The UNLV men’s basketball team received a resounding message with three seconds left against Utah State.
“Just go home! Just go home! Just go home!” the crowd at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah, chanted.
UNLV forward Jalen Hill had just fouled guard Dexter Akanno, continuing a series of late free throws that made the Rebels’ 76-71 defeat feel like it would never end.
It was the third straight loss for UNLV. Despite trailing by 16 points midway through the first half, the Rebels came back to tie it at 56 when Hill completed a three-point play with 5:50 left in the game.
That play was assisted by a bounce pass that star UNLV point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. sent through two defenders. He led UNLV (11-10, 5-5 Mountain West) with 22 points.
Guard Deyton Albury scored 16 points for the Aggies (19-2, 9-1), who avenged a 65-62 loss to the Rebels on Jan. 15 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Fourth-year UNLV coach Kevin Kruger complimented the 9,740 fans in his upbeat postgame comments, and praised his team for staying in the game despite the early deficit and hostile environment.
“I’m not a moral victory guy,” he said. “I won’t sleep, I won’t eat, I won’t feel good about it. But when I watch the film, I’m going to take the positives of the things we did well and the things that we can build on, because we’ve proven we’re a good team in this conference. We’ve been just been on the short end of some of these really tough games, and there’s no shame to lose to Utah State in Logan.”
There were warning signs from the start, as the Aggies got off to a 16-7 lead over the first nine minutes.
The burst prompted Kruger to call a timeout, but it didn’t stop the bleeding.
“We played really physical,” Hill said. “We just came out, not soft, but just a little slow. So we dug ourselves in a hole.”
Utah State continued to steam to a 23-7 advantage that featured a run of four straight 3-pointers.
UNLV was able to cut into the lead and trail by 33-24 at halftime with help from Thomas’ nine points in the period.
There was momentum out of halftime, as a layup from center Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry capped a 7-0 run over the first three minutes of the second half to bring the Rebels within 35-31.
With 11:36 left to play, guard Brooklyn Hicks drove for a reverse pivot jump shot to cut UNLV’s deficit to 45-42.
The intensity was hard to ignore by the under-12 timeout, as Cherry was forced to change into a different jersey after contact in the paint led to his being completely ripped in the front.
After the Aggies began to pull away again, the Rebels went on a 9-0 run capped by a Jaden Henley drive to cut the deficit again to 55-53.
With 2:39 left in the game, Hill stole the ball from the Aggies but was thwarted on the other end as guard Ian Martinez forced a jump ball that went back to Utah State. Albury then made a 3-pointer from the corner to put Utah State ahead 67-59 and force Kruger to call his penultimate timeout.
Guard Mason Falslev stole the ball from Thomas on the next possession, allowing forward Karson Templin to score on the other end to make it 69-59 with 1:46 remaining.
Kruger called his last timeout after two free throws from Hill and a second-chance layup from Henley cut the deficit to 70-63.
Out of that break, Hicks unintentionally fouled Martinez, who made both foul shots.
Despite a subsequent Julian Rishwain 3-pointer and driving three-point play from Thomas, the Rebels found themselves unable to complete a late rally once again.
“If we’re gonna fight like that and we’re gonna compete for each other like that, I’ll live with the result,” Kruger said. “Because I know more times than not, we’re gonna be feeling good and we’re gonna get wins. … (I’m) gonna take the positive from this and try to figure out how to merge that into a win.”
UNLV next plays at UNR (11-10, 3-7) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Contact Callie Fin at [email protected]. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.
