Rebels take Spartans with 71-58 victory

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Jelan Kendrick filled up the box score, producing one of the best efforts of his two-year UNLV career in his last regular-season game. But all the senior guard cared about was putting one in the win column.

At the same time, Kendrick made certain San Jose State finished the Mountain West season with a zero in the win column.

“Honestly, I just wanted to go out there and win,” he said. “I’m pleased with getting the win against a good team. When you haven’t won and this is your last game of the season, you tend to play a little harder.”

Kendrick totaled a career-high 21 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists as the Rebels defeated the Spartans 71-58 on Saturday night.

Sophomore forward Chris Wood finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for UNLV, which also got 11 points by Dwayne Morgan and 10 by Jordan Cornish.

The Rebels (17-14, 8-10 MW) are the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament and face 10th-seeded UNR at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“We understand how important next week is for us,” coach Dave Rice said. “We’re not thinking about four games in four days. We’re thinking about one game, period. We’re certainly disappointed with where we finished in the standings, but I’m proud of the fact we were resilient.”

UNLV has not won four consecutive games all season, but Kendrick and Wood talked optimistically about putting a streak together.

“I still got faith in this team, still got faith that we can win the Mountain West tournament,” Wood said. “Of course, seventh is not where we want to finish, but it happens.”

San Jose State (2-28, 0-18) finished 11th and is banned from the conference tournament because of NCAA sanctions. But, as expected, the Spartans put up a fight before a crowd of 2,106 at The Event Center.

The Rebels led by 12 in the second half but had trouble pulling away. Isaac Thornton’s 3-pointer pulled San Jose State within 59-54 with 4:37 remaining.

Two free throws, a short jumper and a dunk by Wood helped UNLV seal a win it needed, mostly because a loss would have been embarrassing.

Jaleel Williams hit four 3-pointers and led the Spartans with 18 points. Rashad Muhammad, a sophomore guard from Bishop Gorman High School, scored 16, and Darryl Gaynor II, a Durango product, finished with 14.

Kendrick scored 11 points, shooting 3-for-3 from 3-point range, to trigger UNLV to a 31-24 halftime lead after a sluggish start.

“We needed his offense, especially to start the game,” Rice said.

San Jose State missed its first 10 3-point attempts before Muhammad banked in one. His second 3 sliced the Spartans’ deficit to 19-18 with 7:30 to go.

A jumper by Williams briefly put the Spartans on top, 20-19, at the 6:38 mark. But the Rebels regained control in the final minutes as Cornish and Kendrick each hit a 3 and walk-on guard Barry Cheaney drained a baseline jumper.

Gaynor drove for a layup to rally San Jose State within 46-44 with 11 minutes remaining. But Morgan scored four points as the Rebels responded with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes.

The Spartans made 9-for-28 3-point attempts, with Muhammad and Gaynor hitting two apiece.

“The one thing that kept them in the game was their 3-point shooting. The 3s gave them confidence,” said Rice, who had six scholarship players and two walk-on guards available. “I thought Morgan’s energy changed the game.”

UNLV was without two of its top three scorers, with freshman guards Rashad Vaughn and Patrick McCaw sidelined. Vaughn has been out since mid-February with a knee injury, and McCaw suffered a concussion Wednesday. McCaw might be cleared to practice by Tuesday and play in the tournament opener.

“We are cautiously optimistic that he’ll be able to come back,” Rice said, “but nothing is certain.”

Wood shot 7-for-14 from the field in 38 minutes, exploiting the smaller Spartans inside. Kendrick went inside and out while shooting 9-for-13 in 37 minutes.

“Jelan has always been one of my favorite players on the team,” Wood said. “He had a terrific game.”

Kendrick quickly turned his focus to the next game. The Rebels need four wins in four days to win their first conference tournament since 2008.

“It’s win or go home,” Kendrick said. “We have to come out with some spunk and some fire. I feel like we’re starting to pick it up. I think we can make a really good run.”

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.