Amauri Hardy
67
Winner Boise St. Boise 20-11,11-7 Mountain West
61
UNLV UNLV 17-15,12-6 Mountain West
Winner
Boise St. Boise
20-11,11-7 Mountain West
67
Final
61
UNLV UNLV
17-15,12-6 Mountain West
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Boise St. Boise 29 38 67
UNLV UNLV 24 37 61

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Runnin' Rebel Rally Falls Short In Mountain West Tournament Quarterfinal

Sophomore guard Bryce Hamilton scored a game-high 24 points in 67-61 loss to Boise State at Thomas & Mack Center Thursday afternoon.

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - Sophomore guard Bryce Hamilton led all scorers with 24 points, but the UNLV men's basketball team's late rally in the Mountain West Tournament Quarterfinals fell short in a 67-61 loss to Boise State Thursday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Junior guards Amauri Hardy and Jonah Antonio added 14 and 13 points, respectively, for No. 4 seed UNLV (17-15). Antonio and senior forward Nick Blair each collected a team-high nine rebounds, while Antonio and Hamilton each made four 3-pointers.

No. 5 seed Boise State (20-11) also had three players score in double figures, led by RJ Williams' double-double of 23 points and 15 rebounds, and Derrick Alston's 14 points and 12 rebounds.

STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV shot a season-low 31.6 percent for the game (18 of 57).

CATALYST MISSING: Senior guard Elijah Mitrou-Long, UNLV's major catalyst over its season-high five-game win streak heading into the tournament, suffered a knee injury near the end of the Runnin' Rebels' regular-season finale at San Jose State and was unable to play against the Broncos. He had averaged 17.6 ppg over those five games, which was the second-highest on the team during that span.

REBEL RALLY: Trailing by 11 (47-36) with 9:30 left to play, UNLV cut its deficit to just two points on two different occasions, the latter with 18 seconds to play. Four Justinian Jessup free throws created the final margin.

QUOTABLE: "Hats off to Boise State. I have a lot of respect for Coach Rice and their program. Their guys came in and were very ready for that game, so the credit goes to them. As far as our group, I couldn't be more proud and honored to be the coach of these young men. The work they put in every day and the fight that they had, even down to the finish there, makes me really feel fortunate to be their coach. Our guys were really together at the end of the year. We were playing - not only our best basketball - we were playing as well as pretty much anybody in the Mountain West toward the end of the season." - UNLV head coach T.J. Otzelberger

NOTES: 
- UNLV held Boise State to 36.8 percent from the field, marking the fourth straight Runnin' Rebel opponent to be held to under 40 percent from the field.
- UNLV was 9 of 27 from 3-point range (33.3 percent), including 4 of 14 in the first half, while Boise State was 3 of 15 (20 percent) for the game.
- Boise State led in points in the paint, 28-18.
- UNLV made just 61.5 percent of its free-throw attempts (16 of 26).
- UNLV tied for second place in the Mountain West this season, recording its best finish in conference play in 12 years.
- UNLV's 12 conference victories this season was also its most in 12 seasons.
- The Runnin' Rebels' five straight wins to close the regular season marked their first time accomplishing that exact feat in nine seasons.
- The MW Tournament quarterfinal loss to Boise State was UNLV's third loss in its last 12 games at the Thomas & Mack Center.
- Boise State won the season series with UNLV, 2-1. The two teams split their regular-season series, each winning on its home floor.
- UNLV has made at least one 3-pointer in a NCAA-record 1,102 straight games.


 
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