Hamilton’s boost lifts UNLV late as program earns consecutive wins

Playing through the post regardless of who was in the game provided the perfect platform for UNLV men’s basketball to pick up a second straight victory.

To end a two-game homestand, the Runnin’ Rebels squeezed past the San Jose State Spartans, 82-75, Tuesday, Feb. 10 from the Thomas & Mack Center in a matchup of the sixth and 11th teams in the conference. By picking up the win, the Scarlet & Gray improved to 8-5 at home this season.

“Good win for the Rebels,” head coach Josh Pastner said. “Winning is hard.”

From just one win in the last five outings to back-to-back wins for Pastner’s guys as the team is now 7-6 in conference play. Moreover, the club is 12-12 on the year as it looks for a third straight win when it travels to Boise State for one final Mountain West showing against the Broncos.

That game is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 13 from ExtraMile Arena with tip-off slated for 7 p.m.

“I know the record isn’t what anybody wants,” Pastner said. “Our team has gotten better, you can see we’ve gotten better. I’m not happy with our win-loss record but we have improved from where we were in November to where we are now, we are a better team.

“I wish we played like this at the beginning but it’s taken us time to understand the system.”

En route to the victory, UNLV controlled nearly every aspect of the paint, winning the points in the paint battle, 40-14, over San Jose State. Both senior guard Howie Fleming Jr. and freshman forward Tyrin Jones made their respective returns to the lineup from injury.

It didn’t take Jones long to find the bottom of the basket with his first make in his return. Jones added 13 points in his return to action.

“You saw weak-side blocks,” junior guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn said. “I feel like that’s something we’ve been missing out on with him not being present with us. Another presence on the boards, another presence in the paint and especially with the defense he brings with on the weak side, it’s great for us.”

Senior forward Kimani Hamilton was everywhere for his Rebels, doing it all on both ends and from anywhere on the court. He hit three early three-pointers in the first half including a pound dribble longball and a three where he walked his defender down before rising for three points.

“One thing about Kimani is he can do it all,” Gibbs-Lawhorn said. “This boy can play one through five. He’s got a good handle, he’s got a good shot and I’ve always known he’s had a good touch on the ball so I always tell him ‘Man, keep shooting.’”

Hamilton started the game with makes on his first six field goal attempts before his first miss from the floor. He recorded a 23-point, 10-rebound double-double in the win.

“His parents are in town,” Pastner said. “I told him after the game on Saturday, ‘For crying out loud. Goodness gracious, how could you foul out or be in foul trouble and your parents can barely see you play?’

“‘They’re leaving on Wednesday and you’re going to have them go home having not seen you play?’”

For the vast majority of the second half, Pastner and company opted to play without a traditional center in the middle of the offense and defense.

“Because of them hitting those threes, we had to size down and play smaller,” Pastner said. “It wasn’t anything [bigs Emmanuel Stephen or Jacob Bannarbie did], we just had to size down and play smaller with Kimani at the [center].”

Though in control for most of the game, UNLV could never really keep San Jose State off its heels. After opening the game up 9-0, the Rebels were on the wrong end of a 16-10 run to let the visitors back into the game.

The Spartans started the contest 1-for-10 from the field before connecting on seven of their next nine attempts. By halftime, the team had shot 15-of-36 from the floor.

With just under four minutes left in the first half, San Jose State snagged one of its two leads of the game.

“In the second half, we held San Jose State to 33% from the field,” Pastner said. “For the game, [it] shot 38% from the field. We got five three stops in a row in this game and that got us the win.”

Beginning a trend that would continue all night long, UNLV responded to falling behind for the first time in the game with a 6-0 close heading into halftime. During that time, the team held SJSU without a point for the final 2:39 of the first half with misses on all seven of its field goal tries.

In the second half, the Rebels went up by as many as 13 points but would have their lead cut to three after going without a field goal for more than five minutes.

It was some successful three-point shooting by the visitors to keep the Spartans in the game. Ultimately, they shot 11-of-24 from deep while the home team was held to just seven makes on 22 attempts.

Gibbs-Lawhorn led all scorers with 24 points including 16 in the first half. He also added three steals and four made threes.

“My whole career – even before college – having the coach’s trust has been a big key for me and my success,” Gibbs-Lawhorn said. “I said this a couple other postgames ago but having the trust of Coach Pastner and the coaching staff is a blessing from God.”