Missed opportunities cost UNLV in loss to New Mexico — PHOTOS

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Three missed dunks, a seven-point New Mexico possession, a ball that bounced off a UNLV's player head and into the hands of a Lobo for a layup.

And that was just in the first half.

Yet, UNLV still had every chance to beat the Lobos on Tuesday night, even with a lineup full of players in foul trouble and a defense that was at best passive down the stretch.

But when the opportunity came to try to steal a victory at WisePies Arena/The Pit, the Rebels came up empty on decisions that could be second-guessed like Donald Trump's strategy in Iowa.

Unlike Trump in the Hawkeye State, though, the Rebels at least had a plan, even if it turned out to be an ineffective one, and they headed home with an 87-83 loss to continue a basketball season that gets more dreary by the day.

UNLV (13-10, 4-6 Mountain West) has lost three of its past four games, and this week the team lost forward Ben Carter for the season with a torn left anterior cruciate ligament. He will undergo surgery Thursday.

Losing Carter forced the Rebels to change their style of play, and they often went with a four-guard set against New Mexico (14-8, 7-2). It almost worked, too, with UNLV trailing 83-81 with 23.2 seconds left after the Lobos' Cullen Neal made one of two free throws.

UNLV interim coach Todd Simon said he opted not to take a timeout because he didn't want the Lobos to be able to set up their defense.

"We have a set play that we've worked on that we like in that situation," Simon said. "New Mexico changes their defenses quite a bit, especially on dead balls and timeouts. We wanted them to be in man, and Jerome (Seagears) had a good look at it. He'll make seven out of 10 of those."

The play called for Seagears to drive the lane and make a layup or get fouled or both. If the Lobos were to take away the lane, Seagears was to look for Jordan Cornish, who made five of six 3-pointers in the second half and scored 17 points.

"I struggled in the first half," Cornish said. "I missed a few easy ones. I just wanted to get in a rhythm. I knew I had to come out and be big for the team."

Cornish never got his chance to possibly make a go-ahead 3-pointer. Seagears drove the lane, and New Mexico's Sam Logwood blocked his shot.

That all but ended the Rebels' hopes.

UNLV probably wondered if it would have any players on the court by the end anyway. Dwayne Morgan and Seagears each wound up fouling out, and three others played with four fouls and one with three.

New Mexico made 28 of 36 free throws compared with 13 of 16 for the Rebels, who had 28 fouls called on them. The Lobos were hit with 15 fouls.

"There's no secret, you have to be 20 points better to win by two here," Simon said.

Foul trouble and fatigue didn't help UNLV forward Stephen Zimmerman Jr. down the stretch. Knowing he would get significantly more playing time with Carter out, Zimmerman had 19 of his team-high 21 points 1½ minutes into the second half before the Lobos took him out of the offense by sending double teams.

Zimmerman, who played with three fouls most of the second half and picked up a fourth with 15.8 seconds remaining, didn't challenge New Mexico's Tim Williams toward the end. Williams scored 10 points over a three-minute stretch, three times driving for layups over Zimmerman, who played 38 minutes.

"I felt solid throughout the whole game, but at the end, it started getting to me when Williams started scoring all those points on me," Zimmerman said. "But that's definitely not an excuse.

"(Foul trouble) is always on my mind, especially in away games. I've still got to stop (Williams) in that situation."

Williams finished with 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Teammate Elijah Brown scored 26 points.

Five players, led by Zimmerman and Cornish, scored in double figures for UNLV.

The offense was good enough to put the Rebels in contention to win. They just didn't get it done when they had to.

"We had a few brain farts at the end," Cornish said. "Three of four minutes, we've got to clear up. If we clear those things up, we're coming out of here with a 'W.'"

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65