Very physical game. Wink Adams continues to struggle with his shooting. He missed five straight free throws at one point and is 0 for 6 from 3-point range. Wink is now 1-for-25 on treys in his last six games.

Darris Santee (7 points) and Oscar Bellfield (7 points) both have stepped up as has big Brice Massamba ( 6 points).

Big win for the Wildcats who visit the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday afternoon. A win over Arizona would carry a lot of wait in terms of RPI and potential March Madness seedings.

Rebel shooting woes continue. UNLV missed their first 8 treys until Oscar Bellfield finally connected with 2:46 remaining to give the Rebels a 26-24 lead. UNLV had blown an eight-point lead before that.

Right after Bellfield’s trey, Joe Darger hit a 3-pointer as UNLV ended the half with a 11-3 run.

Wink Adams hit two jumpers in the half, the final one at the buzzer from the left side of the key. However, he was 0-for-5 from 3-point range and just 2-for-4 at the foul line.

Rebels had six steals and forced 11 turnovers. Thanks to some good shooting in the final minutes, UNLV actually shot a respectable 40.6 percent (13 of 32) from the floor.

UNLV held a 18-4 edge in points in the paint. Rene Rougeau the star of the game for the Rebels so far with 8 points, 3 rebounds and two steals.

UNLV 13-7 with 10:59 to go in first half.

Rebels went on a 7-0 run over a 5 1/2 minute stretch. Wink and Rene both had steals and layups to spark the run.

Rene Rougeau, the reigning MWC Player of the Week, picking up where he left off eight days earlier at Nevada with 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal in nine minutes.

DeShawn Mitchell enters the game.

Among those attending today’s game at the Orleans Arena is recent LB commit Horace Miller, who is seated near midcourt with head coach Mike Sanford and DL coach Andre Patterson. Miller came in a day later than other recruits for his official visit so that he could take the SAT on Saturday morning. Miller’s Baltimore Dunbar teammate, DB Courney Bridget, also committed earlier to UNLV.

There was a moment of silence before the start for former Rebel star Chris Richardson who died at the age of 28 in Japan last week while touring with the Harlem Globetrotters.

Oscar Bellfield made his second straight start at the point ahead of Tre’Von Willis.

Wink Adams hit his first jumper (18-footer) near the top of the key but missed badly on a three.

It’s 4-4 at the 15:56 mark.

It was another good weekend for UNLV football coach Mike Sanford who landed verbal commitments from two more key defensive back recruits, CB/S Courtney Bridget (6-3, 190) of Maryland 1-A champ Baltimore Dunbar and safety John Therrell (6-2, 180) of Bishop Gorman.

City College of San Francisco safety Jarrell Harrison also visited and could decide as soon as Monday. The four-star junior college recruit, who prepped at Palo Verde High School, also is looking at North Carolina State.

Rumors of the transfer of 7-foot center Beas Hamga have been hot and heavy recently on both rebelnation.net and Rebel-Net on Rivals.com. So it was not a major surprise on Friday morning when UNLV granted the 7-foot freshman center his release from the program.

What was a major surprise is that Hamga was just the third best big man on UNLV’s depth chart and had played a grand total of 26 minutes in just five game appearances for the Rebels.

Hamga was rated the nation’s No. 26 overall prospect in the Class of 2007 by Rivals.com and the fifth best center in the country ahead of folks like current Kansas star Cole Aldrich. He was ranked just three spots behind a forward from Oklahoma named Blake Griffin, considered the potential first pick of the 2009 NBA Draft. In the interest of full disclosure, Scout.com, which runs the rebelnation.net site run by Rebel Nation, did not rank Hamga in its Top 100 but had him No. 22 among center prospects.

After watching him play and practice, even that might be too high.

Hamga is a good shot-blocker with a 9-foot-5 wingspan and pretty good timing. But it was painful to watch him a); Try and catch a ball in the post, and b). try and do something with it if/when he caught it. He also lacked strength to defend players in the post.

In a word, he’s a project, even after sitting out a year at UNLV. It’s funny but I can remember when Hamga signed with UNLV that there were people afraid he’d actually bolt for the NBA after a year.

Maybe Hamga will wind up in the NBA one day … the old saying is you can’t coach height … but he better be prepared to work awfully hard in the weight room and perfecting his offensive game if he wants to have a chance. In that regard, he won’t find a better strength coach than UNLV’s Jason Kabo or a better coaching staff that develops big man talent (ask Lou Amundson and Joel Anthony).

He also better get a whole lot tougher. The one memory that immediately comes to mind when I think of Beas is a play I saw in practice prior to UNLV’s summer trip to Australia last June.

UNLV’s 40-year-old assistant coach Steve Henson, filling in because the Rebels were shorthanded that day, set a routine screen by the free throw line that Hamga, a foot taller and probably 30 pounds heavier, ran into. Hamga fell to the ground like he had been shot and laid there for a few moments before finally getting up.

I looked at a colleague of mine and we both smiled. “I don’t think we need to worry about Beas heading to the NBA soon,” I said with a chuckle.

One other word came to both of our lips. Lets just say it starts with a “w” and rhymes with “chimp.”

“We wish Beas the best,” UNLV coach Lon Kruger said today. “His attitude and work ethic have been outstanding and because of that, we think that he will develop into a very good player.”

Maybe. Personally, I think the Rebels are better off getting that scholarship back.

Right now Beas goes to the top of the list as perhaps the most overrated player in recent UNLV basketball history.

One of the six players scheduled to visit UNLV this weekend is a very familiar one to local prep football fans. Jarrell Harrison (6-2, 210), one of the nation’s top junior college safety prospects from juco powerhouse City College of San Francisco, was the star quarterback for Palo Verde High School in 2004 and was the Southern Nevada Offensive Player of the Year.

UNLV head coach Mike Sanford successfully recruited Harrison to play quarterback for the Rebels in his first recruiting class but Harrison failed to qualify academically after failing to meet minimum NCAA entrance eligibility requirements. He eventually attended junior college and has two years of eligibility remaining. Better yet, he’s a mid-year transfer who could take part in spring practice.

UNLV will be Harrison’s fourth and likely final visit. He has already taken trips to Missouri, Arizona and North Carolina State and also is being recruited by Arizona State. He is expected to chose between the Rebels and N.C. State.

Harrison would be help fill one of UNLV’s biggest holes at safety. The Rebels ranked 111th nationally in pass efficiency defense with problems at safety playing a big part of that.

Meanwhile, UNLV piccked up its 12th commitment today when Cheyenne HS RB/WR Marcus Sullivan (5-9, 165), the Sunset Division Offensive Player of the Year, pledged the Rebels. Sullivan is similar to current Rebel wingback/returner Michael Johnson but a step quicker. He was timed at 21.1 in the 200 meters as a junior and 10.6 in the 100 meters. He rushed for 1,400 yards as a senior after an injury-plagued junior campaign and averaged over 33 yards per reception. He’s considered to be a potential game-breaker for Sanford’s Shotgun Spread offense.

It’s been a good week for UNLV head football coach Mike Sanford. First he gets word that he will be receiving a three-year extension that will take him through the 2012 season. Then he received verbal commitments from a couple of much-needed blue chip defensive prospects.

Nathan Holloway (6-foot-3, 320), a defensive lineman from Spring Valley High School who had schools from the Pac-10 Conference as well as Texas interested in his college services, committed to the Rebels after a weekend visit. Ditto Horace Miller (6-1, 210), a linebacker from Dunbar High in Baltimore who recently set a state record for quarterback sacks with 30 while helping lead the Poets to their third straight state 1-A title.

Miller is among six recruits scheduled to visit UNLV this weekend. He is bringing along another heavily recruited teammate, defensive back Courtney Bridget (6-3, 190).

The Rebels have 11 verbal commitments so far with just five more to give. Besides Miller and Holloway, UNLV has picked up verbals from JC corners Warren Ziegler (6-1, 190) of College of San Mateo (a mid-year enrollee) and Mike Grant of Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif., center Doug Zismann (6-2, 275) from Shadow Mountain High in Phoenix, wide receiver Mark Barefield (6-2, 180) of North Mesquite High in Mesquite, Tx., defensive back Charles Childers from Bishop Gorman, offensive lineman Andrew Mack (6-2, 290) of Plano, Tx., Plano West High, linebacker Reggie Umuolo (5-11, 195) of Peoria, Az., Centennial and two blue chip offensive recruits, RB Bradley Randle (5-10, 195) of Vista Murrieta HS in Murrieta, Ca., and quarterback Caleb Herring (6-4, 180) of Citrus Hill HS in Perris, Ca.

Herring, who committed to UNLV last summer, has remained strong to his commitment despite pressure from Pac-10 and Mountain West schools to re-open his recruiting. That’s good news for Sanford and company. One scout I spoke with thinks he has the potential to be even better than current UNLV starter Omar Clayton.

Make sure you check us out daily for the latest inside information on UNLV athletics and recruiting. We also plan on doing constant blogging during Runnin’ Rebel basketball games where we can give you the latest information on injuries, stats and game updates.

Steve Guiremand

Rebel Nation Editor