3 takeaways from UNLV’s loss to UNR: ‘Got to play tougher’

The UNLV men’s basketball team entered its regular-season finale against UNR on Saturday with a chance to win a share of the Mountain West regular-season title.

Those hopes were dashed a few minutes before tipoff when Utah State defeated New Mexico 87-85 to win the championship outright. The Rebels needed a Utah State loss and a win over UNR to get a share of the title.

UNLV instead fell to the No. 4 seed in the Mountain West tournament after a 75-65 loss to the Wolf Pack at Lawlor Events Center in Reno. The loss snapped the Rebels’ five-game winning streak.

“We just got off to a bad start and couldn’t overcome it,” UNLV coach Kevin Kruger said in his postgame radio interview with Learfield Sports. “We made a good run in the second half, but just not enough.”

The loss means UNLV will start the Mountain West tournament against No. 5 San Diego State in a quarterfinal at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Rebels defeated the Aztecs 62-58 at home Tuesday.

“We know what time we’re playing and who we’re playing, so we’ll take a breather and just get ready to have a good couple of days of prep,” Kruger said. “There’s no off night in this conference. It’s an incredibly good conference and there’s a lot of really good teams.”

Here are three takeaways from UNLV’s loss:

1. Slow start

UNR guard Jarod Lucas scored 10 of his game-high 26 points the first five minutes of the game. He hit a 3-pointer that gave the Wolf Pack a 15-3 lead early.

“(Lucas) came out and hit his first shot because he was open and he was drawing fouls and just had us on our heels,” Kruger said. “We just got too big of a hole early and couldn’t get out of it.”

UNR made 12 of its first 17 shots. It led by 12 points with 8:28 left in the first half and UNLV was only able to close the deficit to 39-31 by intermission.

2. Brief lead

The Rebels did rally after halftime.

Fifth-year forward Keylan Boone hit three 3-pointers during a 14-2 run that put UNLV ahead 48-47 with 11:58 remaining. It was the Rebels’ only lead of the game. UNR answered with a 17-4 run to take a 66-54 lead with 4:55 left in the second half.

The Wolf Pack secured the win by going 11 for 12 at the free-throw line down the stretch.

“We just couldn’t get enough stops,” Kruger said. “(Allowing UNR to shoot) 53 percent, it’s not going to win you any games.”

Kruger said the Rebels’ problems on offense started with an inability to get the ball inside.

“We got to play tougher,” Kruger said. “We got to get paint touches. It’s the fabric of everything we do. If we want to have a chance to win games, we got to get paint touches.”

3. Short-handed

Fifth-year forward Kalib Boone only played 14 minutes for UNLV. He turned his right ankle, according to the Learfield Sports radio broadcast.

He wasn’t available down the stretch and finished four points and four rebounds.

Junior forward Rob Whaley Jr. turned his left ankle in the first half. Whaley went back to the locker room but returned. He played 33 minutes and had six points and eight rebounds.

Kruger did not have an update on either Kalib Boone or Whaley after the game.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.