March 10, 2005
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By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Sports Writer
DENVER - Michael Umeh scored 20 of his 21 points in the first half and Ricky Morgan hit 14 straight free throws in the final five minutes, lifting UNLV to a 70-63 victory over Wyoming Thursday in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
UNLV (16-12), the tournament's fourth seed, struggled offensively but made up for it with a swarming defense to beat Wyoming for the third straight time.
The Rebels have reached the championship game each of the four times they've played in the tournament - the NCAA ruled them ineligible in 2001 - but might have a tougher time doing it this year.
Waiting for UNLV in Friday's semifinals is Utah, which beat the Rebels in last year's title game and twice during the regular season. The 15th-ranked Utes beat Colorado State 62-49 in an earlier quarterfinal and present matchup problems inside with 7-foot center Andrew Bogut.
Wyoming (15-13) didn't stand much of a chance with its best player struggling.
Leading scorer Jay Straight was plagued by poor shot selection and bad decisions, finishing with 14 points - nearly five below his average - on 5-of-18 shooting. He also had five turnovers, prompting one fan to yell "Pass the ball Straight!" in the first half, and missed a pair of free throws with the Cowboys trailing by nine with just over five minutes left.
UNLV had something to do with it.
Bigger and more athletic, the Rebels collapsed in the lane to prevent Straight from getting to the basket or to medium-range jumpers, and were quick to get out on his 3-point shots.
Then again, UNLV was just as good against the rest of the Cowboys, holding them to 32 percent shooting and forcing 15 turnovers. Dion Sherrell led Wyoming with 18 points, but missed all four of his first-half shots and was 5-for-16 overall.
UNLV went on a 13-4 run to take a 43-34 lead early in the second half, allowed Wyoming to get within four, then kept the Cowboys at bay with Morgan's free throw shooting. The junior guard finished 18-of-19 from the line and had 22 points.
Umeh put Morgan and the Rebels in position.
The lone bright spot in a ragged first half, he scored UNLV's first 12 points - all on 3-pointers - and more than doubled his 9.2 average by halftime. But it wasn't too much of a surprise. Umeh started to find his stroke at the end of the regular season, scoring at least 14 points in five of the last six games.
Umeh finished 8-for-11 in the first half, while the rest of the Rebels were a combined 4-for-20.
