Dec. 1, 2004
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By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Seldom-used senior Andy Hannan hit a short jumper
with 0.4 seconds left to lift UNLV to a thrilling 73-72 victory over California
on Wednesday night.
Marquise Kately's jumper in the paint with 13.9 seconds remaining put Cal
ahead, and the Golden Bears seemed to have a victory in hand when UNLV's Jerel
Blassingame was called for a charge on the other end with 7.7 seconds to play.
But after Cal inbounded the ball under the Runnin' Rebels' basket, Richard
Midgley traveled and gave UNLV the ball back with 2.7 seconds to go and Hannan
came up huge.
Romel Beck scored 21 points for UNLV (2-1), while Odartey Blankson added 16
points and five rebounds.
Rod Benson scored a career-high 22 points and added eight rebounds for the
Bears (3-2), who used a furious comeback over the final 10 minutes to erase a
14-point second-half deficit. Cal ultimately couldn't overcome costly mistakes
and poor free-throw shooting (13-for-25).
Midgley finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists, but also
committed eight of Cal's 17 turnovers. Kately also had 12 points as Cal kicked
off a three-game homestand with a loss.
First-year UNLV coach Lon Kruger and his team began a four-game trip by
playing at Cal for the first time. The Runnin' Rebels beat the Bears in the
previous two meetings between the schools in Las Vegas.
Cal is down to only eight healthy scholarship players after losing starting
point guard Ayinde Ubaka to a broken left foot in an 82-63 win over Southern
last week. He is expected to be sidelined until mid-January.
Cal is already without reigning Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Leon Powe, who
is expected to miss the season as he recovers from reconstructive knee surgery.
UNLV's crisp ball movement led to many dunks and open jumpers in the first
half, but the Runnin' Rebels made only three of their first 10 3-point tries.
Michael Umeh scored seven straight points for UNLV during one first-half
stretch, but Benson scored six straight points with a dunk during an 8-0 Cal
run that turned a 28-21 deficit into a brief 29-28 lead.
UNLV led 38-32 at halftime thanks to two late 3s by Beck.
