UNLV falls to Fresno State in double overtime, 111-104

Marvelle Harris and the Fresno State Bulldogs were too much for a shorthanded Rebels squad as they finished off the season sweep of UNLV with a thrilling 111-104 victory in double overtime.

After Stephen Zimmerman went down with a sprained knee midway through the first it appeared that the game was over.  UNLV was out played, out hustled and would enter halftime trailing by 10.  The beginning of the second half didn't show very much promise either, as UNLV would trail by as many as 17.

However, behind the efforts and Ike Nwamu, Patrick McCaw and Jordan Corish, the Rebels make a vigorous comeback over the last nine minutes and were able to force overtime and eventually double overtime.  That would be as close as they would get to a victory.

With the score 92-92 entering the second overtime, Fresno State would score the first four points and would never relinquish the lead.  Marvelle Harris continued to show why he's a candidate for Moutain West Player of the Year as he scored a game high 37 points and hit clutch shots down the stretch to thwart and chances the Rebels had of leaving with a victory.  As much as this loss stings, the biggest story coming out of the game is the knee injury to Stephen Zimmerman.

Zimmerman is the most important person to this Rebels squad.  He's the only true center left on the roster, their only real threat to score in the post, and their best rim protector.   Without him the Rebels will become extremely one-dimensional and be forced to rely on their extremely inconsistent shooting from 3-point range.  Hopefully they will not be without Big Zimm for an extended period of time.

The Rebels hopes of making the NCAA Tournament hinge on winning the Mountain West Tournament and if they are missing, arguably, their best player their chances of winning three in a row and advancing to the NCAAs becomes very slim.  Here's the play where Zimmerman was injured.

Here's the play that led to Stephen Zimmerman's leg injury pic.twitter.com/XMU9YbkfnN

— Mike Grimala (@MikeGrimala) February 7, 2016

For UNLV, McCaw finished with a team high 28 points, while Nwamu chipped in 27 as he played the best game of his Rebels career.

Besides Harris, the Bulldogs received big games from Cullen Russo, 17 points, and Julien Lewis, 18 points.

Up Next:

UNLV takes on San Jose State at the Thomas & Mack.  This is a must win game for the Rebels.  Road loses to New Mexico and Fresno State, can be explained.  A home loss to a less talented Spartans team would be inexplicable.

The Bulldogs travel to San Diego to take on first place SDSU on Wednesday night.  They forced overtime the last two times these teams met, but were ultimately defeated.  A win here would help get Fresno State back into the conference race.