Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
UNLV had its chance Friday night.
Down by double digits in the second half, the Runnin’ Rebels clawed their way within a Brice Hamilton three-point attempt of tying their game with visiting Fresno State.
But Hamilton’s three-ball didn’t fall. And the Bulldogs left Las Vegas with a 73-68 win over UNLV tonight.
UNLV fell to 9-7.
The Rebs scored only 23 in the first half and trailed by 10 points after the first 20 minutes.
But they nearly doubled that scoring output in the second half with 45 points to make the game competitive at the end. Hamilton led the Rebels with 24 points, while Donovan Williams added 15 and Royce Hamm, Jr. chipped in with 14. Orlando Robinson led Fresno State with 24 points.
“I thought it was a really good fight by our guys,” UNLV coach Kevin Kruger said. “We just turned it on a little late. We had a little bit of a stall, but in the last seven minutes there was a good fight to get back in it and make it a one possession game.”
UNLV was coming off a big 85-56 win over New Mexico Tuesday when the university tried to juice up the small crowds at Thomas & Mack Center by selling upper bowl tickets for $5 a seat. UNLV requires fans to show proof of vaccination to attend a basketball game. UNLV said attendance was 4,976.
UNLV’s next game is in San Jose against San Jose State.