Jordan McCabe
67
UNLV UNLV 18-13,10-8 Mountain West
76
Winner New Mexico UNM 13-18,5-12 Mountain West
UNLV UNLV
18-13,10-8 Mountain West
67
Final
76
New Mexico UNM
13-18,5-12 Mountain West
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UNLV UNLV 22 45 67
New Mexico UNM 38 38 76

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Runnin' Rebels Drop Regular-Season Finale At New Mexico Saturday Night

Hamilton scored 28 points, while Hamm Jr. collected 10 rebounds in 76-67 loss at The Pit.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV men's basketball team suffered a 76-67 loss to New Mexico in both team's regular-season finale Saturday night at The Pit.

Bryce Hamilton led all scorers with 28 points and Royce Hamm Jr. collected a game-high 10 rebounds with nine points for UNLV (18-13, 10-8). Justin Webster also scored in double figures with 13 points, while Jordan McCabe dished out a game-high seven assists, also recording four steals.

New Mexico (13-18, 5-12) was led by Jaelen House and Jamal Mashburn, Jr., who scored 27 and 21 points, respectively. House added six rebounds, five assists and three steals, while drawing nine fouls to go 12 of 13 at the free-throw line.

BIG HOLE: New Mexico took control of the game early and led by as many as 21 points in the first half. The Lobos were up 38-32 at the break. UNLV managed just 23.3% (7 of 30) from the field over the first 20 minutes, including 11.8% on 3-pointers (2 of 17), while UNM shot 45.2% (14 of 31).

SECOND-HALF COMEBACK: UNLV used a 9-0 run to cut its deficit to eight points with 10:30 to play. The Runnin' Rebels kept fighting to pull within three with 1:12 to go, but that was as close as they would get.

QUOTABLE: "We were just stagnant, a lot of walking around. The ball was sticking, we weren't passing and cutting like we've been moving and just got in too big of a hole. We just seemed to be a step slow. You have to give New Mexico the credit for that. They put a lot of pressure on us early to play keep up. And that's not how we have been winning games. The stretch in the last 15 minutes, the way we were guarding, rebounding and sharing the ball, we had a little pop in our step offensively and that's how we have been winning games. Another 10 minutes of that, it might have been a different result. But it was just too much to come back from." - UNLV head coach Kevin Kruger

NOTES:
- It was just the Runnin' Rebels' fourth loss in their last 11 games.
- Hamilton, who scored 20 points in the second half, is now No. 9 on the all-time UNLV scoring chart with 1,751 career points.
- It was UNLV's first loss at The Pit since 2018.
- It also snapped UNLV's seven-game win streak against New Mexico.
- UNLV shot 48.4% in the second half (15 of 31).
- New Mexico out-rebounded UNLV 43-36 for the game.
- The two teams split the regular-season series as UNLV won 85-56 on Jan. 11 in Las Vegas.
- UNLV has made at least one 3-pointer in a NCAA-record 1,160 straight games. 

NEXT FOR THE RUNNIN' REBELS: UNLV will open play at the Mountain West Championship at the Thomas & Mack Center as the No. 5 seed against No. 4-seeded Wyoming on Thursday, March 10 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at this link at UNLVtickets.com, by calling 702-739-FANS (3267) or in person at the Thomas & Mack Center Box Office.



 
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