Sophomore guard Patrick McCaw scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had seven steals as Nevada Las Vegas held off UC Riverside for a 73-62 victory on Saturday at SRC Arena in Riverside, Calif.

Junior forward Ben Carter finished with 15 points and five rebounds, freshman forward Derrick Jones Jr. scored 12 points and senior guard Ike Nwamu added 11 points for the Runnin' Rebels (8-2).

UC Riverside sliced an 18-point deficit to two points before UNLV closed the game with a 19-10 run.

Senior forward Taylor Johns scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for the Highlanders (5-4), who finished with a surprising 52-36 rebounding edge.

Senior guard Jaylen Bland scored 16 points but had seven of Riverside's 22 turnovers, while junior forward Secean Johnson chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Jones, who scored five points combined in UNLV's two previous games against Oregon and Wichita State, had 12 in the first half, including four dunks, as the Runnin' Rebels built a 40-26 halftime lead.

UNLV forced 13 turnovers, resulting in 15 points, and ended the half on a 15-6 run highlighted by a steal and dunk by McCaw to seemingly take control of the game.

UNLV extended its lead to 18 points on three occasions early in the second half, the final time on a rebound basket by sophomore forward Dwayne Morgan with 16:15 left.

But Johns scored 14 points during a 22-6 run as the Highlanders closed to within 54-52 with 7:56 to go.

That was as close as UC Riverside would get, however, as McCaw sandwiched a driving layup and a 3-pointer around a steal to put UNLV back ahead by 59-52, and the Highlanders never got closer than four points the rest of the way.

UNLV, which shot 40.9 percent from the floor and was only 15-of-26 at the free throw line, finished with 16 steals and had a 23-10 edge in points off turnovers.