UNLV’s three-game winning streak ended Wednesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center as Colorado State held on for a 91-86 win in Mountain West play.
The Rams led 47-39 at halftime and finished at 59.3 percent from the field while piling up 48 points in the paint. UNLV closed strong in the final minute but could not get even.
Gibbs-Lawhorn heats up, Jones hammers inside
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn led the Rebels with 31 points, hitting 6 of 12 from 3-point range in 37 minutes. Tyrin Jones added 20 points off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting and helped UNLV stay within reach with rim protection.
Howie Fleming Jr. finished with 9 points and 10 rebounds. Kimani Hamilton scored 13 points, and UNLV got 13 more from the bench on top of Jones.
Colorado State’s balance shows up on the scoreboard
Colorado State got 20 points from Jevin Muniz, who went 8 of 11 from the field and 3 of 4 from deep. Brandon Rechsteiner scored 18 points, and the Rams kept waves coming behind them.
Carey Booth, Rashaan Mbemba and Darnez Slater each scored 13 off the bench as Colorado State posted 28 bench points.
A hot first half from 3, then the chill
UNLV hit 7 of 15 from 3 in the first half, then went 2 of 8 after the break. Colorado State also lived at the line early, going 15 of 19 on free throws in the first half and 20 of 27 for the game.
One last push, not enough space
UNLV cut the deficit to 86-84 on Gibbs-Lawhorn free throws with 22 seconds left. Colorado State answered at the stripe. The Rebels missed a tying 3 in the final seconds, and Fleming scored on a layup with 3 seconds left, but the Rams sealed it with late free throws.
The loss dropped UNLV to 13-13 overall and 8-7 in the Mountain West. It came five days after UNLV went to Boise and won 86-83 in overtime on Feb. 13.
“This is a really tough league. This is a really good basketball league. The physicality of this league you can’t win games in this league if you’re not tough. And when we haven’t been tough enough, we’ve lost,” coach Josh Pastner said Tuesday.
Up next
UNLV travels to Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Saturday to face Air Force. Tipoff is set for noon PT.
The Runnin’ Rebels have five regular-season games remaining before the March 11 Mountain West Championship tournament.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
