UNLV hands No. 22 Utah State first conference loss

Field Level Media|published: Thu 16th January, 01:52 2025

Mar 5, 2023; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; A view of an adidas game ball on the floor during the second half between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Northwestern Wildcats at Jersey Mike's Arena. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Jalen Hill, Julian Rishwain and Jailen Bedford each scored in double figures and UNLV scored the final seven points of the game for a 65-62 upset victory over No. 22 Utah State on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Hill led the way with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting in addition to grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. Rishwain scored 13 points with four 3-pointers and Bedford added 10 points in 17 minutes off the bench.

UNLV star point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. was silent for the first 38 minutes of action, but he sure made his presence felt in the game's deciding moments. Thomas Jr. finished an and-one at the rim to give the Runnin' Rebels (10-7, 4-2 Mountain West) a 63-62 lead with 1:56 remaining, before icing the game with a step-back jumper from mid range as time winded down.

Tucker Anderson led the Aggies (10-2, 6-1) with 19 points, making six of his 12 attempts from the field and 4 of 8 attempts from 3-point range. Ian Martinez added 15 points, shooting 5 of 11 from the field overall. Karson Templin scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for the Aggies, while Mason Falslev added eight points and eight rebounds.

Falslev buried a 3-pointer to give Utah State a 51-50 lead with 7:49 remaining, the Aggies' first advantage since they led 30-27 in the closing minutes of the first half. That basket was part of a 15-3 run for Utah State that was punctuated by a Drake Allen dunk that put the Aggies ahead 60-53 with 5:25 remaining.

The Runnin' Rebels clamped down on defense after that, however, holding the Aggies to two points on 1-of-9 shooting the rest of the way. Included in that was a pair of missed layups and a missed jumper on one possession.

UNLV dominated the paint in the first half but only managed to bring a two-point lead into halftime after shooting 2 of 16 from long range. The Runnin' Rebels outrebounded Utah State 21-14 in the frame and outscored the Aggies 18-6 in the paint, led by eight points from Hill.

For the game, UNLV made 24 of 59 (40.7 percent) attempts from the field including six of its 25 attempts from 3-point range. The Runnin' Rebels were outrebounded 20-16 by Utah State in the second half but still managed to finish with a 36-20 advantage in points scored in the paint. Utah State made 22 of 53 (41.5 percent) attempts from the field, making 10 of 26 (38.4 percent) attempts from 3.

--Field Level Media