Rebels Prove Too Much for Irvine, 99-77 : College basketball: Youth may eventually be served, but youngsters only help Anteaters stay close against No. 4 UNLV.

IRVINE —  Maybe there is hope for these UC Irvine Anteaters after all. Maybe not this season, but in those to come.

Irvine lost to Nevada Las Vegas, 99-77, Thursday night in front of a sellout crowd of 5,000 in the Bren Center, but the Anteaters’ future was out in force.

There was Jeff Von Lutzow gliding down the lane for a right-handed dunk over burly Larry Johnson in the first half.

There was Von Lutzow again, swatting Johnson’s five-foot jumper into the front row a moment later.

Johnson, a 6-foot-7 junior, happens to be one of the finest college big men in the country.

“Dunking over him was the highlight of my season,” Von Lutzow said. “(Blocking) his shot was another highlight.”

And Irvine’s Dylan Rigdon driving fearlessly around Stacey Augmon, leaning in for a short jumper while drawing a foul.

Augmon, the Big West Conference’s player of the year last season, is widely considered the nation’s best defender and was a 1988 Olympian largely because of his defensive skills.

That Augmon, a 6-8 forward, was even guarding Rigdon was a tribute to the latter’s recent scoring surge.

Von Lutzow, a 6-9 forward, and Rigdon, a 6-3 guard, are freshmen.

Von Lutzow had a team-high 22 points and also had five rebounds. Rigdon had 19 points and eight assists.

Ricky Butler, a junior, had 20 points, making all eight of his shots from the field.

On another night against another team, it might have added up to a victory.

But this was UNLV, a team Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan called “the best in the country.”

The Runnin’ Rebels are No. 4 in the country, 23-4 overall and 14-1 in the Big West.

Irvine, which set a school record for defeats in a season, is 3-21, 1-14.

“That’s the best team I’ve played ever; nothing like the Angelus League.” said Rigdon, who toiled with great success in the Angelus League as a guard at Mater Dei High School.

“They’ve got athletes, no doubt about it. That’s why they’re No. 4 in the nation.”

Rebel Coach Jerry Tarkanian, who has seen a few good ones in his 17 seasons at UNLV, liked what he saw in Rigdon.

“That freshman kid is going to be a heck of a college basketball player,” he said.

Said Rigdon: “Tell him thanks. I just wish he would have recruited me.”

Irvine was hanging close with as little as seven minutes left in the game.

But Anderson Hunt, who finished with 25 points, led a late UNLV surge by hitting three three-pointers in the final 5:36. Johnson added 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field and had 11 rebounds.

The Anteaters stayed close for most of the first half, trailing 34-32 at one point, but Johnson’s follow shot got the Rebels started on a 15-2 run over the final 4:41 of the half.

In the second half, Irvine cut its deficit to 77-68 on a three-pointer by Justin Anderson with 7:10 left. But Hunt got hot and the Rebels blew Irvine away with a flurry of layups and long-range jumpers.

“They have so many weapons,” Mulligan said of UNLV. “This team doesn’t have any weaknesses. You have to do a lot of things right to beat them.”

Irvine, coming off a 98-97 victory over UC Santa Barbara Saturday that ended a school-record 15-game losing streak, played well for long stretches.

But 25 turnovers, 19 in the first half, and 40.6% shooting from the field hurt Irvine’s chances against against a team with superior athletic skills.

UNLV’s pressure man-to-man defense was suffocating, particularly in the first half.

Irvine had all sorts of trouble stopping Johnson and center David Butler, who had 20 points. Augmon added 16, most coming on smooth drives to the basket and dunks. Greg Anthony had 11, but played only 29 minutes because of foul trouble.

Anteater Notes

The Cal State Fullerton game (3:30 p.m. Saturday in the Bren Center) is the Anteaters’ final home game. They play at San Jose State Thursday and at Utah State next Saturday to end the regular season. . . . Former Anteaters Scott Brooks and Bob Thornton, in town with the Philadelphia 76ers to play the Lakers tonight, were among Thursday’s sellout crowd.