Grier Comes Back to Lead Gophers Past UNLV
Saturday, December 10, 2005

Boosted by the presence of Vincent Grier in the starting lineup, Minnesota pulled out a 72-67 win over Nevada-Las Vegas.

UNLV got off to a fast start, building a 10-point lead despite their leading scorer and rebounder, Louis Amundson, being on the bench after picking up his second foul barely seven minutes into the game. The Rebels were ahead 16-13 and eventually built the lead to 27-17 before Dan Coleman hit a three-point basket. After Rene Rougeau scored to make the score 29-20, Coleman connected again from long range, sparking an 11-0 run that put Minnesota ahead.

The Gophers led 37-31 at halftime and built a 10-point lead in the second half that then then squandered as UNLV came back and briefly held a 48-47 lead as Dustin Villepigue got an offensive rebound and put-back basket. However, J’son Stamper made a pair of free throws that put Minnesota back in front to stay.

The Gophers had been without Grier since he broke his finger in a game against North Dakota on November 18. They were also missing Grier’s backcourt mate, Maurice Hargrow, who is out with a high-ankle sprain. Coach Dan Monson said the team is still in “survival mode” and that Grier had gotten the go-ahead to play in the noon game against UNLV following a 10 a.m. doctor appointment, in which he was cleared to play in five-minute spurts. “We honored that in the first half and, with timeouts, we honored that in the second half,” Monson said of Grier, who played a total of 36 minutes (19 in the second half) and made 6-of-12 shots from the field as well as 7-of-10 free throws.

Concerned not just with the effects of a three-week layoff but also with Grier’s confidence, Monson said he put Grier into the starting lineup to indicate his confidence in him. “When you talk about having to win games with character, Vince is such a competitor. He brings things to the court that you as a coach can’t teach.”

UNLV coach Lon Kruger concurred, saying of Grier, “He had a big impact on the game.” Kruger also said, “I thought they [the Gophers] were the aggressors. They got the loose balls. They did the little things better than we did.”

The Runnin’ Rebels hurt themselves with 17 turnovers. “They are a real solid sound team fundamentally defensively,” Kruger said of Minnesota. “You gotta work, you gotta make the inside pass, you gotta do some things against good defensives that we’re not quite ready to do.”

Grier and Michael Umeh of UNLV led all scorers with 19 points. Minnesota’s Dan Coleman came off the bench and had 16 points and 7 rebounds in 28 minutes. The game’s top rebounders, with 9, were Villepigue, who fouled out with 37.3 seconds left in the game, and Minnesota’s Spencer Tollackson.

Amundson, who had been averaging 17.3 points and 11.8 rebounds for UNLV, was limited to 28 minutes because of foul problems and had only 11 points and five rebounds.

For the Runnin’ Rebels, the loss was their fifth straight, dropping their record to 2-5. It was also their fourth straight road game as the team covered more than 11,000 miles in the last 12 days.

Minnesota, now 5-2, looks ahead to Alabama-Birmingham, which Monson says could be the toughest game of their non-conference schedule.

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