UNLV pulls away from Saint Joseph’s in tightly-called matchup from The Mack

UNLV basketball has back-to-back wins for the first time under new head coach Josh Pastner.

On the heels of a big win at Memphis, UNLV returned home with a, 99-85, win over Saint Joseph’s. Last season, the Hawks were an NIT team.

“Good win for the Rebels,” head coach Josh Pastner said. “I’m just really proud of our guys in a few areas.”

Thursday marked the second home win of the season in four tries for the Runnin’ Rebels. They will remain in the state and even in the city for the Players Era Men’s Championship that will be played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and the Michelob Ultra Arena.

That tournament run will begin with the Maryland Terrapins. That game will be played Monday, Nov. 24 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena with tip-off slated for 9 p.m.

“It’s the premier tournament right now,” Pastner said. “So we have some great opportunities. Obviously, we open up with Maryland on Monday. Honestly, I wouldn’t know who’s on their roster, I haven’t thought one second about them.”

It took a while but UNLV would ultimately build a double-digit lead more than halfway through the second half. Even with an 11-2 run by St. Joe’s, the home team would respond with a 7-0 spurt of its own.

Before the final buzzer, the Rebels led by as many as 14 points.

All this came in a contest that had more than its fair share of whistles. In total, 55 fouls were called in the UNLV win with 29 called in the first half and 14 called in the first 8:49 of the second.

Eighty-three combined free throws were shot from the Thomas & Mack Center Thursday night.

There were six Rebel players with at least three fouls on the night with four tallying four or more. Freshman Isaac Williamson picked up two fouls in the first four minutes of the game. After returning to action late in the first half, he’d finish a tough layup in the lane before being called for a taunting technical for his third foul of the first half.

Williamson recorded 25 points in the team’s most recent win on the road against Memphis. He would stay more composed in the second half before finishing with 15 points including nine made free throws.

“He did some really good stuff,” Pastner said. “Also struggled in some areas. Just part of his second true game as a college player.”

Senior forward Kimani Hamilton earned his fourth foul of the game early in the second half and would disqualify himself from contention with a technical foul expressing his displeasure with the previous call.

“We’re a better team when he’s on the floor,” Pastner said. “We were fortunate today to get a win with him fouling out. He’s just got to stay with discipline, he’s got to stay disciplined in everything that he does.

“He’s a wonderful player, it’s just we need him on the floor. We’re a better team when he’s on the floor but he’s got to stay on the floor with discipline.”

Six players scored in double-figures in the win.

Junior guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn led all scorers with 20 points including 15 in the first half. His early performance allowed UNLV to take a five-point lead into halftime before pulling away in the second half.

Freshman forward Tyrin Jones recorded a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double while being one of three Rebels that played at least 30 minutes in the win. He also added six blocks on the night.

Jones has 30 combined points over the last two games.

“Double-double, six blocks,” Pastner said. “He’s only going to continue to get better and better and better. Really proud of him.”

Senior guard Howie Fleming Jr. 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists four nights after recording 25 points and 12 rebounds against the Tigers. This season, he is averaging 11.2 points per game on 55% shooting to go along with 6.2 rebounds per contest and 3.4 assists per outing.

Senior forward Walter Brown had his best game as a Rebel with 10 points on a perfect 3-for-3 from the field. He was a part of a 31-point outing for the UNLV bench.

Brown was on the floor to close the game as part of a lineup that consisted of Gibbs-Lawhorn, Williamson, Jones and sophomore forward Jacob Bannarbie.

“It’s sort of a feel right now,” Pastner said of the rotation. “It’s all a feel, you’re just trying to win the game. I’m a guy that’s a feel guy in the flow of the game. If there’s a certain five guys that are playing well – like I did in the end of the game there, I just let those five guys go.”

Bannarbie also tallied a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. The Rebels gobbled up 58 total rebounds in the win which is a new season-high while winning the rebounding battle by 25.

Of those 58 rebounds, 25 came on the offensive end.

“Absolutely proud that we had 25 offensive rebounds,” Pastner said. “That’s a toughness thing, getting on the glass. We had two guys with double-doubles.”

The 99 points scored are two points off the team’s season-high of 101 points set against Chattanooga earlier this month. At that time, that was the first time the program had scored 100 points against a Division-I school since 2017.

“I really wanted to get to 100 points,” Pastner said. “When the referees went to the monitors to review it, I said, ‘Come on, we’re the Runnin’ Rebels. Just count it.’”