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UNLV overcomes Colorado State rally to win 65-60

Updated March 9, 2019 - 4:48 pm

UNLV was locked in as the fifth seed for the Mountain West Tournament, so if any team had motivation Saturday, it figured to be a Colorado State side still fighting for position.

But it was the Rebels who got off to a strong start, taking an 18-point lead early in the second half, then digging deep when Colorado State rallied to go ahead.

Kris Clyburn made a 3-pointer with 1:54 left to give UNLV the lead for good in a 65-60 victory at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colorado. The Rebels made it a two-possession game with 1:02 remaining on Mbacke Diong’s dunk off an alley-oop pass from Noah Robotham and weren’t seriously threatened again in the final regular-season game.

“I’m really proud of the way they fought there when they got down in the second half,” UNLV coach Marvin Menzies said. “We were put to the test yet again to see how we would respond. You don’t like to have to go through it while you’re going through it, but you’re glad you did when it’s over.”

UNLV (17-13, 11-7 MW) plays fourth-seeded San Diego State in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center. It’s the Rebels’ first opening-day bye in the tournament in five years.

The Rebels’ 11 conference victories are their most since going 11-5 in the 2010-11 season under coach Lon Kruger.

Clyburn was a major reason the Rebels got there in overcoming the rally by Colorado State (12-19, 7-11). He made 7 of 8 shots, including all six from 3-point range, and finished with 20 points. His 3-pointer with 4:45 left answered a Colorado State 10-point run that cut the Rebels’ lead to 51-50.

Robotham was the other Rebel to reach double figures, scoring 12 points, and he also had eight assists with no turnovers. He entered with a 2.6 assists-to-turnovers ratio, second in the Mountain West to the 2.8 by UNR’s Cody Martin.

“If (Robotham) doesn’t make one of those all-conference teams, I’m going to be a little upset,” Menzies said. “He’s not the flashy, go-out-and-score-25, but he’s been phenomenal in conference. It’s been high, high level.”

J.D. Paige led the Rams with 16 points and seven assists, and Nico Carvacho had 13 points and 20 rebounds. Carvacho entered the game averaging 18.1 points in conference play.

“I knew he had a lot of rebounds, but I didn’t know he had 20 until I saw the stat sheet,” Menzies said. “But to limit his points to 13 was big.”

UNLV led 44-26 less than two minutes into the second half before the Rams began to rally. Colorado State caught the Rebels with 2:15 left on Adam Thistlewood’s 3-pointer for a 57-56 lead, but Clyburn answered 21 seconds later.

More Rebels: Follow at reviewjournal.com/Rebels and @RJ_Sportson Twitter.

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.

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