FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Chace Stanback saw openings in the defense in the second half. And he wasn’t shy about taking advantage.
“They backed off of me in the second half, gave me shots I didn’t have in the first half,” the UNLV forward said. “And no one has to beg me to take a shot when it’s there.”
Stanback matched his career best with 19 points and Tre’von Willis scored 21 as UNLV continued its dominance of Colorado State with an 80-72 victory Wednesday night.
“We all know what Chace can do,” Willis said. “When they went to the zone, he was open in the corner and knocked down some big shots.”
Stanback went 6-for-8 and scored 15 points in the second half for UNLV (15-4, 3-2 Mountain West). Justin Hawkins had 10, all in the first half.
“Chace is a very good mid-range jump shooter,” UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. “He’s got a lot of confidence, and he’s always ready to shoot.”
The Rebels, coming off a heartbreaking home loss to Utah, have won 13 of the last 14 meetings with the Rams and lead the series 30-8.
“That loss to Utah motivated us,” Stanback said. “It made us realize how important it was to come out and get this win.”
Dorian Green led Colorado State (11-7, 2-2) with 20 points.
“We left one out there,” Rams coach Tim Miles said. “It’s infuriating to me that we gave that one away.”
Travis Franklin had 17 but hurt the Rams by making only 3 of 14 free throws. Franklin skipped out without offering an explanation for his trouble at the line.
“It’s just a mental thing with Travis,” Miles said. “He has tears rolling down his eyes right now, and I’m going to keep going to the kid.”
Colorado State was 16-for-28 from the line in losing for the first time at home.
Green’s 3-pointer capped a 7-0 run early in the second half to put the Rams ahead 42-40, but then Stanback heated up with nine points, including a layup and free throw that put UNLV up 55-51 with 12:08 left.
Adam Nigon tied the game at 61 with a 3-pointer and Green did the same at 65 with another 3-pointer before Derrick Jasper and Willis scored to put the Rebels ahead 69-65.
Pierce Hornung’s jumper got Colorado State within 69-68. Willis extended the lead to 72-68 with three free throws, and Franklin missed two at the other end.
“We knew Franklin wasn’t comfortable at the free throw line,” Willis said. “So we weren’t going to let him have a layup, but foul him and make him sink both of them.”
Franklin got the score back to 72-70 on a layup with 1:23 left. But Brice Massamba sealed the game with a layup with 58 seconds left, as the Rams missed their final five shots.
UNLV led 38-33 at the half despite Willis having only seven points and not scoring until making a 3-pointer with 6:47 remaining. The Rams led 27-26 on Franklin’s rebound basket, but Hawkins scored the next six points.
