Read more at our Mountain West blog, Mountain West Connection.
Albuquerque, NM (Sports Network) - Kendall Wallace scored a career-high 21 points, as UNLV earned a 74-62 win over 15th-ranked New Mexico in a Mountain West matchup.
Wallace also made a career-best seven three-pointers and Tre'Von Willis added 20 points for UNLV (13-3, 1-1 MWC), which snapped a brief two-game slide. Chace Stanback ended with 14 points and nine rebounds for the Rebels, who shot 45.8 percent from the field and made 11-of-26 from beyond the arc.
Dairese Gary finished with a team-high 17 points, while Roman Martinez had a solid game with 15 points and 12 boards for New Mexico (14-3, 0-2), which was unable to regroup after dropping a 74-64 decision at San Diego State on Tuesday. The Lobos have lost three of their last five overall.
UNLV held a slim advantage for a good portion of the second half before Will Brown's layup near the midway point gave the Lobos a brief 46-45 lead. Willis' two free throws a short time later put the Rebels back in front by a point. Wallace then made a pair of three-pointers and Stanback also hit from long range to put UNLV up by double-digits, 56-46, with 6 1/2 minutes to play.
New Mexico never threatened the outcome in the remaining time on the clock as the Rebels held on for the victory.
UNLV set the tone early with a 19-10 lead before Phillip McDonald hit a three- pointer to pull New Mexico even at 21-all with just over five minutes left in the opening half.
Willis' trey in the closing seconds allowed the Rebels to go into the locker room with a 36-30 advantage at the break.
UNLV improved to 25-14 in the all-time series versus New Mexico... The teams will finish off their season series on February 10th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas...Darrington Hobson had 14 points and seven rebounds, while McDonald ended with 10 points for New Mexico.