LAS VEGAS — UNLV spent most of the week trying to get healthy enough to practice. By Saturday afternoon, the Rebels looked healthy enough to defend.
UNLV held Air Force to 27.8% shooting, controlled the glass and allowed only 39 points in a 67-39 victory at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Rebels extended their winning streak to three despite a week disrupted by a flu outbreak that limited practices and left several players dealing with illness leading into the game.
The offensive performance was not particularly sharp. UNLV shot 43.3% from the field and made only four of 17 attempts from 3-point range, but the Rebels never needed an efficient perimeter night because they controlled nearly everything else. They outrebounded Air Force 49-32, grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, scored 40 points in the paint and blocked six shots while keeping the Falcons from consistently generating clean looks.
“I don’t care who you play, you hold a team under 40 points, that’s not easy to do,” head coach Josh Pastner said. “That means you’re a good defensive team.”
Tyrin Jones led UNLV with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting and added six rebounds. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn finished with 12 points, while Howie Fleming Jr. recorded 10 points and 12 rebounds. Isaac Williamson added 10 points as the Rebels received contributions throughout a rotation that had spent much of the previous several days dealing with illness.
UNLV Took Control With Its Defense
Air Force never led and struggled to generate offense from the opening minutes. The Falcons scored only 20 points in the first half while shooting 7 of 32 from the field, allowing UNLV to build a 35-20 halftime advantage without needing its own offense to operate at a particularly high level.
The Rebels consistently forced Air Force into contested attempts and prevented the Falcons from generating second opportunities after misses. Air Force finished 15 of 54 from the field and made only three of its 19 attempts from beyond the arc, leaving few ways to create enough scoring to challenge UNLV.
“I thought defensively we really guarded at a high level,” Pastner said. “I thought we executed the game plan.”
UNLV quickly removed any possibility that halftime would change the direction of the game. The Rebels opened the second half with another run that pushed the margin to 22 and forced Air Force into an early timeout. The lead continued to grow from there as UNLV maintained its defensive pressure and kept the Falcons from putting together enough successful possessions to threaten.
Air Force’s best stretch came during a 7-0 run late in the game, but by then UNLV had already built an advantage approaching 30 points. Lucas Hobin led the Falcons with 11 points, while Caleb Walker finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Air Force committed 13 turnovers and made only six of 13 free throws, compounding a night in which it already struggled significantly from the field.
Rebounding Gave UNLV Control of the Possession Battle
UNLV’s advantage on the glass became one of the clearest differences in the game. The Rebels finished with 49 rebounds and collected 15 of their own misses, producing 16 second-chance points and repeatedly forcing Air Force to defend beyond the initial possession.
Pastner has emphasized offensive rebounding as part of UNLV’s identity, and Saturday provided one of the stronger examples of what that emphasis can produce.
“We had fifteen offensive rebounds, which is a great thing for us,” Pastner said. “We want to get 40 percent of our missed shots back on the offensive glass. We did that today.”
Fleming led that effort with 12 rebounds, completing a double-double while continuing to contribute in areas that do not require him to dominate the basketball. Jacob Bannarbie added 10 rebounds and five points, while Emmanuel Stephen finished with eight points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes.
“Jacob, ten rebounds, tough, hard-nosed rebounds,” Pastner said. “I just thought everybody executed the game plan.”
The rebounding advantage also allowed UNLV to overcome its limited shooting from the perimeter. The Rebels did not need to make a high percentage of 3-pointers when missed shots were frequently followed by another opportunity around the basket. Combined with 40 points in the paint, the offensive glass allowed UNLV to manufacture efficient scoring without depending on jump shots.
Fleming Continued to Affect the Game Without Needing the Ball
Fleming’s 10-point, 12-rebound performance reflected the type of role he has increasingly filled for UNLV. His impact has not depended on being a primary scorer, and Saturday he helped the Rebels by doing the work required to control possessions.
“Some days it may be scoring, some days it may be getting tendencies, some days it may just be doing the little stuff,” Fleming said. “Today it just so happened that we get the rebounds.”
That versatility was particularly useful after the week UNLV experienced. With illness affecting the roster and practice availability, Pastner needed players capable of contributing without requiring the game to flow through them. Fleming’s rebounding and defensive activity gave the Rebels stability even when the offense was not producing at its highest level.
His performance also fit the larger formula that separated UNLV from Air Force. The Rebels did not win because one player carried the offense. They won because the collective work on defense and the glass consistently created advantages.
UNLV Improved Its Ball Security After Halftime
Turnovers were one of the areas Pastner wanted to monitor entering the game, particularly against an Air Force team capable of staying competitive when opponents give away possessions.
UNLV finished with 11 turnovers but committed only two after halftime. That improvement prevented Air Force from creating the easy transition opportunities it needed to compensate for its half-court struggles.
“I thought in the second half we only had two turnovers, which was a good step,” Pastner said.
The cleaner second half allowed UNLV to continue extending the lead instead of opening a path back into the game. Air Force could not create enough offense against the Rebels’ set defense, so eliminating careless turnovers removed one of the Falcons’ few realistic sources of easy points.
That type of possession management will become more important as UNLV moves deeper into Mountain West play. The Rebels will not always have a 15-point halftime cushion or an opponent shooting below 30%, but limiting empty possessions gives their defense more room to affect games.
Williamson Stayed Aggressive Through a Difficult Shooting Night
Williamson finished with 10 points despite shooting 4 of 14 from the field and one of five from 3-point range. His shot was not consistently falling, but neither Williamson nor Pastner viewed that as a reason for him to become passive.
“Just keep shooting,” Williamson said. “I’m never going to change my game based off of that performance.”
Pastner echoed that approach, emphasizing Williamson’s continued development and importance within the rotation.
“Isaac’s going to continue to get better,” Pastner said. “He’s a really good shooter. He’s got to keep shooting. Hopefully that gets him going. Isaac’s a big part of our success.”
The Rebels could afford to let Williamson work through an inefficient night because they were creating offense elsewhere. Jones finished efficiently around the basket, the offensive glass produced extra opportunities and UNLV’s defense prevented Air Force from making the shooting struggles meaningful.
That will not always be the case, but Saturday offered Williamson an opportunity to continue taking shots without the pressure of every miss affecting the outcome.
UNLV Overcame a Week Disrupted by Illness
The final margin made the game look routine. The preparation was anything but.
UNLV spent much of the week dealing with a flu outbreak that left practices short on available players and created uncertainty about who would be ready to play. Pastner had said earlier in the week that managers were needed at practices because so many players were unavailable.
“It wasn’t an easy week because we were sort of in and out, but we found a way to really execute,” Pastner said.
Pastner also credited the work of the team’s training staff in getting players healthy enough to compete.
“Our trainer, Kalani, just had a baby and deserves maybe the MVP for this game,” Pastner said. “He was able to get our guys back and help them for this game with us going through the flu.”
The circumstances made UNLV’s defensive consistency more notable. The Rebels did not rely on a fast pace or exceptional offensive shooting to compensate for a disrupted week. They defended, rebounded and gradually created separation through areas that require collective effort and communication.
UNLV Found a Formula That Can Travel
The competition becomes more difficult from here. UNLV will leave Las Vegas for road games against Wyoming and Colorado State, giving the Rebels their next test of whether the defensive and rebounding improvements shown Saturday can carry away from the Thomas & Mack Center.
“We know we’ve got tough road trips next week at Wyoming and Colorado State,” Pastner said. “We’ll enjoy the win tonight, dive in the film, and then get back to work tomorrow.”
UNLV will not hold every opponent below 40 points, and the Rebels will need more offensive efficiency against better Mountain West teams. The significance of Saturday was that they did not need either a hot shooting night or ideal circumstances to control the game.
Fleming said the larger objective remains what happens throughout conference play, where different nights will require different players and different ways of winning.
“Winning this conference, going to the NCAA tournament, we know the battles between that,” Fleming said. “There’s going to be a whole bunch of highs and lows. All having a common goal is what keeps us together.”
Saturday provided one version of what that can look like. UNLV defended at a high level, controlled both sides of the glass and took better care of the basketball as the game progressed. The Rebels won by 28 despite making four 3-pointers and playing after one of the most disrupted practice weeks of the season.
Those are the parts of a team’s identity that tend to hold up when shooting changes, opponents improve and conference games move away from home. For UNLV, that may have been the most important part of opening 2026 with another win.