In the first round of the Mountain West tournament, the Rebels faced the No. 9 seed Wyoming Cowboys and won by one possession in a hard-fought 73-70 victory. UNLV’s next tournament game comes one day later, on March 12.
The game turned into a dogfight, with five players scoring in double figures and 15 players scoring at least 2 points. The difference came on the defensive end. UNLV finished with 12 blocks and 4 steals, led by Tyrin Jones with 6 blocks and 1 steal.
UNLV held Wyoming to 37.1 percent shooting from the field and 14.3 percent from 3-point range. By comparison, the Rebels shot 44.2 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from deep. Wyoming’s one edge came at the free-throw line, where it shot 75 percent compared to UNLV’s 61.3 percent.
Kimani Hamilton led the way with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, plus 2 blocks. He scored a game-high 23, while the next-highest scorers finished with 15 points, including Dra Gibb-Lawhorn and Wyoming’s Gavin Gores. Hamilton’s strong performance also helped UNLV build a lead as large as 16.
With the Rebels advancing, their next game is set for March 12 against No. 1 seed Utah State. It will be a tougher matchup than Wyoming, but UNLV will look to bring the same energy and make the Aggies uncomfortable from the start.
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Jesse Vanderveer is a basketball reporter and writer for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on X via @JesseVanderveer22
