By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
After the UNLV’s women’s basketball team punched its ticket to The Big Dance, UNLV’s men’s team took the same floor at Thomas & Mack Center less than 24 hours later in hopes of starting its journey to the NCAA tournament.
The Wyoming-UNLV contest was hardly a game of offensive beauty. UNLV fell behind Wyoming by 13 points in the first half, but UNLV’s Bryce Hamilton and Donovan Williams rallied the Runnin’ Rebels to a three-point lead late in the second half.
But the Rebs could not close out the game. Wyoming won its first game in Las Vegas in 19 years, 59-56, in the Mountain West quarterfinals Thursday afternoon.
Hamilton missed a potential game-tying three-point shot at the buzzer and the men’s season ended with a record of 18-14. LVSportsBiz.com was there to photograph a disappointed Hamilton.
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UNLV began the game with an ice-cold shooting touch.
The Rebs managed only six points in the first 12 minutes and trailed by a dozen to the Cowboys, seeded fourth here at the MW tourney in Las Vegas.
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In the second half, Hamilton and Williams took over the game and the building was rocking.
Both teams had followers in the stands, with yellow-clad Wyoming fans filling many of the seats. It was hardly a home court advantage for UNLV, which had its fair share of fans, too.
Hamilton, the league’s top scorer, finished with 22 points, while Williams had 20 points. The duo had 42 of UNLV’s 56 points after Wyoming led at the half, 31-22.
“I’m so proud of this team,” Hamilton said after the game. “We stuck together.”
While UNLV relied on the Hamilton-Williams combo to score the bulk of its points, Wyoming relied on six players who each scored seven to 12 points a piece for the win.
It was only a week ago that UNLV defeated Wyoming, 64-57, during senior night.
First-year coach Kevin Kruger, a legacy UNLV head basketball man who is the son of former Rebs hoops coach Lon Kruger, had pieced together a group of transfers with returning top scorer, Hamilton.
Going into the tourney, the team was 18-13, including wins over Colorado State twice and Wyoming a week ago. The Runnin’ Rebels also swept the two-game series with in-state rival Nevada.
UNLV turned out to be the darling of many national college basketball talking heads, who heralded the Runnin’ Rebs as a dangerous postseason team and a difficult out.
Indeed, the team looked dangerous at times with the Mountain West’s sixth-man-of-the-year, Williams, and a tough inside man in Royce Hamm, Jr. Meanwhile, top assist man Jordan McCabe has turned out to be a nice court general.
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Wyoming is 25-7 and plays Boise State tomorrow at Thomas & Mack Center in the Mountain West tourney semis.