Rebels rebound from opening loss, earn 1st win under Josh Pastner — PHOTOS
Mere days after apologizing to the UNLV fan base for a shocking upset loss in his Rebels coaching debut, Josh Pastner was mostly full of smiles Saturday night.
And a little bit wet after being doused with water in a postgame locker room celebration.
“And it was cold water,” Pastner said, smiling.
First win in the Josh Pastner era pic.twitter.com/11Hx7CD0mN
— UNLV Men's Basketball (@TheRunninRebels) November 9, 2025
The source of the contentment was the about-face the Rebels did in easily handling Chattanooga 101-69 at the Thomas & Mack Center. The point total was the first time the Rebels reached or surpassed the 100-point mark since 2017.
The first win of Pastner’s coaching era at UNLV (1-1) was a stark departure from Tuesday’s season-opening loss to Tennessee-Martin.
The offense ran smoothly, with five players scoring in double figures, led by Naas Cunningham’s 25 points. The defense forced 12 turnovers and converted them into 19 points, and UNLV controlled the boards, outrebounding Chattanooga 42-20.
“I just let the game come to me,” Cunningham said.
The Rebels also had 23 assists, leading to 33 field goals. The high ratio of assists to makes was reflective of their ball movement and finding the right player for easier buckets.
“The open man is the go-to man, the go-to man is the open man,” Pastner said.
Kimani Hamilton had 19 points and nine rebounds, Howie Fleming Jr. and Dra Gibbs-Lawnhorn each had 13 points and Jacob Bannarbie added 10.
“Really proud of our young men on a bounce-back,” said Pastner. “I thought we got better from Tuesday to today. And that’s what we have to do every time we step on the floor is just continue to get better.”
UNLV led by double digits at the half, and never surrendered the margin while opening a lead of 15 points at 63-48 with 12:59 left in the game on Cunningham’s 3-pointer off a Chattanooga turnover.
Cunningham’s 3-pointer with 9:01 left in the second half pushed the lead to 73-55.
The rout was on at that point.
The Rebels scored 46 points in the paint and got 42 points from their reserves.
The Rebels used a balanced offensive attack and ball-hawking defense to take an 11-point lead at the half.
The first 20 minutes were in stark contrast to the Rebels’ season-opening loss to Tennessee-Martin, when fouls, turnovers, and a lack of ball movement sabotaged Pastner’s first game as UNLV coach. Not only did Pastner apologize to the fan base, but he also said he was sick to his stomach.
That all changed Saturday night.
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal. com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.
