UNLV can’t capitalize on chances, fall short comeback bid at Grand Canyon

As the regular season winds down, it may be safe to say UNLV men’s basketball’s biggest enemy all year may have been itself.

With a chance at a pivotal conference sweep, the Runnin’ Rebels had their comeback bid stalled in a, 80-67, loss to the Grand Canyon Antelopes Wednesday, Feb. 25 from Global Credit Union Arena. Furthermore, it was a chance for the former to get another win over the fifth place team in the conference as it sat a spot below.

“This is my worst team I’ve ever coached defensively in my 15 years as a head coach,” head coach Josh Pastner said. “I’m beyond disappointed about that – which I put on me. I just didn’t do a good enough job defensively with this group.”

Only three games remain in the regular season for a now 14-14 UNLV team. After just suffering its second loss in the last six games, the program will head back home for its final homestand of the year.

The two-game homestand will begin Saturday, Feb. 28 from the Thomas & Mack Center in the second installment of the Silver State Rivalry this season with intra-state rival Nevada – Reno. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

After taking the first of two meetings this season, UNLV had to deal with a juiced GCU team that raced out to a 12-0 start to Wednesday’s game. The home team’s start helped keep the Rebels scoreless for the first three and a half minutes of the game with their first points of the night coming from the free throw line.

While missing on the first five field goal attempts of the night, UNLV shot an abysmal 7-of-28 from the floor in the first half.

At one point, the once 12-point deficit was cut in half on a 6-0 run. It would be short-lived and former Rebel guard Jaden Henly would run the lead to 15 points on a made three.

Henley scored 13 of his team-high 28 points in the first half after being held to just 17 points in the first meeting against his previous school.

“[The defense] keeps me up at night,” Pastner said. “Sleepless nights. Makes me sick to my stomach because I know that I’m a big believer. And we just haven’t gotten the job done and the only one I can look at is myself.”

Before halftime, the Lopes went on a 13-1 run to eventually lead by as many as 20 points in the first half.

Junior guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn scored 12 points in the first half on 4-of-8 shooting with three made three-pointers. Just before the midway point of the second half, he reached the 20-point threshold for the 15th time this season and the eighth straight game.

Gibbs-Lawhorn cut the big lead to single-digits on his fifth made three of the night. That was followed up by a converted and-one by senior guard Howie Fleming Jr. during his 14-point effort.

It wasn’t over for Gibbs-Lawhorn as he connected on a sixth made three of the night as part of six straight makes by UNLV late in regulation. He’d end the night with 30 points on 50% shooting with six made longballs.

Wednesday’s 30-point explosion was the fourth 30-point game of the year for the six-foot, one-inch guard. Three of those 30-point games have come in his last four games.

In total, UNLV won the second half by five despite not getting out of its own way early and often. As a team, the Rebels missed 14 free throws and 14 layups at the rim in the loss, effectively losing out on 42 points on the night.

“It’s the free throws and the layups,” Pastner said. “At this level, because of our issue with defense and we have not been good defensively, you can’t afford to be missing free throws and layups like we did tonight.”

Freshman forward Tyrin Jones scored 13 points in the loss but went 3-for-11 at the charity stripe.