LAS VEGAS — UNLV did enough against San Diego State to stay within reach of one of the Mountain West’s best teams. The Rebels forced turnovers, matched the Aztecs on the glass and repeatedly cut the deficit to one possession.
What they did not do was finish enough of those possessions.
That is the problem head coach Josh Pastner carried directly from Saturday’s 82-71 loss into Tuesday night’s only regular-season meeting with New Mexico at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Lobos present a different challenge than San Diego State, but they are just as capable of punishing the possessions UNLV leaves unfinished.
“We had a lot of empty possessions … missed free throws and/or didn’t get the and-ones,” Pastner said. “When you’re playing for first place, you just can’t leave those.”
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. PT on CBS Sports Network.
San Diego State forced UNLV to execute against a defense designed to shrink the floor and extend possessions. New Mexico creates pressure differently. The Lobos shoot 3-pointers in volume, move quickly into offensive actions and have enough defensive structure to turn a short stretch of UNLV mistakes into separation.
That makes Tuesday less about whether UNLV can match New Mexico’s pace and more about whether the Rebels can prevent their own empty possessions from becoming points at the other end.
Pastner has repeatedly connected that issue to rebounding.
“We’ve gotta be great on the glass,” Pastner said. “When we are rebounding the ball at a high level, we’re really good. When we’re not … it’s a struggle.”
The numbers reinforce the identity UNLV has developed. The Rebels average 78.9 points despite shooting 31.5% from 3-point range. They make 17.9 free throws per game, hold a plus-1.8 turnover margin and generate 18.4 points off turnovers while averaging 8.6 steals and 4.4 blocks.
UNLV is not dependent on making 12 or 13 3-pointers to win. Its offense is built around attacking the basket, creating contact, forcing mistakes and finding additional opportunities on the offensive glass.
That approach works only when those possessions are completed.
Against San Diego State, UNLV shot 51% from the field and still lost by 11. The Rebels went 12 of 22 at the free-throw line and allowed their frustration on offense to influence their defensive execution.
“They hit late-clock tough shots … and we had a lot of empty possessions,” Pastner said. “That bites you in the butt.”
Pastner acknowledged that the problem extended beyond the missed opportunities themselves.
“We let our offensive errors … affect our defensive intensity, and that bit us,” he said.
That response is particularly dangerous against New Mexico. The Lobos do not need UNLV’s defense to break down for extended stretches. A late rotation or one poor transition possession can become an open 3-pointer, and several of those mistakes can change a game quickly.
Pastner’s scouting report started with that perimeter threat.
“They shoot a lot of threes. They make a lot of threes. They’re really good defensively,” Pastner said.
New Mexico’s ability to stretch the floor creates an additional problem because the Lobos also have one of the Mountain West’s best rebounders inside. Tomislav Buljan gives New Mexico a player capable of extending possessions after the initial shot misses, forcing UNLV to defend another action while the floor is already in rotation.
Pastner identified Buljan as the conference’s leading rebounder and made the connection to what UNLV has struggled with at different points this season.
If the Rebels force a difficult shot but fail to secure the rebound, New Mexico receives another opportunity against a defense that may no longer be organized. With the Lobos’ willingness to kick the ball back outside and shoot from the perimeter, one lost rebound can quickly become three points.
That puts significant responsibility on Tyrin Jones, Emmanuel Stephen, Kimani Hamilton and the rest of UNLV’s rotation to complete possessions around the basket.
Jones has become increasingly important despite being a freshman. His interior scoring, shot blocking and physicality give UNLV something it needs against teams that can control the paint, but Pastner continues to demand more consistency from his motor.
“He can’t be cool, casual, or cute,” Pastner said. “If his motor isn’t moving, he’s gonna sit right next to me.”
The standard is not limited to Jones. Pastner has spent much of the season trying to make effort and physicality permanent parts of UNLV’s identity rather than traits that appear only after the Rebels fall behind.
New Mexico’s defense will test that approach in another way.
Pastner said the Lobos want to take away the middle of the floor and force offensive actions toward the sideline. That directly challenges a UNLV team most comfortable when Gibbs-Lawhorn and its other guards can attack downhill.
“They try to take away the middle … keep it on the sideline,” Pastner said. “They give you three-point shot attempts, but they’re good at defending the three.”
That creates a difficult decision for the Rebels. New Mexico may concede the appearance of perimeter opportunities, but UNLV cannot allow that to pull the offense away from what it does best.
The Rebels have to remain willing to attack gaps, move the defense and create paint touches rather than settling for the first available 3-pointer. Against a team designed to keep the ball away from the middle, getting downhill may require multiple actions instead of one initial drive.
That places another significant responsibility on Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn.
Gibbs-Lawhorn entered the season without the expectation that he would have to become UNLV’s full-time point guard, but his role has grown as the season has developed. He has become the Rebels’ primary creator and the player Pastner increasingly trusts to manage important possessions.
His challenge Tuesday is balancing pressure with patience.
New Mexico wants to influence him toward the sideline and force him into decisions from less comfortable areas of the floor. Gibbs-Lawhorn cannot allow that pressure to become rushed offense. His ability to keep the dribble alive, involve Fleming and Hamilton and get the defense moving before attacking could determine whether UNLV creates the type of shots it wants.
Pastner said the rotation has also become more settled.
“We’ve kinda settled into a rotation right now,” he said.
That stability matters because Tuesday is the type of game where UNLV cannot afford several minutes of poor spacing or weak defensive rebounding while trying to find a combination that works. Gibbs-Lawhorn, Fleming, Hamilton, Jones and Stephen give the Rebels a group with enough size, ballhandling and interior presence to compete with New Mexico’s preferred style, while Isaac Williamson remains another important part of the rotation.
The younger players will continue to be tested because New Mexico is equipped to make small mistakes expensive. A missed box-out or delayed rotation can create an additional possession, and a rushed offensive decision can become an open 3-pointer before UNLV has recovered defensively.
The matchup therefore returns to the same areas Pastner has emphasized throughout January.
UNLV has to eliminate empty possessions. That does not mean every trip has to end with a basket. A missed shot after a good offensive sequence is different from a missed free throw, an avoidable turnover or a possession that ends without anyone attacking the offensive glass.
The Rebels also have to rebound. Pastner has called that one of the clearest indicators of whether his team is playing the way he wants, and New Mexico has the personnel to expose any decline in that effort.
Finally, UNLV cannot allow frustration at one end to change its defense at the other. That happened against San Diego State, and the Lobos are too dangerous from the perimeter to give away the same openings.
Tuesday also gives UNLV another opportunity to build on the best home environment it has played in this season. The crowd against San Diego State represented progress for a program Pastner has openly acknowledged is still trying to reconnect with its fan base.
“This is gonna take more time than I thought,” Pastner said. “We gotta keep earning the fans back.”
His formula for doing that has remained consistent.
“Fly around like our hair is on fire,” Pastner said. “Be so competitive with grit and toughness.”
The message is not complicated, but New Mexico makes executing it difficult.
UNLV does not need to become a better 3-point shooting team overnight. It does not need Tuesday to turn into a track meet. The Rebels need to make the pressure they already create produce something tangible.
That means making free throws, finishing through contact, rebounding misses and refusing to let one offensive mistake become a defensive one.
“We can’t have empty possessions,” Pastner said. “We’ve gotta be great on the glass … and we’re gonna have to play at a very, very high level.”
Against San Diego State, UNLV created enough chances to compete but left too many of them unfinished.
New Mexico presents the same lesson in a different form. The Lobos have the shooting and rebounding to make every unused opportunity hurt.
For UNLV, Tuesday is another chance to prove that its pressure can become something more than activity.
It has to become points.