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More than two months into the season, UNLV has its first road win of the season.
The Runnin’ Rebels beat the San Jose State Spartans, 81-56 Monday, Jan. 17 from Provident Credit Union Event Center in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day matchup.
San Jose State came into this game 6-2 at home this season.
This contest was rescheduled from the original date of Wednesday, Jan. 5.
Prior to the win, UNLV had lost two of its last three games.
Now, the program sits at 10-7 overall and 2-2 in the Mountain West conference. That record is good for a tie for sixth place in the conference.
The Rebels will end their two-game road trip with a contest against the Air Force Falcons Thursday, Jan. 20.
Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
The Spartans got out to a 2-0 lead and held it for 17 seconds before the Rebels would run away with the game.
UNLV used a 10-0 run, highlighted by a two-for-two start from three-point range. The team would eventually make its first three attempts.
By halftime, both teams had combined to go 15-of-24 from three-point range.
In that first half, the Rebels built a lead as large as 15 points.
Senior guard Bryce Hamilton scored five straight points during a brief stretch in the first half but struggled from the field the rest of the night.
He finished with 12 points on 4-of-16 from the field with five rebounds and three assists.
When Hamilton didn’t have it going in the first half, junior forward Donovan Williams took on the load.
Williams scored 12 of his team-high 20 points in the first half. He finished going 9-for-13 from the field despite being handcuffed by fouls in the second half.
UNLV pushed its 15-point halftime lead to 20 early in the second half before going without a field goal for four-plus minutes.
It wasn’t the first time during the game as the Rebels had a stretch in the first half of nearly two and a half minutes without a point.
Whenever the offense went stagnant, the defense tightened up.
Through the first eight-plus minutes of the second half, UNLV held San Jose State to 1-of-11 shooting.
The lead would eventually be pushed to 29 points.
When Williams was saddled with three fouls less than two minutes into the second half, guard Mike Nuga scored eight straight points on the way to 14 points off-the-bench.
Guard Justin Webster reached 10 points late in the game, becoming the fourth Runnin’ Rebel to reach double-figures.