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Despite holding a lead midway through the first half, the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels were not able to keep it together as it unraveled and lost big to a Mountain West conference powerhouse.
UNLV loss to the Boise State Broncos, 78-66, Thursday, Feb. 11 from ExtraMile Arena in Idaho.
Coming into the game, the Broncos were riding a two-game losing streak for the first time since last January.
In addition, the team hadn’t lost three straight since the 2018-19 season.
The Rebels will go for the series sweep Saturday, Feb. 13 with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.
Things were going well through the first nine-plus minutes of the game when UNLV held a six-point lead with 11:29 left in the first half.
By the 7:57-mark of the half, the Rebels had lost the lead and would not regain it.
The team did a great job defensively on Boise State guard Derrick Alston Jr., who was held to nine points on 2-of-6 shooting from the floor. This included going 0-for-3 from three-point range.
However, Broncos’ guard Emannuel Akot scored 16 points off-the-bench as part of a 31-14 bench point advantage for Boise State.
After the fast start to the game, UNLV was essentially outplayed the rest of the way.
The Rebels were forced into 12 turnovers, while the Broncos scored 16 points off them on the other end.
On the other end, UNLV forced seven Boise State turnovers and were only able to come away with six points.
Even with a slight 34-32 rebounding advantage, the Rebels were still outscored 22-12 in the paint by the Broncos.
It wasn’t a bad shooting night for the road team as UNLV shot 41 percent from the field and 43 percent from three.
However, the team’s defense just could not slow down Boise State who shot 50 percent from the floor and 40 percent from beyond the arc.
The Rebels only tallied eight assists on 25 made field goals.
Junior guard Bryce Hamilton scored 24 of his 26 points in the second half.
He finished the game 10-of-21 from the field including going 4-of-8 from long distance.
Hamilton did end the game with four fouls after picking up two early in the first half.
UNLV trailed by 12 at halftime.
Sophomore guard Caleb Grill scored 14 points with four made threes on 50 percent shooting from the floor.
Junior guard David Jenkins shot 5-for-15 from the floor, scoring 12 points along the way.
This includes going 2-for-7 from three-point range.