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UNLV was back at home on Saturday playing Colorado State, a team they beat by 14 the last time they played in Colorado. Colorado State only had three losses coming into this game and the Runnin’ Rebels gave them their fourth loss on the season. The Rebels have been like the Rams kryptonite this season.
The game started off like the last time they played. Slow. There was only 14 points scored total in the first five minutes of the half. UNLV led 8-6.
About ten minutes left in the half, the Rebels’ Donovan Williams hit five straight points after a three and a layup to put the Rebels up 17-10 with. After that, the Rams came back and brought the game within two.
The Rebels took their biggest lead of the first half after a Mike Nuga three, putting them up 31-19 with 2:26 left in the first half. The last points of the half came from the Rams’ David Roddy after he hit a three with under a minute left.
The half ended 35-24, Rebels leading.
The second half started with a bang as Rebel star Bryce Hamilton knocking down a three point bucket. It was followed by a Jordan McCabe three pointer a minute later and then another Hamilton three just a few seconds later. This put the Rebels up 44-26.
The Rams could not close the gap in the second half. The closest they got was at the start of the second half other than that they could not score enough to get back into the game. They saw the deficit get more and more.
The Rebels took a 20-point lead with 16:55 left in the game after two made free throws by Royce Hamm Jr.
The game ended with the score of 72-51 in favor of the Rebels. The Rebels, like last game, were the underdogs and they went on to win the game. They were actually underdogs at home this time getting 4.5 points. They did not need those points.
Bryce Hamilton led the team again in points with 20 and also had 10 rebounds giving him a double-double, his first one of the season. This was a team effort win with 10 of UNLV’s 12 players scoring in the game.
UNLV plays their in-state rival, Nevada, in Reno on Tuesday, February 22nd at 8:00 PM PST. UNLV beat the Wolfpack by 11 the last time they played in Vegas.