It’s kind of a shame that UNLV senior guard Mo Rutledge doesn’t have another year of eligibility.

The 26-year-old junior college transfer from Yuba City College in Marysville, Calif., is finally playing the kind of basketball many Rebel fans expected of him when he arrived two years ago after breaking Yuba College’s 3-point shooting record with 119 treys in one season.

Rutledge made just 14 3-pointers in 50 attempts (28.0 percent) last year for the Rebel while averaging less than 12 minutes per game. But the 6-foot-3, 225-pounder has stepped it up as a senior, especially during the Mountain West Conference campaign, and appears much more comfortable with his role on the team.

Rutledge was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range and scored a career-high 12 points in UNLV’s 89-70 victory over Colorado State on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, including three treys in a little over a four minute span midway through the first half that helped break open what had been a tight game.

UNLV was nursing an 18-17 lead when Rutledge nailed his first 3-pointer with 10:37 remaining. By the time he hit his third trey, the Rebels were up, 35-25, and well on their way to a 51-34 halftime edge.

“That was clutch,” UNLV guard Rene Rougeau, who finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds, said. “I think that’s what really got us separated from them. Once (Rutledge) started hitting them, it seemed like it was all downhill from there.”

The Rebels (19-6, 7-4) led by as many 21 points early in the second half before the Rams cut it to 11, 72-61, on a Marcus Walker 3-pointer. But Rutledge jump-started a 17-6 UNLV run with his fourth trey that seemed to sap the life out of CSU’s comeback hopes.

Rutledge is shooting 46.8 percent (22-of-47) from 3-point range this year, including his last six in a row. He’s 10-for-13 (76.1 percent) from behind the arc since UNLV’s 75-65 win over Utah on Jan. 24 at the Thomas & Mack when he was 2-for-2 on treys and scored nine points.

“I was feeling it real good tonight,” Rutledge said. “I was open and my teammates were able to drop the ball to me and I was able to knock them down.”

Rutledge credited extra shooting as one of the reason’s for his current hot streak.

“I”ve been staying after practice a little bit and just getting up extra shots,” Rutledge said. “I think that’s helped a little bit. … (I’m) not hesitating at all. If I feel I can pull up and just knock it down, I’m going to go ahead and take the shot. As long as I’m not forcing anything I feel pretty confident shooting it.”

“Mo’s been shooting it great, and that’s a big lift when a guy comes off the bench like he and Kendall (Wallace) do and are able to step out there and knock down shots,” UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. “I think Mo’s confidence is really high right now and it’s really, really good to see.”

“We always talk about (Rutledge) being the leader off the bench for us,” Rougeau added. “He’s been just filling those shoes for us every game.”

Rutledge wasn’t the only Rebel shooting the ball well on Saturday night. UNLV shot a blistering 64.5 percent (20-of-31) from the floor in the first half, including 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from 3-point range. The Rebels shot 54.1 percent for the game and had 23 assists. Six Rebels finished in double-digits led by sophomore guard Tre’Von Willis (21 points, 6 assists).

“I thought the first half we had real good ball movement,” Kruger said. “Off the dribble we made a lot of good players for each other and guys stepped up and made shots and finished plays. I thought it was maybe one of the better offensive halves of the year.”

Too bad the Mountain West Conference couldn’t find room on its Mountain TV Network to show tonight’s UNLV-Colorado State game.

Unlike the first meeting in Fort Collins when the Rebels came out sleep-walking, UNLV came out smoking hot from 3-point range en route to a 51-34 halftime lead.

The Rebels connected on 8 of 11 3-pointers (72.7 percent) while building up a 17-point lead.

Tre’Von Willis has 14 points and three assists to lead the Rebels while Mo Rutledge was 3-of-3 on treys en route to nine points. Oscar Bellfield also has nine points and five assists for the Rebels who shot 64.5 percent (20-of-31)  from the floor.

UNLV already has a remarkable 15 assists in the game. The Rebels, who have forced eight turnovers while just coughing it up twice themselves, hold a 14-0 edge in points off turnovers and a 22-7 advantage in points in the paint.

UNLV started the day in fifth place in the Mountain West Conference with a 6-4 record. But with a good week, the Rebels could find themselves in second place a week from tonight.

The Rebels, who host Colorado State in a few minutes at the Thomas & Mack (no TV), travel to Wyoming (3-6 going into tonight’s game at San Diego State). Then they host BYU (7-3) here next Saturday night.

Meanwhile, New Mexico (7-3) plays at BYU on Tuesday night and hosts San Diego State (7-3) next Saturday.

Depending on how things shake out, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Rebels at 9-4 and the Lobos, Aztecs and BYU all 8-4 by the end of the day next Saturday. That’s if UNLV can take care of business tonight against the Rams tonight, win on the road at Wyoming and then keep their Thomas & Mack magic alive against the Cougars next Saturday.

Stay tuned.

Wink Adams scored 21 points and dished off four assists and Joe Darger added 14 points and six rebounds and UNLV’s pressing defense forced a season-high 26 turnovers as the Rebels (18-6, 6-4) snapped their two-game losing streak with a 71-57 win over TCU (13-11, 4-6) on Tuesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Rebels actually received a smattering of boos early in this one while falling behind, 17-7. That crowd reaction, along with a nice half-court trap which forced 17 first half Horned Frog turnovers, and sent UNLV on a 23-2 run over the next eight minutes en route to a 40-31 halftime lead.

The Rebels extended their lead to as many as 18 points, 66-48, in the second half.

UNLV, which finished with 13 steals, held a 23-13 edge in points off turnovers.

It didn’t look good for UNLV early on Tuesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center as the Rebels fell quickly behind, 17-7, to the hot-shooting TCU Horned Frogs.

Picking up where they left off in last year’s Mountain West Tournament quarterfinal game when the Frogs hit an amazing 17-of-23 treys, TCU hit its first three shots behind the arc to make them 20-of-26 over the two-game span.

Then the Rebels decided to play a little defense. Uh, a lot of defense.

UNLV outscored the Frogs, 23-2, over the next eight minutes en route to a 40-31 halftime lead.

The Rebels used a half-court trap to perfection and forced 17 turnovers. That helped UNLV to a 15-8 edge in points off turnovers.

UNLV also shot the ball well connecting on 6 of 10 3-pointers. Joe Darger led the way with 14 points, including 4 of 7 treys, while Wink Adams added 10 points including 2 of 3 3-pointers.

UNLV head coach Lon Kruger juggled his starting lineup for the second straight game Tuesday night against TCU.  Kruger stayed with a four-guard lineup  but replaced Tre’Von Willis with fellow sophomore guard Kendall Wallace.  It is the first start in Wallace’s 52-game career.

Getting ready for tipoff for tonight’s TCU game at the Thomas & Mack Center and easily the smallest crowd of the conference season right now. Can’t be more than 4,000 in the stands.

ALBUQUERQUE — After UNLV’s second bitter overtime loss in five days, this time a 73-69 setback to New Mexico here on Saturday night, there was some finger-pointing going on outside the Runnin’ Rebel locker room.

Senior swingman Rene Rougeau was doing the pointing … at himself.

Although he tied his career-high with 13 rebounds and also scored 12 points for a double-double, the 6-foot-6 senior took full responsibility for a crucial blunder down the stretch that not only resulted in his ouster from the game but two extra points for the Lobos.

With UNLV leading, 53-52, Rougeau and New Mexico forward Tony Danridge got tangled going for a rebound on the right side of the Rebel basket. It appeared that Danridge may have grabbed Rougeau on the play — the aptly named Pit doesn’t have any replay scoreboards or TV monitors in press row circa 1980 so I’m going on first impressions — but Rougeau was the one who got whistled for the foul by Kelly Self.

We all know that Rene plays with a lot of emotion … and wears that emotion on his sleeve. When he realized he had been called for his fourth foul, he jumped up and waved his arms in protest.

Many officials in that situation, realizing the high emotion and intensity involved during that part of the game, would have turned and simply walked away. And Self appeared to hesitate briefly before calling the crucial technical.

How big was the call?

Beside giving New Mexico two additionally free throws that Chad Toppert promptly sank, it also was Rougeau’s disqualifying fifth foul of the night.

Danridge also sank a one-and-one from Rougeau’s original foul meaning the Lobos went from trailing by one to leading by three, 56-53, thanks to the two big calls. And UNLV also lost its best frontcourt defender in crunch time.

Was Rougeau upset with losing his cool in such a key situation?

“Without a doubt,” Rougeau said. “Definitely put the blame on me for sure. Got to play a lot smarter than that. We probably could have won that game if I don’t get that technical foul.”

Danridge, held to just two points in the first half, took over the game down the stretch and in overtime and finished with a game-high 26 points.

All Rougeau, the man who guarded Danridge most of the night, could do was watch.

“Basically I guess he teed me up for getting in his face,” Rougeau said. “I didn’t say anything foul to him. Basically you’ve got to be smart and walk away from it. It’s just tough when you’re trying to go for every rebound … but that’s how it goes sometimes.

“(Watching the ending) was probably the hardest thing ever to be honest with you. I (couldn’t) even help the team right now. I definitely let the team down.”

Just like Tuesday night against San Diego State, the Rebels had their chances to win even without Rougeau. But Wink Adams and Mo Rutledge both missed short jumpers in the final four seconds of regulation, and Adams had a good chance to put the Rebels ahead with 29 seconds left in overtime but missed another jumper. Danridge then broke a 69-69 tie with a 10-footer in the key with 5.4 seconds to go. UNLV didn’t get an opportunity to try and force a second OT because Tre’Von Willis was ruled to have stepped on the sideline at midcourt on the ensuring inbounds pass.

“It’s hard,” Rougeau said. “Everyone is playing really hard. When you give it your all, it’s tough losing like that in overtime.

The good news? The Rebels (5-4) play the next two games at the Thomas & Mack Center against TCU and Colorado State, two teams they should be able to garner some revenge on. Then it’s off to Wyoming, which is easily the worst defensive team in the league, before returning home to host BYU.

So barring a major letdown, UNLV should be 8-4 and right back in the thick of the conference race when they host their old rivals from Provo on Feb. 21.

But they have to be able to put two bitter losses behind them. That may be easier said than done. However, they have no choice.

“We’ve just got to get back to work and get better,” Darger said. “We’ve had two games in a row where we just didn’t get enough stops. We have to realize every possession counts. Each of these games came down to one possession and it didn’t go in our favor. So we just have to get back to work and try and take care of business earlier on.”

ALBUQUERQUE — Tony Danridge scored 26 points, including a 10-footer on a drive with 5.4 seconds left to break a 69-69 tie and help propel New Mexico to a 73-69 overtime win over UNLV on Saturday at The Pit.

The dropped the Runnin’ Rebels, who started the week in a tie for first place, to just 5-4 in Mountain West Conference play and 17-6 overall while New Mexico improved to 15-9 and 6-3

Guard Wink Adams scored 18 points and swingman Rene Rougeau, who finished with a double of 12 points and tied his career-high with 13 rebounds, led the Rebels. Rougeau, however, wasn’t around for the final 4:28 after picking up his fourth foul and then getting whistled for a technical when he protested.

New Mexico took a 57-57 lead with 2:39 to go when guard Jonathan Wills hit the second of two free throws. The Rebels tied it, 57-57, on a free throw by Adams. He missed his second try, however, but Oscar Bellfield got the long rebound near midcourt.

Tre’Von Willis then drove and missed but got his own rebound and put it in left-handed to give UNLV a 59-57 lead with 1:47 remaining.

The Rebels blew a chance to put the game away when they forced Chad Toppert to turn the ball over under the basket. But after running the clock down to two seconds, Willis fired up an air-ball.

Tony Danridge then tied the game, 59-59, with a 10-footer in the key. The Rebels then ran the clock down to 12.5 seconds before calling timeout with 11 seconds left on the shot clock.

The Rebels cleared the floor for Adams to go one-on-one against Dairese Gary but Adams’ pull-up 15-footer barely drew iron. However, the rebound went out of bounds off a Lobo and the Rebels got a second chance with 3.6 seconds left.

Bellfield then inbounded to Mo Rutledge who came up shot on 12-foot jumper at the buzzer forcing overtime.

The game see-sawed back-and-forth in overtime with the Rebels taking their final lead, 69-67, on a 3-pointer by Joe Darger with 1:03 left. But New Mexico came back to tie it 16 seconds later on a short jumper by Daniel Faris.

Adams then missed a fallaway jumper with 29 seconds left that would have put the Rebels back ahead and set the stage for Danridge’s game-winner.

ALBUQUERQUE — With his team struggling badly on offense in last Tuesday night’s 68-66 overtime loss to San Diego State, UNLV coach Lon Kruger decided to shake things up for the start of the second half of Mountain West Conference play here Saturday night.

Kruger turned to a four-guard offense against New Mexico … and the initial results were good.

The quicker Rebels seemed to cause the Lobos problems, especially at the start when UNLV jumped out to a 14-6 lead. The Rebels led at halftime, 32-26.

Kruger replaced 6-8 forward Darris Santee in the lineup with 6-2 freshman PG Oscar Bellfield. He joined 6-0 Wink Adams, 6-4 Tre’Von Willis, 6-6 Rene Rougeau and 6-7 Joe Darger.

After Darger picked up his second foul with 9:50 to go, a small Rebel lineup got even smaller with 6-3 Mo Rutledge playing center and the 6-6 Rougeau the tallest player on the floor for UNLV.

Rene Rougeau had 10 points as did Willis, who hit two quick 3-pointers as UNLV jumped out to a quick eight point lead. The Lobos never got any closer than three points after that.

Rougeau also had nine rebounds, including four on the offensive end, as the Rebels held a surprising 20-19 rebounding edge.

ALBUQUERQUE — UNLV coach Lon Kruger changed up his starting lineup for tonight’s game with New Mexico, starting freshman point guard Oscar Bellfield in place of junior forward Darris Santee.

The Rebels have experimented with four-guard lineups earlier in the season and had much success with that format last year en route to the NCAA Tournament.

UNLV basketball assistant Lew Hill, hospitalized after Tuesday night’s 68-66 overtime loss to San Diego State after experiencing chest pains, has been released from Sunrise Hospital but will not accompany the team to Albuquerque this afternoon for Saturday night’s key Mountain West Conference game with New Mexico.

Hill was not at Friday morning’s practice at the Cox Pavilion practice gym but head coach Lon Kruger said he was feeling well.

“He’s doing great,” Kruger said. “He’s out of the hospital and feeling good. All the tests turned out to be very encouraging and there was nothing of any significant concern. There was nothing there. Now he’s going to take a couple days of rest and get back after it.”

Kruger said doctors still had no idea what caused Hill’s discomfort.

“They found out what it wasn’t which is encouraging,” Kruger said referring to tests done to see if the 43-year-old Hill had suffered a possible heart attack.

Joe Darger missed an open 3-pointer from the left corner with two seconds remaining with the score tied, 59-59, and UNLV and San Diego State are headed to overtime.

San Diego State’s Billy White also had a chance to win it in regulation with 12.7 seconds left but missed the second of two free throws that would have put the Aztecs ahead.

That set the stage for UNLV’s final shot but Darger’s shot missed badly, hitting the side of the backboard.

The big question during the first half of Tuesday night’s Mountain West Conference showdown between UNLV and San Diego State was this: which would be lower — UNLV’s shooting percentage or the career ERA of halftime guest Greg Maddux?

The Rebels shot a woeful 28.0 percent from the floor (7-of-25) but remarkably trailed the Aztecs by just two points, 30-28.

UNLV trailed by as many as 10 points, 24-14, with 5:03 to go in the half but closed the half with a 14-6 run capped by a 3-pointer by Joe Darger with 23 seconds left.

The Rebels stayed in the game by getting to the free throw line. San Diego State was whistled for 11 first half fouls and UNLV made 11 of 16 free throws. The Aztecs, meanwhile, were just 5-of-6 from the line.

Darger and Wink Adams had six points each for UNLV while Lorrenzo Wade and Kyle Spain led the Aztecs with seven apiece.

As if tonight’s first place showdown with San Diego State wasn’t big enough, the Rebels are honoring future Hall of Famer and Valley High Greg Maddux at halftime.

The pre-game video also featured Rebel football stars Omar Clayton and Jason Beauchamp along with clips of Maddux. Even San Diego State players looked up and watched.

On the injury front, San Diego State point guard Richie Williams (knee), who leads the MWC in steals, dressed but did not start. His replacement, D.J. Gay, nailed a 3-pointer to start the scoring however.