Second half surge takes Rebels above .500 as non-conference slate ends

Pulling away late through tough defense and efficient shooting saw the UNLV men’s basketball program end its non-conference schedule with a win.

UNLV beat UC Riverside in part one of a doubleheader from the Thomas & Mack Center. It was only the second home game for the program since Nov. 23.

Before this win, the Rebels had lost four of their last five games to fall to .500 for the second time this season. Now, the team is 6-5 on the season as the non-conference slate comes to a close.

Mountain West play is up next for Kruger’s UNLV club. It begins with a date against Fresno State Saturday, Dec. 28 from the Thomas & Mack Center with tip-off set for 7 p.m.

UNLV went on a quick spurt to take a double-digit lead late into regulation. During that time, UC Riverside went without a point for more than four minutes, it’s second such stretch of the game.

By the end of the game, the Rebels held their opponent to just 29% shooting from the field to go along with 15 turnovers. Eleven of the 15 turnovers came in the first half highlighted by five in the opening five minutes of the game.

Sophomore Dedan Thomas Jr. led the team with a packed stat sheet of 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. His first assist didn’t come until late in the first half but he was at the heart of nearly everything his team did during that second half game-changing run.

With the Rebels up, 43-42, Thomas found freshman forward Pape N’Diaye for their second alley-oop connection of the night. He followed that up with a midrange jumper as that would spark the eventual pullaway by the home team.

Despite a broken finger suffered on the road at Creighton, sophomore forward Bear Cherry had a fast start with makes on each of his first three attempts. The only thing that slowed him down was foul trouble after he was forced to leave the game early after picking up his second.

With under nine minutes left in the first half, Cherry returned to the floor. He wouldn’t earn another foul until the closing minutes of the win.

Cherry finished with 12 points and four rebounds in 18 minutes.

As a team, UNLV was outrebounded by seven but offered up a season-high 23 offensive rebounds to UC Riverside. The team has given up 19 or more offensive rebounds three times through its first 11 games played this season.