McCaw scores 20 as UNLV hangs on for win over No. 13 Indiana
LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Patrick McCaw scored 20 points and UNLV hung on through the frantic final seconds for a 72-69 victory over No. 13 Indiana on Wednesday in the fifth-place game of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.
The Runnin' Rebels (5-1) bounced back from their opening loss to UCLA with wins over Chaminade and the Hoosiers (4-2), who leave Hawaii with just one win.
Indiana trailed by 15 points in the first half and turned on some solid defense to get back in the game. The Hoosiers closed to 55-53 with 8:20 to play. The Runnin' Rebels then went on a 12-1 spurt, with McCaw scoring seven of the points, including a run-closing 3.
The Hoosiers weren't done. They got within three points twice in the final 30 seconds. The first time was on a dunk by Thomas Bryant off a tremendous pass from a flying Yogi Ferrell. UNLV's Jerome Seagears made both ends of a 1-and-1 with 13 seconds left to make it 72-67.
Max Bielfeldt's drive for Indiana with 7.5 seconds left provided the final margin, but the game was far from over.
Ike Nwamu missed two free throws with 7.1 seconds left, and Indiana gave the ball back to UNLV on a 5-second count on the inbounds. Nwamu then threw the ball away on UNLV's inbounds. Nick Zeisloft's 3-point attempt was partially blocked and Nwamu was fouled on the rebound. He missed both free throws with .8 seconds left, but all Indiana could get off was a heave that was well short.
Zeisloft led the Hoosiers, who lost to Wake Forest in the final seconds in their opener, with 17 points, and James Blackmon Jr. had 13. Indiana had 21 turnovers that led to 22 points for the Runnin' Rebels.
Ben Carter and Nwamu had 16 points each for UNLV, and Seagears added 12.
WORTH NOTING
The only time these schools had played previously was in the Final Four in 1987, a 97-93 win for the Hoosiers who went on to beat Syracuse for one of their five national championships.
YOUNG BIG MEN
The game was billed as a matchup of two of the top freshman centers in the country, but neither had a big game. Stephen Zimmerman Jr. of UNLV, who missed the Chaminade game because he was ill, finished with two points and four rebounds. Bryant had seven points and three rebounds for the Hoosiers.
TIP-INS
Indiana: Reserve forward Juwan Morgan was carried off the court by two teammates after he was injured in a pileup on the baseline with about six minutes left. Trainers appeared to be working on his right ankle or foot. He never returned to the game.
UP NEXT:
Indiana: Hosts Alcorn State on Nov. 30.
UNLV: Hosts Prairie View A&M on Saturday.
