Kimani Hamilton
70
Wyoming UW 18-14,9-11 Mountain West
73
Winner UNLV UNLV 17-15,11-9 Mountain West
Wyoming UW
18-14,9-11 Mountain West
70
Final
73
UNLV UNLV
17-15,11-9 Mountain West
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Wyoming UW 31 39 70
UNLV UNLV 44 29 73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Runnin' Rebels Defeat Wyoming 73-70 In MW Tournament's First Round

Kimani Hamilton scored a game-high 23 points, Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn added 15 points, and Tyrin Jones tied a career high with six blocks, including a game-saver in a wild Wednesday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center.

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV men's basketball team defeated Wyoming 73-70 in the first round of the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Championships on Wednesday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Kimani Hamilton led all scorers with 23 points for the No. 8 seed Runnin' Rebels (17-15), including the final go-ahead, while Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn added 15 points (all in the first half). Walter Brown contributed nine points and a season-high 10 rebounds, and Tyrin Jones had seven points, a career-high-tying six blocks, and five rebounds.

The No. 9 seed Cowboys (18-14) were led by Gavin Gores' 15 points. Nasir Meyer added 14 points, while Damarion Dennis had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

HOW IT ENDED: In a wild game that featured eight lead changes and seven ties, Hamilton backed down Meyer and was fouled on a made turnaround jumper with 19.3 seconds left to tie the game. He made the and-1 free throw to give the Runnin' Rebels a one-point lead. After a Wyoming timeout, Meyer spun and missed a fallaway jumper in the lane with six seconds to play. Dennis collected the rebound, and his attempted putback was blocked by Jones to save the game. Hamilton was fouled with 2.0 seconds remaining, and made both free throws to give UNLV the 73-70 advantage. Wyoming's inbound baseball pass was deflected, and Gores' heave with his back turned to the basket was off the mark.

BIG LEAD: UNLV used a 10-0 run over 3:14 in the first half to take a 30-15 lead with 6:33 to play until halftime. UNLV made six straight field goals during that run, while Wyoming had made just one of its last 18 shots at that point. UNLV led by as many as 16 points late in the first half. The Runnin' Rebels finished the half by making 10 of 11 field goals. UNLV led 44-31 at the break after Meyer made a 3-pointer as time expired.

FIRST HALF NUMBERS: UNLV shot 57.7% from the field in the first half (15 of 26), while Wyoming managed just 2 of 17 3-pointers (11.8%).

WYOMING'S COMEBACK: Wyoming started the second half on a 17-5 run, cutting its deficit to just one point at 49-48 with 13:30 to go. The Runnin' Rebels made just one of their first 10 field-goal attempts after halftime. Later, a 10-0 Wyoming run gave it a 58-55 lead with 7:41 to go, and it was back and forth from there.

OTHER NOTES: 
- UNLV improved its record to 6-1 all-time in the first round of the MW Tournament, and 5-1 against Wyoming in MW Tournament games.
- Entering the contest, UNLV had gone 5-10 in its last 10 years of Mountain West Tournament play, 5-0 against Air Force and 0-10 against everyone else.
- Hamilton was 6 of 15 from the field and 9 of 12 from the free-throw line. He also had four assists.
- Jones' six blocks are tied for the fourth-most in MW Tournament history, and are the second-most blocks by a player off the bench in tournament history.
- Gibbs-Lawhorn now has 93 3-pointers made this season, which is the most in a single season by a UNLV player since Anderson Hunt made 105 in 1990-91.
- Wyoming took 18 more shots than UNLV did in the game (70-52). The Cowboys finished the game shooting 37.1%, while UNLV was 44.2%.
- The Cowboys finished 3 of 21 from 3-point range for the game (14.3%).
- UNLV took 11 more free throw attempts than Wyoming did, but made just four more. The Runnin' Rebels were 19 of 31 from the charity stripe (61.3%), while the Cowboys went 15 of 20 (75%).
- UNLV blocked a season-high 12 shots, which are the second-most in MW tournament history.
- Wyoming led in rebounds, 43-36, collecting 21 on the offensive glass.
- The Cowboys committed just five turnovers, while UNLV had 11.
- Wyoming led in points in the paint 44-30, in second chance points 22-11, and in bench scoring 26-15.
- UNLV has now won 55-straight games when leading by 10+ points at halftime. That's the longest active streak in the Mountain West. 

NEXT FOR THE RUNNIN' REBELS: UNLV will face No. 1 seed Utah State in the tournament's quarterfinal round on Thursday, March 12, at 12 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center.

TICKETS TO THE MW CHAMPIONSHIP: Tickets to the MW Championship may be purchased online at TheMW.com.


 
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