Second marquee win on the board as UNLV stuns Stanford on road

UNLV missed 11 free throws but made at least one when it mattered most.

In only the program’s second true road game of the season, the Rebels stayed perfect in hostile territory with a, 75-75, win over the Stanford Cardinal Sunday, Dec. 7. The contest marked just the fifth all-time meeting between the two West Coast programs.

“This was a heck of a win,” head coach Josh Pastner said. “To win on the road – we’ve been battle-tested. Not everyone has played the schedule we’ve played, teams that we’ve played haven’t been tested like we’ve been tested. To find a way to win this game in this environment is a heck of a testament to our young men.”

Sunday’s win ends a three-game losing streak for Pastner’s UNLV squad as the team improved to 4-5 on the year. The Jack Jones Classic is up next for the Scarlet & Gray. The lone showing of the one-day tournament will come against Tennessee State Saturday, Dec. 13 at 6:30 p.m. from Lee’s Family Forum.

This season’s Rebel team has a 2-5 record in the state of Nevada.

UNLV went 16-for-27 from the free throw line in the eventual win with its final make being a decisive one. Senior forward Kimani Hamilton made the game-winning free throw with 3.8 seconds left in regulation to put his team up, 75-74.

Hamilton also made the field goal for a temporary, 74-73, lead with just under 30 seconds left.

“We called a timeout and I wanted to get it to Kimani,” Pastner said. “We weren’t sure if they were going to go zone or man [defense] but we prepared for both [...] We came down and got it into his hands and it worked itself out.”

In addition to his game-winning flick of the wrist, Hamilton was one of three UNLV players with at least 15 points on the night. He finished with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting while closing the game with four fouls.

In each of the last four games, Hamilton fouled out.

As a team, the Rebels committed 19 fouls in a game that featured 36 total foul calls. As a result, there were 54 total free throw attempts by the two teams.

Sophomore center Emmanuel Stephen made his long-awaited debut, even getting the start for Pastner’s opening group. He scored his first UNLV points less than three minutes into the game before adding an and-one basket not long after.

In the first half of his first game, Stephen racked up 10 points and five rebounds in 16 minutes of action.

“Last week when we played in that tournament, we were the smallest team there by a landslide,” Pastner said. “It’s hard to play without a [center], not only one five but two fives, three fives. [Forward Ladji Dembele] was playing on a fractured foot for crying out loud.”

Stephen’s first field goal of the second half gave the Rebels their first lead of the game. He’d finish with a 18-point, 10-rebound double-double with a 8-for-13 shooting mark in his program debut.

Junior Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn added 15 points on 5-of-9 from the field with a team-high 35-plus minutes logged.

Freshman forward Tyrin Jones was the final Rebel player in double-figures with 11 points off the bench for Pastner and company.

“Guys made big plays late,” Pastner said. “But we won from getting stops. We got stops and listen, this isn’t easy. We’ve gone on a bit of a losing streak, we’ve been injured – I think we’re the capital of the team that’s been injured in the entire country.”

Stanford led for most of the game, ending with more than 25 minutes of time with the advantage on the scoreboard. In total, the game racked up nine lead changes and 13 ties.

Even with the win, UNLV was outrebounded, 46-34, including giving up 20 offensive rebounds on the road. Those 20 extra tries turned into 26 second chance points for the Cardinal.

“They got us on the offensive glass,” Pastner said. “They did get 20 offensive rebounds and they kicked our butts on the second chance points. But we found a way winning through our defense.”

Those numbers were countered by a +20 advantage in points in the paint for the Rebels. UNLV just had a response for every time Stanford began to pull away, best seen after it fell behind nine points in the first half on a 9-0 run by the home team.

That run was met with a 9-2 rally by the Rebels that put the team right back in the game. Ultimately, UNLV outshout the home team, 48% to 38% in the win.

“We knew for us to win, we’d have to win in the combat zone,” Pastner said. “We talked about the combat zone being the paint. We did a nice job in the paint, 48-28, points in the paint.”