Josh Pastner, UNLV look to bounce back after season-opening stunner

UNLV GAME DAY

■ Who: Chattanooga at UNLV

■ When: 6 p.m. Saturday

■ Where: Thomas & Mack Center

■ TV: SSSEN

■ Radio: KWWN (1100 AM, 100.9 FM)

■ Line: Not available

■ About UNLV (0-1): The Rebels dropped their season opener 86-81 to Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday as 18-point favorites. The game was the debut for UNLV basketball coach Josh Pastner. Three players reached double figures in points, with Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn scoring 18 points, Kimani Hamilton 13 and Al Green 12. Tyrin Jones and Jacob Bannarbie had nine and eight rebounds, respectively. UNLV was sloppy throughout, allowing UT-Martin to go to the free-throw line 48 times. The Rebels also committed 22 turnovers, which UT-Martin turned into 21 points.

“I want to apologize to the fan base for that opener,” Pastner said. “I feel sick to my stomach. We were doing things with the ball we have not done for five months. We just weren’t good on both sides of the ball. Credit to UT-Martin. We let them hang around.”

■ About Chattanooga (1-0): Going into Friday night’s game against St. Mary’s, Chattanooga had a 47-29 record in true road games since 2020. The win total is the most in Division I in that span. Chattanooga beat Union 92-39 in its season opener, with freshman guard Tate Darner recording a game-high 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Jikari Johnson had 14 points and seven rebounds in his Chattanooga debut.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal. com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.