UNLV's Bryce Hamilton. (Photo: UNLV Athletics)
The UNLV Rebels are climbing the Mountain West.
“I feel like we’re clicking at the right time,” UNLV senior forward Bryce Hamilton said after the Rebels beat both Fresno State (60-57) and Colorado State (72-51) last week. “We kind of knew this was going to happen as we stayed the course.”
The Rebels, 16-11, 8-6, are No. 5 in this week’s Nevada Appeal Mountain West men’s basketball rankings with an important game at No. 6 Nevada (12-13, 6-8) on Tuesday night at Lawlor Events Center. UNLV, which beat Nevada 69-58 on Feb. 1 in Las Vegas, has now won three of its last four games.
“We’re a talented group,” said Hamilton, who had 37 points in the Rebels’ two victories last week and leads the Mountain West in scoring (21.5). “The talent has always been there.”
Defense has been the key to the Rebels’ uprising. UNLV has allowed an average of just 50.7 points in its last three victories.
“This is what we hoped and planned for as our identity, which is defense,” UNLV coach Kevin Kruger said. “Right now guys are in sync defensively. They’re pointing, they’re talking, they’re telling each other what’s coming as the ball is coming down the floor.”
Hamilton drained a 3-pointer and hit two free throws in the final two minutes to beat Fresno State.
“We’ll happily give the ball to Bryce Hamilton across the finish line every time we can,” Kruger said.
The Rebels also held Fresno State star center Orlando Robinson (averaging 18.1 points, 8.1 rebounds) to just seven points and four rebounds.
“That was a huge focal point for the guys, to not let Robinson get any easy ones,” Kruger said.
The Rebels’ defense then held Colorado State standouts David Roddy (4-of-14 shooting) and Isaiah Stevens (5-of-13) to just 25 points combined three nights later on Saturday. Hamilton, who had 42 points in an 88-74 win against Colorado State on Jan. 28, had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the rematch on Saturday. The Rebels also out-rebounded the Rams, 45-24, last week.
“I thought we started maybe forcing shots we shouldn’t have,” said Colorado State coach Niko Medved, whose Rams (ranked No. 4) also beat New Mexico 83-68 (Roddy had 31 points on 14-of-20 shooting) last week. “We just weren’t sharing it enough.”
The loss to UNLV was the only setback for the Rams in a stretch of five games in five cities over 12 days. Colorado State, though, didn’t use its grueling schedule as an excuse for what happened at UNLV.
“They just simply outplayed us,” Colorado State’s Stevens said. “They were tougher, more physical and flat-out played better.”
Colorado State is now 21-4 overall and 11-4 in the Mountain West, with half its losses this year coming to UNLV.
“It is weird,” Medved said. “For whatever reason three of our four losses, we just have not been competitive and two of them were to this team (UNLV).”
No. 1 Boise State (21-6, 12-2) beat Air Force (85-59) and Utah State (68-57) last week as Marcus Shaver had 20 points in each of the victories. The Broncos shot 33-of-48 (69 percent) against Air Force for the game and 11-of-19 against Utah State in the second half.
“These guys are amazing,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said of his Broncos. “They are just so coachable. I’ve got mature guys that have high character and they trust each other and trust the coaching staff. That’s why it is working.”
Last week was one of the most unpredictable in the Mountain West this season even beyond UNLV’s victories over Colorado State and Fresno State. No. 9 New Mexico (11-16, 3-10) began its week with 75-66 upset victory over No. 3 Wyoming on Tuesday and concluded it with a 71-55 loss to No. 11 San Jose State (8-19 1-14) on Sunday.
No. 6 Nevada (12-13, 6-8) broke a six-game losing streak by whipping San Jose State twice over a span of roughly 48 hours, 81-72 on Tuesday in Reno and 90-60 in San Jose on Thursday. Nevada center Will Baker was 18-of-22 in the two games from the floor for 39 points. Point guard Grant Sherfield had 46 points in the two games.
The Wolf Pack went inside (mainly to Baker) for easy layups and dunks in the two games against San Jose State as Sherfield had 18 assists.
“Offensively, we did a real good job of following the game plan,” Nevada coach Steve Alford said. “We didn’t want to come out and jack a bunch of threes. Obviously, this (San Jose State) is an undersized team. They play four guards, sometimes five. We wanted (the offense) to come through ball movement. We thought we could hurt them inside and we did.”
“That was the game plan, to try to get down low in the paint and my teammates just found me,” Baker said.
No. 2 San Diego State beat Utah State (75-56) and Fresno State (61-44) last week to improve to 17-6, 9-3. Matt Bradley had 22 points in the win over Utah State but was held to 1-of-8 shooting and two points in 34 minutes by Fresno State.
“People ask the question, ‘Can we win when Matt doesn’t score?’ said Aztecs’ coach Brian Dutcher. “Well, the answer is, ‘Yes, we can.’ The thing with Matt is when he draws two (defenders) he always finds the open man. He makes the right play. That’s what great players (like Kawhi Leonard) have always done at San Diego State.”
“This is not a one-man team,” said San Diego State’s Chad Baker-Mazara, who had 20 points in 20 minutes off the bench against Fresno State. “Everybody can come any day and drop 20.”
No. 8 Utah State lost to both San Diego State and Boise State to fall to 15-13 overall and 6-9 in the Mountain West. The Aggies have now lost four games in a row immediately after a five-game winning streak.
Just two weeks remain in the Mountain West’s regular season. The key games this week will be San Diego State at Boise State and UNLV at Nevada on Tuesday, Wyoming at Colorado State on Wednesday as well as three important games on Saturday: Nevada at Wyoming, Boise State at UNLV and Colorado State at Utah State.
All 11 teams qualify for the Mountain West tournament, March 9-12 in Las Vegas. The top five teams, though, receive a first-round bye and need to win three games in three days to win the tournament while the bottom six need to win four games in four days.
As things stand now it appears that eight teams (Boise State, Wyoming, San Diego State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Nevada, UNLV and Utah State) are in the hunt for one of the coveted top five spots. New Mexico, Air Force and San Jose State will most likely be among the six teams that will have to win four games in four days next month in Las Vegas.
The Nevada Appeal’s Mountain West men’s basketball rankings for the week of Feb. 21:
1. BOISE STATE (21-6, 12-2). Last week: Boise State 85, Air Force 59 ... Boise State 68, Utah State 57. This week: San Diego State at Boise State (Tuesday), Boise State at UNLV (Saturday).
2. SAN DIEGO STATE (17-6, 9-3). Last week: San Diego State 75, Utah State 56 ... San Diego State 61, Fresno State 44. This week: San Diego State at Boise State (Tuesday), San Jose State at San Diego State (Friday).
3. WYOMING (22-4, 11-2). Last week: New Mexico 75, Wyoming 66 ... Wyoming 75, Air Force 67. This week: Wyoming at Colorado State (Wednesday), Nevada at Wyoming (Saturday).
4. COLORADO STATE (21-4, 11-4). Last week: Colorado State 83, New Mexico 68 ... UNLV 72, Colorado State 51. This week: Wyoming at Colorado State (Wednesday). Colorado State at Utah State (Saturday).
5. UNLV (16-11, 8-6). Last week: UNLV 60, Fresno State 57 ... UNLV 72, Colorado State 51. This week: UNLV at Nevada (Tuesday), Boise State at UNLV (Saturday).
6. NEVADA (12-13, 6-8). Last week: Nevada 81, San Jose State 72 ... Nevada 90, San Jose State 60. This week: UNLV at Nevada (Tuesday), Nevada at Wyoming (Saturday).
7. FRESNO STATE (16-10, 6-7). Last week: UNLV 60, Fresno State 57 ... San Diego State 61, Fresno State 44. This week: Fresno State at Air Force (Tuesday).
8. UTAH STATE (15-13, 6-9). Last week: San Diego State 75, Utah State 56 ... Boise State 68, Utah State 57. This week: New Mexico at Utah State (Tuesday), Colorado State at Utah State (Saturday).
9. NEW MEXICO (11-16, 3-10). Last week: New Mexico 75, Wyoming 66 ... Colorado State 83, New Mexico 68 ... San Jose State 71, New Mexico 55. This week: New Mexico at Utah State (Tuesday), Air Force at New Mexico (Saturday).
10. AIR FORCE (10-15, 3-11). Last week: Boise State 85, Air Force 59 ... Wyoming 75, Air Force 67. This week: Fresno State at Air force (Tuesday), Air Force at New Mexico (Saturday).
11. SAN JOSE STATE (8-19, 1-14). Last week: Nevada 81, San Jose State 72 ... Nevada 90, San Jose State 60 ... San Jose State 71, New Mexico 55. This week: San Jose State at San Diego State (Friday).
