The Runnin’ Rebels defeated the Redhawks 76-56.
This is the 11th meeting, overall record 8-3, between the Runnin’ Rebels and the Redhawks. Their last matchup was in 1976.
The Runnin’ Rebels bench outscored the Redhawks bench 40-24.
The Runnin’ Rebels defense started off slow allowing the Redhawks to open the first half on an 8-0 run.
Micheal Nuga hit back-to-back threes to start the offense for the Runnin Rebels and the Runnin’ Rebels went on an 8-0 run themselves.
The Runnin’ Rebels went on a two-minute drought not making any noise on the offensive side of the ball until Donovan Williams hit a tough jump shot to give the Runnin’ Rebels a two-point lead, 10-8.
Defensively, the Runnin’ Rebels were in a man-to-man match-up zone.
Halfway through the first half, Jordan McCabe made a baseline inbound pass to Royce Hamm Jr. who drove the ball in for the slam dunk, 20-13.
The Redhawks began to turn defense into offense, cutting the Runnin’ Rebels lead, 23-21, with six minutes to go in the first half.
With less than two minutes to go in the first half, the Runnin’ Rebels moved the ball beyond the arc. McCabe found Hamilton in the corner who made a euro step around his defender to score the layup.
The first half ended with the Runnin’ Rebels leading 36-30.
To open the Runnin’ Rebels, the Runnin’ Rebels moved the ball beyond the arc to find Nuga for the driving layup.
The Runnin’ Rebels opened the second half on an 11-8 run, 48-38.
Hamilton drove the ball inside and made an overhead pass to Williams for the corner three. On the next play, again, Hamilton drove to the basket and found Justin Webster open beyond the arc for the corner three, 51-40.
With nine minutes to go in the game, Keshon Gilbert pushed the ball up the court and found Nuga in the filling lane for the easy layup.
In the final 30 seconds, Gilbert drove the ball baseline for the reverse layup.
This win ended a three-game losing streak for the Runnin’ Rebels.
“It was good to see the guys bounce back,” head coach Kevin Kruger said. “We had a tough stretch and to come back to Vegas, play hard and get the results they did, we are just really proud and happy for them.”
“It is exciting that they were able to see the results of continuing to work hard in practice, continuing to battle and get back in the win column. That is important for us going forward.”
Nuga had a season-high of 21 points while Hamilton had 18 points.
Up Next
The Runnin’ Rebels will be facing the Hartford Hawks on Dec. 11 at 12 p.m. at Mandalay Bay. This game can be watched on YouTube.
UNLV will return to Thomas & Mac on Dec. 15 to take on Omaha at 7 p.m.
