Rebels fall to rival UNR for 3rd straight loss, dip below .500

It’s not rare for a rivalry matchup to pull an unexpected competitive edge out of an otherwise struggling team.

And with three overtime games in Nevada’s storied basketball rivalry matchup since 2016, fans have come to expect intensity on both ends when UNLV and UNR face off.

That wasn’t the case at Lawlor Events Center in Reno on Friday night, however.

Despite Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn’s 26 points, the Rebels (10-11, 5-5 Mountain West) fell 89-76 for their third straight loss.

Corey Camper Jr. led UNR (16-6, 8-3) with 32 points.

For a brief moment, UNLV looked poised to give UNR a fight.

Emmanuel Stephen stole the ball from Tayshawn Comer on the first possession of the game, an early promising sign against the team with the fewest turnovers in the Mountain West this season. But the Rebels couldn’t score on their subsequent possession, suffering a shot clock violation due to their disjointed offense before the Wolf Pack sprinted to a 9-0 run.

That would prove to be a glaring issue until the final buzzer, as the Rebels made only 11 of their season-high 26 3-point field goal attempts. UNLV wasn’t effective enough under the basket either, getting outscored 36-24 in the paint.

After UNR’s lead expanded to 13 points, Gibbs-Lawhorn powered a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to five at halftime. That momentum disappeared as the Wolf Pack started the second half with eight uninterrupted points, and the Rebels never presented a convincing closing challenge.

Naas Cunningham added 13 points for the Rebels with star 6-foot-9-inch freshman Tyrin Jones out due to a left shoulder injury he aggravated in UNLV’s blowout loss to New Mexico on Tuesday.

Stephen, much needed in Jones’ absense to protect the rim, went scoreless and fouled out for the sixth time this season.

Gibbs-Lawhorn is averaging team-highs of 17.1 points and 1.6 steals per game as the Rebels’ point guard this season in the absence of UC Irvine transfer Myles Che, whom first-year coach intended to lead the offense before he sustained a foot injury that has kept him out for the entirety of this season.

UNLV is now under .500 with a road game at Fresno State next on Tuesday night.

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