LOGAN, Utah (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV men's basketball team (12-6 overall, 1-5 Mountain West) came back from nine down at halftime and held a 69-68 lead with 2:30 remaining in the game, but a couple of key baskets by Utah State gave the Aggies a 75-71 win Tuesday night at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Runnin' Rebel freshman Keyshawn Hall played in the first Mountain West game of his career and led the team with a career-high 19 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. Jordan McCabe added a season-high 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting, including 5 of 7 on 3-pointers, and Keshon Gilbert contributed 14 points on 6 of 12 from the field.
Utah State (15-4, 4-2) was led by Taylor Funk who scored all 20 of his points in the first half. Steven Ashworth added 14, while Trevin Dorius had 10.
HOW IT ENDED: UNLV held the one-point lead when Ashworth's 3-pointer put the Aggies back in front, 71-69, with one minute to play. An offensive foul was called on Hall and after a timeout with two seconds left on the shot clock, Sean Bairstow made a free-throw line jumper to give Utah State a 73-69 advantage with 23 seconds left. Hall made two free throws with 16 seconds to go, but that was as close as the Runnin' Rebels would come.
SECOND-HALF DEFENSE: After Utah State shot 65.2% from the field in the first half (15 of 23), including 50% on 3-pointers (8 of 16), UNLV held the Aggies to just 37.5% (9 of 24) in the second half, including 33% on 3s (3 of 9). Utah State committed 12 of its 21 turnovers after halftime.
QUOTABLE: "If you are going to have a chance to beat Utah State, especially here, you have to fight your tail off to keep the dribble in front of you. I thought in the first half we were just chasing way too much. They are an elite passing team and obviously an elite shooting team - best in the country - and we were giving them good catch and rhythm shots, which is why we dug that hole. They had 14 assists on 15 made shots in the first half and I don't think that happens if we are flying around and keeping the ball in front and doing a better job of guarding the ball. But we adjusted in the second half and held them to 37 and a half percent. The guys talked and banded together, figuring out what changes and how to get the job accomplished. When you are holding them to that percentage in the second half, if we could have just bled it over a little more into the first, we probably win the game." - UNLV head coach Kevin Kruger.
OTHER NOTES:
- UNLV trailed 46-37 at halftime.
- UNLV shot 49.1% from the field (28 of 57) for the game.
- Victor Iwuakor scored a season-high nine points on 4 of 4 from the field with four rebounds and a career-high four steals.
- Utah State ended the game shooting 51.1% (24 of 47) from the field, including 44.0% on 3-pointers (11 of 25).
- UNLV recorded 14 steals, its second-highest total of the season, which marked the 10th time it has had double-digits in that category.
- UNLV forced Utah State to commit 21 turnovers, which is the 11th time this season it has forced its opponent into 20 or more miscues.
- Utah State led in rebounding 31-23.
- Funk was 7 of 9 in the first half from the field, including 6 of 8 on 3-pointers. After halftime, he was 0-2 and 0-1, respectively.
- Ashworth added a game-high nine assists.
- Utah State had 21 assists on 24 made field goals.
- USU was 16 of 18 on free throws.
- UNLV led in points off turnovers (27-16), points in the paint (42-26), fastbreak points (13-7) and bench scoring (38-13).
- There were seven lead changes and three ties throughout the game.
- UNLV has made at least one 3-pointer in a NCAA-record 1,179 straight games.
NEXT FOR THE RUNNIN' REBELS: UNLV will play its second straight road game on Saturday, Jan. 21 at Fresno State. The 3 p.m. game will be televised by CBS Sports Network.
