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UNLV avenges regular-season sweep, tops Utah 73-61

Mar 12, 2010 - 6:54 AM By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Sports Writer

LAS VEGAS(AP) -- Freshman guard Anthony Marshall led UNLV with 13 points and a season-best 12 rebounds and the Runnin' Rebels avenged Utah's regular-season sweep with a 73-61 victory in the Mountain West Conference quarterfinals Thursday night.

Tre'Von Willis also scored 13 points for the third-seeded Runnin' Rebels (24-7), who will face 14th-ranked BYU in the semifinals Friday night. The second-seeded Cougars (29-4) defeated TCU.

Utah (14-17) trailed just 29-25 at halftime after consecutive 3-pointers by Luka Drca, Marshall Henderson and Chris Hines in the closing minutes.

But the Utes didn't bring that momentum out of the locker room.

UNLV used a 10-0 run to take a 41-30 lead in the opening minutes of the second half.

The Utes swept the Runnin' Rebels during conference play, winning 73-69 in Las Vegas in January and 66-61 in Salt Lake City last month. It was Utah's first sweep of UNLV in five years.