Feb. 15, 2014

Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF)

LOGAN, Utah (AP) - Kevin Olekaibe scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half, Bryce Dejean-Jones added 17 and Khem Birch had 11 points, 12 rebounds and nine blocks to give UNLV a 73-62 victory over Utah State on Saturday.

The nine blocks was a career-high for Birch as he helped the Runnin' Rebels (17-8, 8-4 Mountain West Conference) to their eighth league win of the season.

Utah State (15-10, 5-8) was led by Jarred Shaw with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Trailing by two at halftime, UNLV shot 6-for-6 to open the second half and took its largest lead of the game to that point, 43-36, with 16:25 to play. A 3-point shot by USU's Jalen Moore would tie the game at 45, but behind three layups by Roscoe Smith and Dejean-Jones, UNLV stretched the lead to 50-59 with 6:50 left.

Olekaibe hit his third 3-pointer of the game with 3:07 to play to give UNLV a 66-58 lead and the Runnin' Rebels made four free throws and two breakaway layups in the final minutes to seal the win.