LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - All five starters scored in double figures as the UNLV men's basketball team (4-0) defeated High Point 78-68 Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center to close out its season-opening homestand. It marks the Runnin' Rebels' first 4-0 start to a season in five years.

EJ Harkless led UNLV with 15 points, while Luis Rodriguez recorded his fifth career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. David Muoka also contributed 12 points with nine rebounds, while Keshon Gilbert and Elijah Parquet added 11 points apiece. Gilbert scored in double figures for the fourth straight game, while Parquet tied his career high in rebounds with five.

The Panthers had four players score 10 or more points, led by Zach Austin and Abdoulaye Thiam each with 20.

STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV outscored High Point 14-2 in second-chance points after collecting 18 offensive rebounds.

DEFENSE WINS AGAIN: High Point had averaged 100 points per game over its first three contests of the season, but the Runnin' Rebels held the Panthers to just 68 for the game. After HPU shot 42.4% from the field, including 53.8% on 3-pointers in the first half, UNLV held it to 31.0% overall and 37.5% on 3-pointers over the final 20 minutes. The Panthers finished the game shooting 37.1%.



QUOTABLE: "I could not be prouder of our guys for the fight, especially in the second half. We knew that High Point was an incredibly dangerous team and I thought we did a really good job through stretches, especially to finish those last eight or so minutes of the game. The best lessons we could possibly learn are the ones that we're gonna take from tonight. When we just did our own thing, they made us pay. We gave up nine points on three different threes, doing things that were very uncharacteristic of us - leaving a shooter to gamble and then take a risk and they made us pay all three times. That was our biggest talking point at halftime  - just to do what we've been doing. But to finish the game, the guys banded together and did what they needed to do to get good shots and get stops and rebounds." - UNLV head coach Kevin Kruger

NOTES: 
- After forcing High Point to commit 20 turnovers in the game, UNLV has forced its opponents into 97 miscues over the first four contests of the season (24.3 per game).
- UNLV outrebounded High Point 48-38.
- After shooting just 1 of 12 on 3-pointers in the first half, the Runnin' Rebels shot 40% from beyond the arc in the second half (6 of 15).
- UNLV shot 47.2% overall in the second half and finished the game at 41.3%.
- UNLV led in points in the paint 46-14 and in fast-break points 19-6.
- High Point had the halftime lead, 36-33.
- Gilbert and Harkless combined for 15 of UNLV's 20 assists. Gilbert had a career-high eight, while Harkless tallied seven.
- Rodriguez added five steals, marking the second game with five or more for him this season.
- Jackie Johnson III also scored in double figures with 10 points.
- UNLV is now 2-0 all-time against High Point and 4-1 against teams that currently make up the Big South Conference.
- UNLV has made at least one 3-pointer in a NCAA-record 1,165 straight games.



NEXT FOR THE RUNNIN' REBELS: UNLV will hit the road for the first time this season and compete in the SoCal Challenge in San Juan Capistrano, facing Southern Illinois in the tournament's first round on Monday, Nov. 21 at 10 p.m. (TV: CBS Sports Network). The event will wrap up on Wednesday, Nov. 23 against either Cal Baptist or Minnesota.