PHILADELPHIA -- Maybe Nevada-Las Vegas is not comfortable playing Temple unless the score is close.
No. 8 UNLV managed to squander all but two points of a 17-point Saturday to a Temple team playing with three starters on the bench, but held on for an 82-76 victory at the Spectrum.
The victory was UNLV's fourth straight triumph over the Owls. The three previous games between the teams were decided by two points or less.
'It was a strange game,' UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian said. 'You have a big lead and you think you have the game won and you can sit back and relax. Then I look up and we're fouling them and they're hitting their free throws.'
Johnnie Conic threw in a 3-point shot to bring Temple within 76-72 with 53 seconds to play and three seconds later, Donald Hodge was fouled and hit two free throws to cut the UNLV advantage to two.
But Mik Kilgore was called for an intentional foul at the other end and Larry Johnson hit two free throws to restore the Rebels' advantage to four with 34 seconds to play.
UNLV inbounded the ball, Johnson was fouled again and he sank two more from the line for a comfortable 80-74 lead with 29 seconds to go.
'You pray a little bit,' said Johnson, who finished with 26 points. 'I just took my time, took a deep breath and they fell for me.'
David Butler, who had 18 points, scored six points as UNLV ran off 13 in a row to take a 63-47 lead on a tap by Butler with 10:02 to play in the second half.
Stacy Augmon had four points and Johnson added three during the scoring spurt as the Owls went scoreless for more than five minutes.
Butler sank two free throws to put the Runnin' Rebels ahead 68-51 but the Owls closed within 70-62 on the three-point play by Hodge with 4:56 to go as UNLV managed only two points in four minutes.
A free throw by Greg Anthony gave UNLV a 74-62 lead but a follow shot by Shoun Randolph cut the advantage to 74-69 with 1:54 to play.
Anthony had 16 points and Augmon added 14 for UNLV, which improved to 10-3. Temple, 6-6, got a career-high 31 points from Hodge, 12 from Kilgore and 11 from Mark Macon, who hit only 4 of 22 shots and fouled out with 8:41 to play. Center Duane Causwell and guard Michael Harden were the other Temple starters to foul out.
'I need to stay out there on the floor,' said Macon, who was guarded by Augmon. 'They played well without me. I still got my shots off but Augmon is a great defensive player.'
Temple Coach John Chaney said he was heartened by the way his reserves played to get back in the game.
'We showed a lot of character in coming back and I'm really proud of them,' he said.
The Rebels hit three straight three-pointers early in the second half to take a 49-40 lead and Tarkanian said that might have been the key to the game.
'In the first half, I think we hit one outside shot,' he said. 'I was concerned about their zone. The key to the game was we hit three straight three pointers and that forced Chaney to take a time out and they came out and played man (to man defense).'
UNLV ran off 10 straight points and scored 12 of the last 14 points in the first half to take a 40-37 lead on Anthony's jumper one second from intermission.
Temple scored seven straight points to take a 19-10 lead on a 3-point shot by Kilgore. The Owls led 24-14 on a 3-point basket by Michael Harden with 10:05 to play.
UNLV closed within 24-22 on two free throws by Johnson and within 31-28 on a layup by Anthony, but the Owls moved back in front 35-28 on two free throws by Kilgore.
The Runnin' Rebels played without starting guard Anderson Hunt, who did not dress for the game because of a problem with a student loan.
