UNLV’s Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn adapting to point guard role: ‘He sets the tone’

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn is making the exact adjustments UNLV basketball coach Josh Pastner demanded.

The junior Illinois transfer was named the Mountain West Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 21.5 points, 5.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds and shooting 50 percent from the field over two wins againts Boise State and San Jose State.

“I’m beyond proud of him,” Pastner said. “He’s playing the best basketball of his career at this point, and we’re going to need him to keep playing well.”

The recent standout performances came after the Rebels took a 98-66 beatdown at Wyoming on Jan. 6 that Pastner simply described as “bad” and “soft.”

Gibbs-Lawhorn struggled as floor general in that loss, recording 10 points and two assists with two turnovers. Afterward, Pastner caught him expressing his dejection, slouching in the locker room with his chin in his hand.

“You can’t do that, man,” Pastner recalled of his words to Gibbs-Lawhorn. “The reason we didn’t play with our fire is that the point guard’s got to be the extension of the coach. I can’t go on the floor and play. But Dra, your fight, your grit, your toughness, your intensity … it’s like being on the front line in the military. Everyone’s going to follow you.”

Pastner said he didn’t emphasize scoring in that postgame message. That didn’t stop Gibbs-Lawhorn from translating it to a box score explosion in the team’s next home outing.

He recorded a career-high 33 points in an 89-85 overtime win over Boise State last Tuesday, adding six assists, five rebounds and a steal.

It was the highest single-game performance by a UNLV player since EJ Harkless’ 35 in the 2023 conference tournament.

Gibbs-Lawhorn emphasized in his postgame comments that the best is yet to come.

“I’m still not satisfied. I want to be the best point guard I can be,” he said. “Shout out to Coach Pastner for that, because he helped me get through those ups and downs (of) having to play point guard. I’m gonna have a game around like 10, 12 assists. Just have to keep working at it.”

Point guard wasn’t the plan for Gibbs-Lawhorn at the start of this season. He was meant to be part of UC Irvine transfer Myles Che’s backcourt with occasional point guard minutes. That was until Che became the headliner of a group of injured players who the Rebels have had to chart a path without.

“That wasn’t going to be (Gibbs-Lawhorn’s) natural normal position. And so how he’s adjusted to that. He’s taken some time, but he’s really making great strides,” Pastner said.

Gibbs-Lawhorn might not have been as flashy in Saturday’s 76-62 road victory at San Jose State, scoring 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and hitting 2 of his 4 3-point attempts.

The effort and energy that Gibbs-Lawhorn displayed in the win as he snagged four rebounds and dished four assists without committing a turnover pleased Pastner most.

“Those great years with Coach (Jerry) Tarkanian, Coach Lon Kruger and Coach (Dave) Rice … it was built on grit and toughness. Yes, the highlights were scoring and dunking and all those good things. But the meat and potatoes of it was grit and toughness. And that’s what I’m in my chair and trying to establish in year one of this culture in order to try to get the program back,” Pastner said. “And he (Gibbs-Lawhorn) sets the tone with that.”

“He sets the tone” with his grit and toughness, the coach said.

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Callie__Fin on X.