Even though Utah won by a seemingly comfortable 79-68 margin over UNLV in Monday's late-night made for-TV encounter, the Utes had to be wondering a few things afterward.

What if:- The whistle-happy WAC refs had let the players play, instead of calling 49 fouls?

- The Rebels could actually make free throws (they missed 13)?

- Andre Miller hadn't made that halfcourt shot at the halftime buzzer?

- A rat hadn't suddenly appeared on the floor near the end of the first half to seemingly disrupt the Rebels' momentum?

Yes, it was a strange night indeed at the Huntsman Center, where the Utes and Rebels battled for two hours in the ESPN-televised contest, which actually ended early Tuesday morning.

The Utes' big three, Michael Doleac, Andre Miller and Hanno Mottola, led the victory with 20, 17 and 16 points, respectively, with Doleac and Mottola each grabbing nine rebounds and Miller handing out nine assists.

Yet it was a couple of out-of-the-ordinary happenings in the final seconds of the first half that gave the 13,291 fans something to talk about on the way home.

With 17 seconds left in the first half, UNLV had the ball and was trying to cut Utah's lead to five after trailing by 11 a minute earlier when a rat suddenly ran onto the court, apparently tossed from the Utah student section. The dazed little critter scampered up the key where it ran into the foot of Utah forward Alex Jensen, who inadvertantly killed it as he battled for postion against UNLV's Tyrone Nesby.

"Yeah, I stepped on it, I killed it," said Jensen. "It was weird, I stepped on something soft and at first I thought it was (Nesby's) foot, except it was too soft. But I didn't react until the ref blew his whistle."

After a timeout to clear the dead rat off the court, UNLV had less than 10 seconds on the shot clock. But Kevin Simmons had his shot blocked by Miller, and in frustration fouled Miller going after the ball, a costly third foul. Miller made two free throws to make it 37-28, but the Rebels' Mark Dickel was fouled with 2.1 seconds left and made both to cut the lead back to seven.

However, after getting the inbounds pass from Mottola, Miller took two dribbles and launched a 47-footer from midcourt and swished it at the buzzer to give the Utes a 10-point cushion at halftime. Who knows, without the silly rat prank, the Rebels might have gone in the locker room down by just five or seven points.

That could have made a difference in the second half when the Rebels cut the lead to five at 53-48 on a Kaspars Kambala slam with 13:04 left. They could have cut the margin even more if Simmons hadn't missed the front end of a one-and-one a few seconds later.

But the Utes gave themselves some breathing room as Jon Carlisle, subbing for Doleac after he picked up his 4th foul, made a hook shot and Mottola followed with a 15-footer and a dunk to make it 60-51 with 8:25 left.

After that, the Utes sank nine of 12 free throws and coasted home.

With the win, the No. 5-ranked Utes improved to 23-2 overall and 10-2 in WAC play, while the Rebels fell to 14-12 and 5-7.

The victory assured the Utes of a first-round bye in next week's WAC tournament in Las Vegas. In fact, the win increased the odds of Utah facing the Rebels in their first game. If Utah ends up with the No. 1 seed and UNLV stays in the No. 5 spot in the Mountain Division, then the two would meet Thursday night if the Rebels win a first-round game Tuesday.

The Utes had to make do Monday without a couple of injured backup guards, David Jackson for the second straight game and Trace Caton (5 minutes) for most of the game. That forced little-used 6-9 freshman Britton Johnsen to play three different positions, including shooting guard.

"We had all kinds of convoluted lineups out there," said Ute coach Rick Majerus, who was unhappy with Jackson for practicing on his own Sunday against doctor's orders.

The Rebels had revamped their own lineup after Utah blitzed them a month ago in Las Vegas. Ex-starter Corky Ausborne, who went scoreless against the Utes and was benched, quit the team two weeks later.

Keon Clark, the former Dixie College standout, who has been projected by some as a lottery pick after the season, was suspended indefinitely early in the month for violation of team rules, after being suspended for the first month of the season. Coach Billy Bayno even sat his two best scorers, Nesby and Kambala, bringing them off the bench.

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The Rebels seem to have better chemistry, and it showed against the Utes. Last month in Las Vegas, the Rebels trailed by 20 at halftime and were never in the game.

"I'm happy with this group and how hard they play," said Bayno. "We're a young team and we had a chance against the No. 5 team in the country."

Simmons led UNLV with 22 points, while Kambala scored 13 and Donovan Stewart and Greedy Daniels each added 11. The Rebels attempted 38 free throws to Utah's 24, but only made 25.

UTE NOTES: The Utes play UTEP in El Paso Thursday night and return home to face New Mexico in another ESPN-televised contest at the Huntsman Center Saturday night. That game, thankfully, begins at the normal time of 7:30 p.m. . . . Miller credited his halfcourt bomb to some games of "HORSE" in practice last week . . . The Utes shot 52 percent from the field, 67 percent from 3-point range and 79 percent from the foul line . . . Utah has now won 19 straight games at the Huntsman Center, the 12th best home win streak in the nation. Since Majerus has been coach, the Utes are 112-10 at home.

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