Oregon upsets No. 18 UNLV, 83-79

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

LAS VEGAS (AP) Oregon found a way to beat a ranked team even when it wasn't playing at its best.

Damyean Dotson scored a team-high 19 points, including a short jumper from the key to give Oregon the lead for good in an 83-79 upset of No. 18 UNLV on Friday night in the semifinals of the Global Sports Classic.

"I didn't like some of our execution, but the guys played hard and found a way to win," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. "It was a great game for us to win . we found a way."

Down 81-79, UNLV's Anthony Marshall drove the lane at the opposite end of the court but his lay-in rim out with 9.1 seconds left. Dotson grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Marshall, and Oregon's freshman guard sank two free throws for the final margin.

Dotson was one of four Ducks (5-0) to score in double figures. Carlos Emery had 16 points, Ben Carter added 12 and Dominic Artis contributed 11.

Oregon will play No. 22 Cincinnati in the Classic championship game Saturday night.

In a wild second-half that had 16 lead changes and five ties, the Runnin' Rebels (2-1) raced out with an 8-2 run to take a 45-42 lead at the 14:54 mark. But Oregon never lost focus and used a 13-5 run of its own to regain control.

UNLV was led by freshman Anthony Bennett's double-double - 22 points and 10 rebounds. Katin Reinhardt scored all of his 18 points in the second half, while Justin Hawkins added 12 and Bryce Dejean-Jones put in 11.

Reinhardt led the second-half surge, making four 3-pointers.

But after falling behind 74-73 with 2:34 left in the game, Oregon's Dotson took over to score eight of the Ducks' final 10 points.

"(Dotson) did a great job," Altman said. "He found his way to the basket and made really good plays down the stretch."

The Ducks have opened the season 5-0 for the first time since 2006, when it started the campaign 13-0.

After UNLV started with a 9-2 run in just less than the first two minutes of the game, Oregon made a run of its own, outscoring the Runnin' Rebels 23-7 to open up a 25-16 lead on UNLV's home court.

"I'm very proud of the fact that we lost our way midway through the first half, but we found a way to come back," UNLV coach Dave Rice said. "We found our way and started attacking inside.

"We've got to sustain our effort on both the offensive and defensive ends. We have to be able to sustain our offense through the second half. We have to learn from this."

UNLV, which is playing its first seven games of the season at the Thomas & Mack Center, cruised past Northern Arizona and Jacksonville State to open the season.

Oregon, which was playing its first road game, now leads the all-time series with UNLV in men's basketball 3-1, while the Rebels had their win streak of 20 straight home regular-season games snapped.

UNLV extended its NCAA Division I record for most consecutive games scoring a 3-pointer. It has converted at least one 3-pointer in all 843 games played since the 3-point field goal was adopted by the NCAA in 1986-87.

Updated November 24, 2012