Dedan Thomas Jr.
80
Winner Mississippi St. MS 6-0,0-0 SEC
58
UNLV UNLV 4-2,0-0 Mountain West
Winner
Mississippi St. MS
6-0,0-0 SEC
80
Final
58
UNLV UNLV
4-2,0-0 Mountain West
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Mississippi St. MS 45 35 80
UNLV UNLV 32 26 58

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Runnin' Rebels Fall To No. 25 Mississippi State At Arizona Tip-Off

Jailen Bedford scored a season-high 13 points in 80-58 loss at Mullett Arena in Tempe on Thanksgiving night.

TEMPE, Ariz. (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV men's basketball team (4-2) saw its three-game win streak come to an end with an 80-58 loss to No. 25 Mississippi State (6-0) on Thanksgiving night in the Arizona Tip-Off at Mullett Arena. 

Jailen Bedford scored a season-high 13 points, while Jalen Hill had 11 and Dedan Thomas Jr. scored 10 with six assists for the Runnin' Rebels.

The Bulldogs were led by KeShawn Murphy's double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds. Josh Hubbard added 11 points for Mississippi State, which outrebounded UNLV 46-29 including a 19-4 advantage on the offensive glass.

STAT OF THE GAME: Mississippi State outscored UNLV in second-chance points, 30-3.

TURNING POINT: With a five-point lead at 22-17 with 12 minutes to go in the first half, Mississippi State went on a 12-2 run to take a 15-point lead with 6:30 left until halftime and led 45-32 at the break. The Bulldogs then used an 11-0 run over an almost four-minute stretch in the second half to take a 62-36 lead with 12:50 to play, taking full control of the game.

QUOTABLE: "We have to figure it out. There's a fun approach to that too. It doesn't have to be doom and gloom. We played a really good team tonight and of course, it wasn't the way we wanted it to go, but there's a lot of really good things we can take from it. They sped us up, they had us doing some things offensively in the second half, especially, that we have to avoid. Defensively, they did some things that we've got to do better at covering. Obviously the defensive rebounding sticks out, but there were a lot of times where we had a good chance to get them, we just have to finish the possession. So hopefully we are looking back at this game in a few weeks and we say that was a nice little eye-opener for us, because that's a tournament team. They are going to win a lot of games and compete for an SEC title. But the fun has to be in preparing and figuring out now how we are going to go compete against another really good, really physical team tomorrow, and we will start as soon as we get back to the hotel." - UNLV head coach Kevin Kruger.

NOTES: 
- This was the third meeting all-time between the two schools in men's basketball with UNLV still holding a 2-1 advantage.
- UNLV dropped to 7-3 over its last 10 games vs. ranked teams under Coach Kruger. 
- UNLV, which was without Jaden Henley, Rob Whaley Jr. and Jace Whiting because of injuries, lost Bear Cherry early in the second half because of a back injury. He had scored eight points and was 4 of 5 from the field with two blocks.
- Bedford was 3 of 6 on 3-pointers.
- Jacob Bannarbie, Brooklyn Hicks and Hill all recorded five rebounds.
- UNLV shot 56% (14 of 25) in the first half, but managed just 7 of 23 in the second.
- Mississippi State made 7 of 14 3-pointers in the first half.
- Mississippi State committed just 10 turnovers, while UNLV had a season-high 15.
- Mississippi State's bench outscored UNLV's 48-13.
- UNLV has made at least one 3-pointer in a NCAA-record 1,233 straight games.

NEXT FOR THE RUNNIN' REBELS: UNLV will play Northwestern (5-2) on Friday, Nov. 28 at 5 p.m. MST/4 p.m. PST in the Arizona Tip-Off's third-place game. The Wildcats lost to Butler, 71-69, earlier on Thursday. Friday's game will be televised on CBS Sports Network and the radio call may be heard on ESPN Radio 1100 AM in Las Vegas.

TICKETS: UNLV men's basketball tickets may be purchased at UNLVtickets.com, by calling 702-739-3267 or by visiting the Thomas & Mack Center Box Office. 

KEVIN KRUGER RADIO SHOW: The first on-location Kevin Kruger Radio Show of the season is scheduled for PKWY Tavern District in Green Valley on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. Fans are encouraged to attend in person and can enjoy $2 Miller Lites during the show, which airs live on ESPN Radio 1100 AM in Las Vegas.


 
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