March 10, 2000
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Kaspars Kambala scored 19 points and pulled down 17 rebounds, but top-seeded UNLV struggled to beat eighth-seeded San Diego State 77-72 Thursday in first-round play of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
The Rebels (21-7, 10-4 Mountain West) advance to the semifinals to play Wyoming, which beat Colorado State 74-68 earlier in the evening. The other semifinal game pits Utah against BYU.
Mark Dickel added 16 points and added nine assists for the Rebels. Trevor Diggs scored 12 points and Dalron Johnson 11.
Donte Wilson and David Abramowitz each scored 14 to lead the Aztecs (5-22, 0-14). Marcelo Correa added 12 points and 10 rebounds and Myron Epps scored 11, all in the first half.
San Diego State, which lost to the Rebels by 28 and 21 points in the regular season, trailed 35-31 at the half. UNLV built the lead to seven points four times, but Bradley Jackson hit a 3-pointer with 7:45 to play to pull the Aztecs within two at 52-50.
Johnson converted a 3-point play for the Rebels and Dickel followed with a short jumper in the lane as UNLV again built the lead back to seven, 57-50, with 6:20 left.
Dickel then stole a pass and Johnson followed a missed shot with a layup to put the Rebels up 59-50. The Rebels built an 11-point advantage with 4:28 left on a Diggs layup.
The Rebels made only one of their first 10 shots to start the game and fell behind 15-6 with 11:36 remaining in the half. Despite its poor shooting from the field, UNLV kept it close by making its first 11 free throws.
UNLV took its first lead of the game at 25-24 on a Kambala shot with 5:18 to play in the half.