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UNLV saw a large lead evaporate in the second half but did enough to maintain its win streak.
The Runnin’ Rebels earned a fourth straight win with a narrow, 79-73, win over the San Jose State Spartans Saturday, Jan. 4 from the Thomas & Mack Center. It marked the team’s first outing of the new year.
“Knowing a San Jose State team with [head coach Tim] Miles will never give up,” head coach Kevin Kruger said. “Never going to back down or quit but guys did what they needed to do to get a little bit of a cushion so that we could go through that lapse in the second half.”
UNLV now has eight wins in nine tries at home to open the new season. Overall, the team is 9-5 on the year and remains one of the three Mountain West teams without a conference blemish. As it stands, the program sits in the third spot of the conference standings.
“Feeling good,” sophomore guard Dedan Thomas Jr. said. “We just have some little things to clean up especially like how we come out after halftime. We’ve just got to clean up little things like that but other than that, we’re starting to really come together defensively and offensively. I like where we’re at.”
Looking to keep building on its perfect start, the Rebels will return to the road for a date with the Boise State Broncos Tuesday, Jan. 7 from ExtraMile Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Last season’s UNLV squad went into Idaho and beat the eventual NCAA tournament team by four.
“They’re a big team,” Thomas said. “Last year we went in there and got a really tough win. We just went in there and did all the little things: Got back on defense, we were able to rebound, slow them down offensively. But I feel like if we just stick to what we’re good at, I think we’ll be fine.”
The Rebels needed seven straight points late in regulation from the conference’s reigning Co-Freshman of the Year to stave off a fierce comeback by the Spartans. Thomas finished the day with a team-high 17 points with seven made free throws to go along with six assists before the visitors began to double him late in the second half.
“We just started being lazy on defense,” Thomas said. “Just taking breaks on defense which we can’t do. Honestly, I’m just proud that we’ve been able to close out these games and respond to when teams go on runs like that. I try to look at that as a positive.”
UNLV was up 20 earlier in the second half but would have its lead trimmed all the way down to three points with under three and a half minutes left to play.
San Jose State went on a 14-0 run as the home team’s offense sputtered. During that stretch, UNLV went scoreless for more than four minutes while missing five attempts from the field and even three from the charity stripe.
“It’s a great resolve,” Kruger said. “In the last three, we’ve challenged them to build a little bit of a cushion […] We didn’t come out in the second half perfectly but we still had a really good stretch to build the lead up to 20. Once you go against a Coach Miles’ team, you know they’re never going to quit. They’re never going to back down and that’s exactly what happened today.”
The Rebels’ big lead was built in the first half behind complete team play. All of the eight players who played in the first half for Kruger’s club scored on the way to an 18-point halftime lead.
The team hit five three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes, coming from four different players. Senior guard Jailen Bedford was the only player with multiple long balls in the first half on his way to a team-high nine points off the bench.
“I’m really just trusting Coach Kruger’s plan,” he said. “I’m coming off the bench and I feel comfortable just playing my game. I feel good with the second group, coming in and bringing a spark and an energy so I feel good.”
Bedford finished with 16 points on 5-of-11 from the field with three made threes. He’s been averaging 13 points per contest since he was moved out of the starting lineup.
“When we met in Phoenix, my biggest concern was him thinking we had lost faith in him,” Kruger said. “But really, it was quite the opposite. When we were recruiting him when he had his name in the portal and we talked to people around him and we wanted him to be aggressive. We brought him here to be a scoring punch because his quickness and ability to shoot the ball off-the-dribble is at an elite level and that’s something that has fit in well with this group.”
Junior guard Jaden Henley added 13 points and six assists which shared with Thomas for the game-high. His six assists tallied ties a career-high set last season against South Dakota.
“Jaden has that experience [running an offense],” Kruger said. “To have him and his ability to run an offense with DJ. Tonight, we ran a couple of things where DJ was off-the-ball. It gives you another guy that understands and takes the point guard approach. He also adds to what I believe is a really good guard group.”
As a team, UNLV compiled 17 assists while committing just five turnovers. Entering play, the team had recorded 27 total turnovers in two conference games this season.
“Fifty-one percent [from the field] on the night,” Kruger said. “Seventeen assists. Eleven to one at halftime [in] assists to turnover ratio. There’s just so many good things we can take from this to continue to believe in each other and get better.”
Even with Henley’s scoring and his passing, Kruger pointed to another area of his game that could’ve led to the team’s win.
“The play of the game was Henley’s offensive rebound,” Kruger said. “If [the Spartans] had gotten that rebound, I don’t think I would’ve had a good feeling in my stomach at that point. The play of the game was made on the offensive rebound.”
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