30 points. He had 18 at the half and four of the Golden Griffins' 13 3-pointers.
UNLV took a 12-11 lead on a jumper by Katin Reinhardt and never trailed again. The Runnin' Rebels opened up an 11-point lead soon after and led 46-39 at the half getting 14 points from Bennett and 13 from Birch.
Canisius, which had its two-game winning streak come to an end, cut the deficit to 57-54 with 12:52 to play but UNLV responded with six straight points in a 20-6 run. Justin Hawkins had eight points in the decisive spurt.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Canisius fell to 0-2 on the season against ranked teams. It also lost to Syracuse. The Golden Griffins haven't beaten a ranked team since 1994. ... Canisius has 74 3-pointers in its last six games. ... Reinhardt finished with 14 points for UNLV. Bryce Dejean-Jones and Hawkins both had a dozen.
Top Game Performances
Canisius |
|
UNLV |
Billy Baron 30 |
Scoring |
Anthony Bennett 21 |
Billy Baron 6 |
Assists |
Anthony Marshall 8 |
Chris Manhertz 7 |
Rebounds |
Khem Birch 8 |
Billy Baron 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Khem Birch 6 |
Jordan Heath 3 |
Steals |
Katin Reinhardt 3 |
N/A |
Blocks |
Khem Birch 6 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Canisius
|
74 |
40.3 |
13-29 |
7-8 |
12 |
25 |
0 |
8 |
12 |
UNLV
|
89 |
59.6 |
6-13 |
15-20 |
24 |
33 |
13 |
8 |
16 |