Men's Basketball 2/24/2026 11:49:00 AM

Runnin' Rebels To Play At Grand Canyon Wednesday Night

UNLV has won four of its last five; the 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT contest to be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV men's basketball team, which has won four of its last five games, will play its second straight road game as it will travel to Phoenix to face Grand Canyon on Wednesday, Feb. 25. The 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT contest will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

UNLV (14-13, 9-7) had its three-game win streak snapped with a home loss to Colorado State (91-86) on Feb. 18, but rebounded with a 91-66 road win at Air Force on Saturday. The three-game streak consisted of home wins over Grand Canyon (80-78) on Feb. 7 and San Jose State (82-75) on Feb. 10, along with a road victory at Boise State in overtime (86-83) on Feb. 13 in which UNLV came back from 23 points down.

Against the Falcons, the Runnin' Rebels outscored Air Force 57-35 in the second half. Kimani Hamilton scored a season-high 27 points in that game, Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn added 21, and Howie Fleming Jr. recorded UNLV's first triple-double in six years with 10 points, 10 rebounds, a career-high 10 assists, and no turnovers.

The Runnin' Rebels are averaging 79.9 points per game and have five players averaging 9.1 points per game or more: Gibbs-Lawhorn (19.9 ppg, 1st in MW), Hamilton (12.8 ppg), Tyrin Jones (11.2 ppg), Issac Williamson (9.3 ppg), and Fleming Jr. (9.1 ppg). Fleming Jr. leads the team in rebounds at 5.8 rpg (5th in MW) and assists at 3.5 apg (9th in MW). Gibbs-Lawhorn is the team's steals leader at 1.5 spg (6th in MW), while Jones leads in blocks at 2.0 bpg (1st in MW, 29th nationally).

Gibbs-Lawhorn has scored 20-plus points in seven straight games. Over that span, he has averaged 27.9 ppg, which includes back-to-back 30-plus point outings.

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 290-200 (.592).

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 GRAND CANYON: The Antelopes (17-10, 10-6) have won two of their last three games, but are coming off a home loss to Wyoming (70-65) on Saturday. GCU is led in scoring by Jaden Henley, who is a UNLV transfer, with 17.4 ppg (6th in MW), and Makaih Williams at 13.9 ppg. Nana Owusu-Anane leads the team in rebounding with 8.6 rpg (4th in MW), while Henley is second at 5.6 rpg (8th in MW). Henley also leads in steals at 1.6 spg (5th in MW) and assists at 2.9 apg, while Efe Demirel is the blocks leader at 1 .0 bpg (4th in MW). GCU ranks 40th in the country in field-goal percentage defense (41.1) and 53rd in scoring defense (68.6 ppg). The Antelopes are 11-4 at home this season. Grand Canyon was picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West's preseason poll, with Brian Moore Jr . named the league's Preseason Newcomer of the Year and to the Preseason All-MW team. Henley also earned preseason all-league honors. The Antelopes' 15-man roster is made up of eight upperclassmen. Grand Canyon went 26-8 overall last season, finishing second in the Western Athletic Conference at 13-3. It won the WAC Tournament to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where it lost to Maryland in the first round. Head coach Bryce Drew is in his sixth season at the school with a record of 137-50 (.733) and is in his 14th season overall as a collegiate head coach with a career record of 301-158 (.656).

LAST TIME VS. GRAND CANYON: In this season's earlier meeting between the two teams in Las Vegas on Feb. 7, Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn scored 20 of his game-high 29 points in the first half as UNLV held on to defeat Grand Canyon, 80-78. Three other Runnin' Rebels scored in double figures in Al Green (13), Kimani Hamilton (10), and Issac Williamson. Jacob Bannarbie grabbed a career-high and game-high 15 rebounds with five assists. The Antelopes had two players with double-doubles in Nana Owusu-Anane (19 points, 13 rebounds) and UNLV transfer Jaden Henley (17 points, 10 rebounds). UNLV led by as many as 16 points in the first half and took a 44-34 lead into the break. GCU cut its deficit to four at 55-51 with 10:28 to go, but UNLV created separation again as it led by 15 points with 2:41 to play (74-59). The Lopes cut it to just two points with 11 seconds left, but two Williamson free throws with five seconds remaining iced the game. UNLV made 18 of 19 free throws (94.7%).

BROADCAST INFO: Wednesday night's game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network with Alex Del Barrio and Pete Gillen calling the action. The radio broadcast may be heard on ESPN Radio 1100 AM with Matt Neverett and Curtis Terry 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

#10 Jaden Henley: G; 6' 7"; Junior

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

#7 Al Green: G; 6' 3"; Senior

#3 Howie Fleming Jr.: G; 6' 5"; Redshirt Senior

#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

#10 Jaden Henley
: 6' 7"; Junior
: G

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

#7 Al Green
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

#3 Howie Fleming Jr.
: 6' 5"; Redshirt Senior
: G

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

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

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