Feb. 19, 2001

Box Score

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Point guard Marlon Parmer scored 16 points and his quickness was too much for UNLV's defense as New Mexico beat the Rebels 75-56 Monday night.

Parmer repeatedly raced past Rebel defenders for layups or tossed passes to open Lobos as New Mexico (16-8, 5-5 Mountain West) erased a 14-point first half deficit by holding UNLV to 16 points in the second half.

UNLV (15-11, 6-5 MWC) led 40-26 with 2:00 left in the first half, but fell behind for good as New Mexico put together a 15-4 run early in the second half.

It was Parmer who triggered the scoring spurt with his penetration through UNLV's defense. He scored eight points in the run and finished it off with a layup and two free throws for a 49-48 New Mexico lead with 13:02 left.

It got worse from there as UNLV scored just one field goal over the final nine minutes. The Lobos used the Rebels' shooting problems to score 20 straight points for a 75-54 lead with less than a minute left.

Kaspars Kambala, who scored 51 points and had 25 rebounds in the Rebels' two wins over New Mexico last season, led the Rebels with 20 points.

Kambala, however, scored just five points in the second half as UNLV repeatedly tossed up 3-pointers instead of trying to get the ball into their 6-foot-9, 250-pound center. Kambala took just three shots in the final 20 minutes.

The Rebels hit just one of 12 3-pointers in the second half and shot 26 percent from the field.

Eric Chatfield added 15 points and Ruben Douglas 12 for New Mexico. Parmer also had seven assists and three steals.

The 16 points was the fewest scored by a New Mexico opponent in the second half since BYU scored 14 on Feb. 3, 1997.