If there is a common theme during the UNLV men’s basketball team’s current losing skid, it’s the Rebels’ inability to close out games.
That was the case again Saturday night against rival UNR.
Tied with 1:18 left in the second half, UNLV went scoreless the rest of the way and fell to the Wolf Pack 71-65 at Lawlor Events Center in Reno.
“Again, we’re right there,” Rebels coach Kevin Kruger said during his postgame radio interview. “It’s just tough because we’re right there, and we’ve got an opportunity and we’ve just got to believe that it’s going pay off and be good for us in close games going forward.”
UNLV (11-11, 5-6 Mountain West) has now lost four straight games by a combined 15 points.
The Rebels were tied at second-place Utah State on Wednesday with less than six minutes remaining but went down 76-71. Dedan Thomas Jr. missed the tying free throw with 1.6 seconds left in a 75-73 loss to New Mexico on Jan. 25, and Thomas’ shot at the buzzer that would have tied the game against Wyoming on Jan. 21 bounced off the rim.
Tied late
Against UNR (12-10, 4-7), the Rebels were deadlocked at 65 after Thomas’ pull-up jumper with 1:18 remaining. But Xavier DuSell answered for the Wolf Pack with a pull-up jumper of his own with 45 seconds left, and UNR never trailed again.
On UNLV’s next possession, Thomas was denied at the rim by Brandon Love with 32 seconds to play. Julian Rishwain missed a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left that would have brought the Rebels within one point.
UNR’s Tyler Rolison went 4-for-4 at the free-throw line in the final 25.8 seconds, as the Wolf Pack closed on a 6-0 run to snap their three-game losing skid.
Jaden Henley led UNLV with 14 points, and Thomas had 12 points and six assists. Jeremiah Cherry added 12 points for the Rebels.
UNLV trailed 33-30 at halftime as Thomas and Julian Rishwain were each held without a field goal, and missed eight of its fiirst nine shots in the second half to fall behind 46-34. But the Rebels were able to rally thanks to a 14-4 run.
Cherry had a block at one end and finished off a fast break with a thunderous dunk at the other. Thomas then finished the surge with a driving layup to cut UNR’s lead to 50-48.
“He was aggressive. He got downhill, made some good plays,” Kruger said of Thomas. “But had a good defensive game as well and was disruptive and able to get some hands on some passes, get some deflections.”
UNLV took a 57-55 lead on a 3-pointer by Henley with 7:07 remaining. Rishwain then hit back-to-back 3-pointers, the second of which knotted the score at 63 with 2:44 on the clock.
“We were sound (defensively),” Kruger said. “We did exactly what was expected from the scouting report, and guys knew what each other was going to do and had some really good defensive possessions there that led to confident offensive possessions.”
Wolf Pack balanced
Nick Davidson was one of four players in double figures for UNR with 14 points and a team-high six rebounds. Kobe Sanders scored all of his 13 points in the second half, reserve Justin McBride had 13, and Rolison added 12 points.
The Rebels have been plagued by slow starts recently but were hot from the field early, leading by as many as five points before the offensive dried up. UNLV made made one field goal over a seven-minute stretch and fell behind 22-17 with 8:02 left until halftime.
McBride sparked UNR with 13 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field.
Love finished a 3-point play after his dunk for 28-21 UNR advantage with 5:26 left. But that was the last field goal of the first half for the Wolf Pack, as UNLV was able to chip away at the deficit behind Jailen Bedford (nine points).
The Rebels return home to face Boise State (15-7, 7-4) on Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“We’ve got to just take a breath and get ready to work. It doesn’t get easier,” Kruger said. “It’s going to be another big-time challenge for us, so we’ve got to do a really good job of being mentally ready to focus in and do whatever we can to slow down Boise.”
Contact David Schoen at [email protected] or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.
