UNLV falls to Maryland on first day of Players Era Festival — PHOTOS
UNLV was able to do what it wanted on the defensive end for much of the night against a Big Ten opponent on the opening day of the Players Era Festival at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The Rebels just couldn’t take advantage often enough on the other end of the floor to put the game away and Maryland eventually stopped turning the ball over and started hitting shots on its way to a 74-67 victory.
“We had chances to extend the lead and we just couldn’t do it, whether it was missing a fast break or missing an open shot,” UNLV coach Josh Pastner said. “I just felt toward the end there, our numbers caught up to us not having the size we needed inside.”
UNLV (3-3) led much of the game until a 14-4 run by Maryland (5-1) midway through the second half that included Andre Mills and Myles Rice each hitting both a layup and a 3-pointer.
The Rebels had an eight-point lead late in the first half, were up by three at intermission, and then pushed the advantage to seven on several occasions in the second half. But they weren’t able to pull away despite forcing Maryland to turn the ball over 15 times in the first half and 20 times for the game.
“We just needed to extend it to give us a little bit of comfort,” Pastner said. “But they hit a couple 3s and we missed good looks on the other end to where it was almost a five- or six-point swing. Those are big momentum-shifters there.”
Tightening up
It was an improved defensive effort for Pastner’s team, which had struggled to stop anyone over the first few games.
The Terrapins shot just 35 percent from the field in the first half in addition to the turnovers.
“Credit to Coach Pastner,” Maryland coach Buzz Williams said. “We’ve played against him before and a lot of things he was doing in full court and half court he had done in the past, but he hadn’t done all of that through the first five games.
“We were discombobulated, which is what they wanted. We couldn’t get in a rhythm. We finally just tried to simplify and we found some continuity in that. But very lucky, considering how high our turnover rate was, to have a chance to win.”
Once the Terrapins finally took the lead, they were able to hang on.
Maryland led 61-58 with just over than three minutes remaining in the game when UNLV was unable to secure possession in a scramble drill that saw several players from both teams have an opportunity to come up with the ball. It eventually wound up in the hands of the Terrapins’ Pharrel Payne, who drew a foul under the basket.
He made the first three and missed the second, but the Terrapins secured the offensive rebound and kicked it out to David Coit for a 3-pointer to push the lead to seven.
Payne went 7-for-8 from the field and led all scorers with 20 points. He added eight rebounds as part of Maryland’s 46-34 edge on the glass.
Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn led the Rebels with 17 points. Kimani Hamilton added 11 before fouling out.
The Rebels shot just 36.7 percent from the field and went 8-for-27 on 3-pointers.
“Missing some open shots hurt us,” Pastner said. “We just haven’t shot the 3-pointer well this year, which is disappointing because I know we’re a good shooting team. Six games in, it just hasn’t been there. But I do believe at some point we’re due for a breakout there.”
Strong start
The Rebels led 30-27 at the half and probably felt like they squandered an opportunity to take a bigger advantage into the locker room.
UNLV was uncharacteristically stout on the defensive end as it forced 15 turnovers and held Maryland to 36 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes.
A 9-0 run put the Rebels up 28-20 for the biggest lead of the first half by either team, but the Terrapins scored the final five points of the half. That run included a 3-pointer by Rice with just 20 seconds remaining.
The opening half included a bizarre technical foul on Pastner, who was agitated at Hamilton for committing a silly foul to bail Maryland out of a difficult situation. Pastner spun and slammed his hand down on the scorer’s table as he yelled at Hamilton and an official signaled for the violation as a confused Pastner explained he was upset with his player, not the call.
“I wasn’t even talking to the official at all. I was mad at Kimani for fouling because we had the guy trapped,” Pastner said. “I’ll just leave it there.”
Maryland made both free throws to snap a drought of more than three minutes that saw UNLV go on a 7-0 run.
The Rebels played without Jacob Bannarbie, who was ruled out shortly before tipoff with a calf injury.
“I was putting him in the starting lineup and as I was writing his name on the board, he came and told me he couldn’t play because of his calf,” Pastner said. “So just another thing with an injury right before tipoff.
“We were really thin.”
The short-handed Rebels don’t have much time to recover.
UNLV will play No. 8 Alabama (3-2) at 9 p.m. Tuesday at MGM Grand Garden. The Crimson Tide lost 95-85 to No. 12 Gonzaga on Monday.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
