Late surge by SDSU sends UNLV to loss as 3-game win streak is halted

For the second time this season, UNLV’s three-game win streak has been halted in screeching fashion.

Coming off a 2-0 road trip including a big win over Utah State, the Runnin’ Rebels dropped a home contest to the San Diego State Aztecs, 82-72, Saturday, Jan. 24 from the Thomas & Mack Center. The matchup was contested in front of the most fans garnered on the UNLV campus this season.

“They hit big late clock shots,” head coach Josh Pastner said. “In key times, just in real key times.”

It’s just the third home loss of the year for the Rebels in nine outings including five straight wins from the TMC. In total, the team is 10-9 this season after entering the contest 5-2 in the Mountain West. Prior to tip, the team was tied with the Grand Canyon Lopes for fifth in the conference standings.

The outcome pushed the program down to the outright sixth spot in the Mountain West.

“This game was for first place,” Pastner said. “When you’re trying to play for first place you can’t leave the points on the board that we left. How many and-one opportunities did we have? You get fouled, then you miss the layup and go and miss the free throw so we got empty possessions.”

Now UNLV will look to complete its two-game homestand Tuesday, Jan. 27 from the Thomas & Mack Center against New Mexico. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.

“I have no issues with their toughness and grit,” Pastner said. “We’ve got to make sure that we get better. Tomorrow we’ll watch film, lift [weights], flush it and then turnaround and get ready for New Mexico on Tuesday night.”

As the second half wore on, the Rebels just couldn’t keep up with a hot Aztec team. The home team found itself down 16 points late in regulation as the visitors went on a stretch of seven makes in eight attempts before the final horn.

San Diego State led for just 10 seconds in the first half before a 9-2 run to go up by seven. Heading into halftime, UNLV was on the wrong side of a 17-6 run.

“They hit some tough shots tonight,” junior guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn said. “They got fouled late in the shot clock probably weren’t the smartest fouls on our end. You’ve just got to give them props; they hit their shots, they hit a lot of tough shots.”

It was a matchup of defensive wits between Pastner and SDSU head coach Brian Dutcher, who matched up for the first time as lead men.

UNLV opened the game in a full-court press which was countered by a 3-2 zone by San Diego State before changing into a full-court press as well, similar to the home team.

It was a tightly-contested matchup in more ways than one with both teams committing 13 turnovers in the meeting along with each hauling in 25 rebounds apiece.

“Coach Dutcher is awesome,” Pastner said. “His record speaks for itself, they’ve been the gold standard of this conference for a decade or more, 15 years – I don’t know how long it’s been but they’ve been the gold standard.

“In a game like this, we left some possessions on the board. And they hit tough shots.”

In the first half, the Rebels had a stretch where they went 5-for-6 from the field with three made three-pointers. The first tied the game at 14 apiece and came from freshman guard Issac Williamson before teammate Walter Brown and himself added two more deep treys to take a three-point lead.

Gibbs-Lawhorn started the game 0-for-3 with all shot attempts coming from downtown. Soon after, he’d begin looking more downhill to get his offensive rhythm. He finished the day with a game-high 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting with just one made three in seven tries.

Now, he has seven games this season of at least 20 points.

“I try not to think about scoring as much,” he said. “If I make a shot or miss a shot, let’s get it back on defense. I want to do whatever I can to help my team and if I’m sitting there crying or got my head down throwing a fit after a missed shot then I’m not doing that.”

Freshman forward Tyrin Jones didn’t score his first points of the game until early in the second half. In the meantime, he found success early and late with his passing, even starting the offense from various areas of the floor.

“I’m very comfortable,” he said. “If they put me in the corner, I’m happy in the corner. If they put me at the [center], I’m happy at the five. Wherever they put me on the court, I’m excited to be there.”

Jones closed the game with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting despite going 2-for-10 from the free throw line. He actually missed his first five tries from the charity stripe before his first make.

As a team, UNLV shot 12-of-22 from the free throw line.

“If you’re not getting those and-ones and then you go to the line and you don’t make your free throws – and that happened to us obviously quite a bit today,” Pastner said. “Those are just big-time empty possessions. Those are a lot of points you just left on the board.”

At one point, he had a stretch of three straight plays that were worthy of the highlight reel. He snatched his first points of the game before starting the break for a dunk by senior forward Kimani Hamilton off his pass. On the ensuing possession the duo worked in tandem, this time with Hamilton working as the post passer for a driving Jones for the two-hand dunk as part of the two-man game.

Hamilton added 12 points in the loss.