With less than 30 seconds on the clock, Jalen Hill subbed out for the UNLV men’s basketball team for the last time in his career and the first time in three games.

Hill jogged straight to fourth-year Rebels coach Kevin Kruger, who patted him on the back during a long embrace.

The senior forward had essentially played another full 40 minutes as the sixth-seeded UNLV men’s basketball team ended its season with a 70-58 loss to No. 3 Utah State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Rebels (18-15) played surprisingly tough for how short-handed they were, but it simply wasn’t enough. It was the story of the season. A fitting but melancholy end.

“It’s a tough way to go out,” Kruger said. “Because as hard as we played, as many good plays as we did make for each other, and the opportunity that we had to kind of make a run, Utah State’s a great team, and anytime we threw a punch, they threw one right back.”

Junior guard Jaden Henley had 19 points for the Rebels. Senior guard Jailen Bedford scored 13, and Hill added 13. They all played the full 40 minutes as leading scorer Dedan Thomas Jr., a sophomore guard, sat out with a shoulder injury for the seventh straight game.

UNLV was also without senior guard Julian Rishwain, who hurt his knee in the regular-season finale.

Henley and Hill said the high demands of playing through UNLV’s injury struggles never crossed their minds on the court, crediting “mental toughness” and Kruger’s confidence in them.

For Hill, a Las Vegas local from Clark High, playing at UNLV was an irreplaceable experience regardless of the unceremonious finale.

“I wouldn’t change anything,” he said. “I learned a lot about myself, about the team, just seeing basketball from a different view.”

The glaring issue for the Rebels was shooting, as they were 23.6 percent from the field and 15.0 percent on 3-pointers (3-for-20).

Senior guard Ian Martinez and sophomore guard Mason Falslev led the Aggies (26-6) with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

Utah State will face No. 2 Colorado State in the semifinals at 9 p.m. Friday.

Slow start, foul trouble

The Aggies started on a 6-0 run, drawing two fouls from junior center Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry in the first two minutes.

UNLV’s first 3-pointer came from an off-balance, double-teamed Bedford with 10 minutes until halftime.

That appeared to open the lid for the Rebels, allowing Henley to drive the baseline and score. Utah State coach Steve Alford called a prompt timeout in response, as UNLV was within range at 16-12 after trailing by 11.

The Rebels’ momentum continued in what became a 17-3 run that was punctuated by Henley getting fouled on a massive attempted dunk, then getting a fast-break layup on the next possession.

The Henley takeover resulted in UNLV’s first lead of the game, a 22-19 advantage with 5:55 until halftime.

The Rebels soon went dry from the field, failing to score for the last four minutes of the half. Utah State didn’t have those same struggles, hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer to head to the locker room with a 36-29 lead.

Kruger gave a nod to Utah State for making it hard to score.

“When you’ve had three or four tough contested shots, even when you do get that open one, there is a little more pressure on it because it’s an open one, and they’re few and far between against a really good defensive team like that,” he said.

UNLV was outscored in the paint 28-18 and could have really used Cherry’s help. He started the second half, but it took just 22 seconds for him to draw his third foul.

Cherry played only 22 minutes and had three points and six rebounds.

Postseason possible?

Kruger compared Cherry’s foul trouble to Bedford’s eye injury in the previous tournament game against Air Force.

“(Cherry) does a very good job of playing without fouling. So to get those two quick early ones, it was kind of (like an injury). Guys were locked in,” he said. “We could have asked anybody on the bench to go in, I think they would have been really ready.”

Utah State went on 7-0 run with 13 minutes left to play. Kruger called a timeout down 50-38, but the Rebels simply looked out of gas and wouldn’t gather a significant run, going without a field goal for the last three minutes of the game.

The Rebels haven’t reached the semifinals of the conference tournament since 2014.

Now, an offseason of uncertainty begins for UNLV with Kruger’s job status and Thomas’ future in question — but the team might not be done playing. Some projections include the Rebels in the field for the National Invitation Tournament, which Kruger didn’t rule out.

“I’d be all for it, but it’d be something that would be up to (the players),” he said. “I think the seniors would want to do it.”

Contact Callie Fin at [email protected]. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.