Men's Basketball 12/11/2025 1:59:00 PM

Runnin' Rebels At Lee's Family Forum In Henderson On Saturday

UNLV faces Tennessee State at 6:30 p.m. as part of the Jack Jones Classic.

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - Coming off a 75-74 win at Stanford on Sunday, the UNLV men's basketball team will play Tennessee State on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 6:30 p.m. at Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada, as part of the Jack Jones Classic.

In the win against the Cardinal, 7-foot center Emmanuel Stephen made his UNLV debut after returning from injury, with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. With that performance, Stephen became the first Mountain West player with a double-double in a road game against an ACC school since future NBA No. 1 draft pick Anthony Bennet did so for UNLV at North Carolina in December 2012.

Prior to the game at Stanford, the Runnin' Rebels played in the Players Era Men's Championship in Las Vegas at MGM Grand Garden Arena and Michelob ULTRA Arena from Nov. 24-27, losing three contests to Maryland (74-67), then-No. 8 Alabama (115-76), and Rutgers (80-65).

The Runnin' Rebels entered that event on a two-game win streak, consisting of a road victory at Memphis (92-78) on Nov. 16, and a home win at the Thomas & Mack Center over Saint Joseph's (99-85) on Nov. 20. Prior to the Players Era event, UNLV had scored 92 points or more in each of its previous four games, winning three of them.

For the season, the Runnin' Rebels are averaging 83.2 points per game and have five players averaging 9.8 or more ppg: Emmanuel Stephen (18.0 ppg), Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (16.4), Kimani Hamilton (13.6 ppg), Issac Williamson (12.9 ppg), and Tyrin Jones (9.8 ppg). Stephen leads in rebounding with 10.0 rpg, followed by Fleming Jr. at 6.0 rpg, while Fleming Jr. is the team's assist leader at 3.1 apg.

The Runnin' Rebels are in their first year under head coach Josh Pastner. Although new to UNLV, he is in his 15th year as a collegiate head coach, having previously led Memphis and Georgia Tech for seven seasons each. He holds a career record of 280-192 (.593).

UNLV's roster has only one returning player, Jacob Bannarbie, and has welcomed 13 new faces. The newcomers include eight Division I transfers, a former international professional, a junior college transfer, and three freshmen.

MORE ABOUT THE ROSTER: This season's UNLV squad, which has had to deal with a rash of injuries, returned just one player from 2024-25: redshirt sophomore forward Jacob Bannarbie. The 2025-26 roster added 13 newcomers - eight Division I transfers, a former international professional, a junior college transfer, and three freshmen. The team features four seniors, three juniors, three sophomores, and three freshmen, with a position breakdown of seven guards, six forwards, and a center. Last season, Bannarbie appeared in 19 games (three starts), averaging 1.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 6.6 minutes, and shooting 52.9% from the field on 17 attempts.

ABOUT TENNESSEE STATE: The Tigers (5-4) has wins over Fisk (101-50), Oakwood(114-76), UNC Asheville (75-73), Tennessee Wesleyan (98-77), and Chattanooga (70-64), while its losses are to Belmont (87-79), Western Kentucky (95-82), Tennessee (89-60) and Alabama A&M (80-53). Tennessee State has three players averaging in double figures in scoring, led by Aaron Nkrumah's 17.1 ppg. Jalen Pitre leads in rebounding with 7.1 rpg, and Dante Harris is the team's assist leader at 3.3 apg. TSU was picked to finish fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference's preseason poll. Nkrumah is the team's lone returning All-OVC player, while Khalil London and Carlous Williams were named players to watch. The Tigers' 17-man roster is made up of 10 upperclassmen. TSU went 17-16 overall last season, finishing tied for third in the OVC at 12-8. Head coach Nolan Smith, who won a national championship as a player at Duke and went on to play in the NBA, is in his first season leading the school.

BROADCAST INFO: Saturday's game will be broadcast on BallerTV with Tony Cordasco and Wink Adams calling the action. The radio broadcast may be heard on ESPN Radio Las Vegas 1100 AM and SiriusXM 383 with Matt Neverett, Curtis Terry, and Steve Cofield on the call. All streaming links and live stats are available at UNLVRebels.com and through the UNLV Rebels App.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Jacob Bannarbie: F; 6' 9"; Redshirt Freshman

#34 Emmanuel Stephen: C; 7' 0"; Sophomore

#0 Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn: G; 6' 1"; Junior

#12 Issac Williamson: G; 6' 0"; Freshman

#6 Tyrin Jones: F; 6' 9"; Freshman

#2 Kimani Hamilton: F; 6' 8"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#12 Jacob Bannarbie
: 6' 9"; Redshirt Freshman
: F

#34 Emmanuel Stephen
: 7' 0"; Sophomore
: C

#0 Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn
: 6' 1"; Junior
: G

#12 Issac Williamson
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: G

#6 Tyrin Jones
: 6' 9"; Freshman
: F

#2 Kimani Hamilton
: 6' 8"; Senior
: F