UNLV comes up 10 minutes short in loss at Utah State

With 11:25 remaining, UNLV senior Bryce Hamilton checked out.

The Mountain West’s leading scorer, Hamilton had just made a jumper to pull the Rebels within a point of Utah State, 54-53. Two minutes later, when he was substituted back in by UNLV coach Kevin Kruger, the Rebels were down 61-53.

“They’re elite offensively,” Kruger said. “Going into this game you know you’re going to have to play a 40-minute game really well.”

Looking to end Utah State’s four-game winning streak, UNLV played 30 solid minutes. However, a 13-0 Aggie run, triggered in part by Hamilton’s exit, left the Rebels with a 90-75 loss at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah, Saturday. Foul trouble and a large free-throw disparity also hurt UNLV.

The Rebels (13-10, 5-5 Mountain West) were already at a disadvantage ahead of Saturday night’s game. Junior swingman Donovan Williams was ruled out ahead of tipoff even though he made the trip.

“Everyone’s got a heavier workload with the guys we’ve had out,” Kruger said.

Initially, it seemed like Williams’ absence wasn’t a problem. UNLV spread the ball around and started well. Four of the team’s five starters scored in the first five minutes. But the Rebels’ hot start was quickly tempered by fouls.

UNLV was whistled for 21 personal fouls Saturday – 11 in the first half and 10 in the second.

Senior Royce Hamm Jr., UNLV’s best rebounder, was limited to just 21 minutes because of foul trouble, and the Aggies (15-9, 6-5) shot 23 free throws, making 16. UNLV earned 17 trips to the charity stripe, but with less than eight minutes left, the Rebels only had 10 attempts compared to the Aggies’ 20.

“(The fouls) kind of switched up the rotation and the timing of things,” Kruger said. “Because they put us in that pinch, we had to do things a little bit differently.”

Without Hamm, Hamilton again shouldered a majority of the UNLV offense. The senior scored 33 points on 11-for-21 shooting. He also went 4-for-7 from three-point range. But was forced into difficult midrange shots by the Utah State defense all night.

UNLV senior Jordan McCabe and junior Justin Webster both reached double figures to help, but the team missed Williams, its second-leading scorer. The Rebels got more bad news too, when junior Victor Iwaukor started Saturday night but was limited to five minutes due to injury.

While the Rebels struggled to generate offense down the stretch, Utah State shot the lights out. The Aggies hit 64 percent of their shots from the field and 45 percent from deep. Senior Justin Bean scored 32 points on an extremely efficient 11-for-15 night from the floor.

“We just had some breakdowns and had to play catch-up,” Kruger said. “That’s not what you want to do here – not against them.”

UNLV returns home to face Air Force at the Thomas & Mack Center Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Rebels lost to the Falcons 69-62 earlier this season.

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.