LAS VEGAS — The shot dropped in Boise, the building went quiet and UNLV suddenly looked like a team playing with something it had spent much of the season trying to find.
Control.
The Rebels return to the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday night riding a three-game winning streak after erasing a 23-point deficit in an 86-83 overtime win at Boise State. Grand Canyon tested whether UNLV could survive another late-game push. San José State tested whether that response could be repeated. Boise State tested whether the improvement could travel.
Now comes another question. Can UNLV handle success?
Colorado State arrives for a rematch after beating the Rebels 70-62 in Fort Collins on Jan. 9, a game Josh Pastner still remembers largely because of the possessions UNLV gave away.
“They beat us the first time we played,” Pastner said. “We came out down 9-0. We had some leads late. But we had 16 turnovers, and they had 12 offensive rebounds for 16 second-chance points. They out-toughed us.”
That version of UNLV was still trying to establish roles and figure out how its pieces fit together. The Rebels enter the rematch at 13-12 overall and 8-6 in Mountain West play with a rotation that has become more defined and a group that Pastner believes is playing better basketball than it was a month ago.
“We’ve settled into the rotation,” Pastner said. “The guys understand their roles. We’re just better. We’ve improved.”
Much of that improvement has started with Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn.
Gibbs-Lawhorn’s Routine Is Producing Results
Gibbs-Lawhorn arrives Wednesday playing the best basketball of his season. He scored a career-high 36 points at Boise State, including 27 after halftime and in overtime, and made the 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining that completed UNLV’s regulation comeback.
He has also carried an enormous workload. Over the last three games, Gibbs-Lawhorn has played 124 minutes, 49 seconds while scoring 29 against Grand Canyon, 24 against San José State and 36 at Boise State.
The minutes do not appear to concern him.
“When you have a coach that fully believes in you and lets you play without worrying about anything, it’s hard not to be successful,” Gibbs-Lawhorn said. “I work so hard. I feel like I deserve what’s happening because of everything I sacrificed.”
His explanation for maintaining that workload is considerably simpler.
“I’m just staying in the gym. Eat, sleep, play basketball,” Gibbs-Lawhorn said. “There’s really nothing more to it.”
Even his living situation was chosen with that routine in mind.
“I stayed 20 minutes off campus for a reason,” Gibbs-Lawhorn said. “I don’t want to be around the strip and distractions. That’s helped my routine.”
Pastner has praised the scoring surge, but he has not allowed the production to remove the other expectations placed on Gibbs-Lawhorn.
“He’s scored as well as anybody in the country right now,” Pastner said. “But his identity has to be tough. He’s got to defend without fouling.”
That balance has become increasingly important because Gibbs-Lawhorn is no longer simply UNLV’s leading scorer. He has become its primary organizer and the player most likely to have the ball when a possession reaches the point where somebody has to create.
UNLV Has Started Finishing Games Differently
The Boise State comeback provided the clearest example of what Pastner believes has changed.
UNLV fell behind 32-9 in the first half and still trailed by 17 with less than nine minutes remaining. Earlier in the season, similar deficits often led to faster possessions, more mistakes and increasingly difficult defensive situations.
The Rebels responded differently in Boise. They reduced the deficit without abandoning the offense, protected the basketball and eventually held the Broncos without a field goal over the final 4:42 of overtime.
Tyrin Jones provided a critical putback late. Isaac Williamson hit a 3-pointer in overtime. Gibbs-Lawhorn tied the game in regulation and then gave UNLV its first lead of the night in the extra period.
“Winning is hard,” Pastner said. “If I could hug a win, I would. It’s such a fine line in sports.”
The Rebels have experienced both sides of that line this season. They have blown leads and lost games that appeared finished, but they have also won at Utah State, beaten Boise State twice in overtime and now put together three consecutive victories after a four-game losing streak.
“We’ve had some really good wins,” Pastner said. “We’ve had some tough losses. But you want to see your team improving. And we have.”
The challenge now is responding to success with the same urgency UNLV showed when it was trying to stop the season from moving in the opposite direction.
Colorado State Already Showed UNLV Where the Game Can Turn
The first meeting was decided less by one matchup than by the accumulation of possessions.
UNLV committed 16 turnovers, while Colorado State grabbed 12 offensive rebounds and turned them into 16 second-chance points. The Rebels still had opportunities late, but they had already surrendered too much margin.
Colorado State enters the rematch on its own three-game winning streak and presents another problem from the perimeter. The Rams can space the floor, move the basketball from side to side and punish late rotations with 3-point shooting.
“We’re going to have to guard the three-point shot,” Pastner said. “We know that.”
That becomes especially important for a UNLV team whose defensive problems have often started when one breakdown forces another rotation. If the Rebels overhelp in the paint, Colorado State has enough shooting to create open looks. If UNLV stays home but loses the initial matchup, the Rams can create paint touches that force the same decision later in the possession.
Rebounding provides the second part of the equation.
“Rebounding is about effort,” Pastner said. “It’s a controllable. It’s a foot fight.”
UNLV has been much more competitive on the offensive glass during its recent improvement, hovering in the mid-30% range in offensive rebounding during recent games. Those extra opportunities have provided another way to score when the first shot does not fall.
The first Colorado State game demonstrated what happens when that advantage belongs to the opponent.
Wednesday gives UNLV an opportunity to reverse it.
The Rams Will Make UNLV Prove Its Offensive Growth
Colorado State also showed UNLV a different look late in the first meeting when it shifted into zone defense and disrupted the Rebels’ rhythm.
That is where Pastner’s emphasis on quicker decisions becomes important.
UNLV has increasingly played through what Pastner calls “0.5 decisions,” asking players to catch the ball, read the defense and move it before the floor has time to shrink. Against a zone, those decisions become even more important because holding the basketball allows defenders to reset and eliminates the gaps created by ball movement.
The Rebels need to touch the paint, occupy the short corner and move the basketball quickly enough to force Colorado State’s zone to shift. If possessions turn into stationary perimeter passing or over-dribbling, the Rams can dictate the pace.
That puts considerable attention back on Gibbs-Lawhorn. He is using nearly a quarter of UNLV’s possessions and has become its most reliable scorer, but Colorado State now has a much larger sample of what happens when he is allowed to attack one-on-one.
The Rams can trap him, switch different defenders onto him or use zone possessions to force the basketball somewhere else. If they load the defense toward Gibbs-Lawhorn, UNLV’s complementary pieces will have to convert the opportunities that follow.
That is where Hamilton becomes especially important.
Hamilton’s versatility gives Pastner flexibility throughout the lineup. He can defend bigger players, slide to the five, rebound outside his area and provide another scoring option when opponents commit extra attention to Gibbs-Lawhorn.
The concern remains foul trouble.
“Keeping our main guys in there defending without fouls is a big deal,” Pastner said. “It’s cost us games.”
When Hamilton remains available, UNLV can move between lineup combinations without sacrificing as much size or spacing. If he picks up early fouls, Pastner has fewer ways to change the matchup against a Colorado State team capable of stretching the floor.
Jones presents another important piece of that defensive structure. His return has raised UNLV’s ceiling around the basket because he can block shots, erase some perimeter mistakes and make opponents think twice before attacking the rim.
His presence does not eliminate Colorado State’s shooting, but it can allow UNLV’s perimeter defenders to stay attached longer rather than collapsing toward the paint at the first sign of trouble.
Pastner Is Trusting His Core More
Pastner shortened the rotation during the comeback at Boise State and trusted his primary players to handle significant minutes. That decision only works if the conditioning behind it allows the same players to remain effective late.
“You can’t be a high-level athlete if you’re not in great physical condition,” Pastner said. “VO2 max shape. That’s a standard.”
Gibbs-Lawhorn has played virtually every available minute during the winning streak. Jones is back in the rotation, Hamilton has become more dependable when he stays out of foul trouble and the responsibilities throughout the lineup have become clearer.
That clarity will matter if Wednesday reaches the same type of final four-minute game UNLV faced in Fort Collins.
“We had leads late the first time,” Pastner said. “We made turnovers.”
The Rebels cannot afford the same sequence again. Colorado State already showed that it can turn those mistakes into offensive rebounds, second chances and eventually enough points to change the result.
Wednesday Is About Handling Success
UNLV enters Wednesday with six regular-season games remaining and a chance to continue changing what appeared possible only a few weeks ago.
The Rebels were 10-12 and riding a four-game losing streak after the collapse at Fresno State. Three victories later, they are back above .500 in Mountain West play and returning home after one of their most significant wins of the season.
Colorado State is not simply a revenge opportunity. The Rams provide another measurement of whether UNLV has actually changed since the first meeting.
Pastner believes it has.
“We’re a team that can beat anybody,” Pastner said. “But if we don’t play with toughness and urgency, we could lose to anybody.”
The last three games have shown that UNLV can survive difficult stretches without allowing them to determine the result. Wednesday asks for something slightly different. The Rebels have to protect the basketball, finish rebounds, defend the 3-point line and handle Colorado State’s adjustments without needing another dramatic comeback to save the night.
The Boise State win gave UNLV momentum. The next step is proving the Rebels know what to do with it.
