LAS VEGAS — The building tried to summon another Boise moment. For three minutes Wednesday night, the Thomas & Mack Center felt like it might. UNLV ripped off a 7-0 run. The crowd stood. The Rams hesitated for the first time all night. It felt real.

But Colorado State never let the game truly swing.

The Rams shot 59 percent, scored 48 points in the paint, and closed with four free throws in the final 28 seconds to hold off UNLV 91–86, a game that was decided long before the late surge made noise. This wasn’t about momentum. It was about margin.

UNLV entered riding a three-game win streak. The math had shifted. Turnovers were down. Rebounding was up. Free throws were closing games instead of chasing them. The question wasn’t whether the Rebels could score. It was whether the structure would hold. For most of the night, it didn’t.

Colorado State assisted on 22 of 32 made field goals. They converted 19 of 23 layups, repeatedly slipping behind defenders on backdoor cuts or finishing before help rotated. Jevin Muniz led the Rams with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Brandon Rechsteiner added 18 and steadied the offense whenever UNLV threatened to string stops together. Rashaan Mbemba scored 13 inside. The Rams led for 35 minutes and 46 seconds. UNLV led for 2:52. That gap tells you everything.

With 2:47 left, the Rebels trailed 84-71. Then came the surge. Six straight makes. Back-to-back forced turnovers. The deficit trimmed to 84-78. This is where Boise flashed back. Then the possessions turned quiet.

Tyrin Jones missed the front end of a one-and-one that could have made it a one-possession game. On the next trip, UNLV forced another turnover but had a layup blocked at the rim. A lost-ball turnover with 1:33 left gave Colorado State a reset. No highlight plays. Just lost control.

Even after Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn stole the ball and scored to make it 86-82 with 46 seconds left, the Rams calmly walked to the line and ended it. That’s closing versus chasing.

Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn was electric again. Thirty-one points. Eleven-of-21 shooting. Six threes. Thirty-seven minutes. Over the last four games, he has logged elite-level usage and production. He has become the organizer as much as the scorer. Tyrin Jones added 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting, attacking downhill and finishing through contact. Kimani Hamilton had 13 and eight rebounds. Howie Fleming Jr. gave nine points, 10 boards, and five assists.

UNLV shot 59 percent in the second half and scored 86 points on 63 possessions. They produced 17 fast-break points and knocked down nine threes.

“You score 86, you gotta win the game,” head coach Josh Pastner said. “We’ve just not been a good defensive team this year. I haven’t done a good enough job defensively with this group.”

He didn’t dodge it. This wasn’t about shot-making.

During the three-game winning streak, UNLV averaged 38 rebounds per game and committed just 9.7 turnovers per night. On Wednesday, Colorado State dictated the possession math. The Rams scored 48 in the paint. They converted nearly everything at the rim. They controlled the tempo when UNLV tried to speed it up.

At halftime, Pastner said the message was eliminating threes and backdoor cuts.

“We did take the three out,” he said. “But we started ball watching. You can’t ball watch against this team.”

Colorado State finished just 7-of-20 from deep. It didn’t matter. The damage was done inside through discipline, spacing, and timing.

When UNLV surged, the Rams executed.

That’s structure.

“We’re a team that can beat anybody,” Pastner said. “But because of our defensive lapses, we can lose to anybody.”

That’s not an excuse. That’s the hinge.

UNLV’s season has lived on it. The Rebels have the offensive ceiling to erase deficits. They have the length to disrupt games. They have a star who can flip momentum in two minutes. But volatility is not identity.

Gibbs-Lawhorn was blunt about what’s missing.

“Focus,” he said. “Fifteen people on the roster, playing or not playing, focused. Not goofing around before the game. Not goofing around in practice.”

UNLV is now 13-13 overall and 8-7 in Mountain West play with five games remaining. The math tightens. Seeding tightens. The difference between playing Wednesday and playing Friday in Las Vegas may come down to possessions like the ones that slipped away in the final two minutes.

The Thomas & Mack buzzed late. The run was legitimate. The energy was real.

But games in this league are rarely decided by the loud moments.

They’re decided in the quiet ones; the missed free throw, the backdoor cut, the blocked layup, the turnover that hands control back to a disciplined opponent.

Colorado State won those.

And until UNLV makes discipline a habit instead of a reaction, this season will keep swinging on that hinge.