LAS VEGAS — Josh Pastner was not going to spend much time enjoying Tuesday night.
UNLV had just swept Utah State for the first time in 12 years, beaten the Mountain West’s first-place team by 27 points and produced one of its most complete performances of the season. Five Rebels scored in double figures, Howie Fleming Jr. recorded his second triple-double in four games and an offense that has leaned heavily on Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn for most of the last month found production from almost everywhere.
By Wednesday morning, Pastner had already moved on.
“You don’t take those wins for granted,” Pastner said. “But you get to Wednesday and you’ve got to turn your attention to San Diego State.”
That is where UNLV’s regular season ends Friday night. The Rebels visit Viejas Arena for a 7 p.m. tip on CBS Sports Network with Mountain West tournament seeding still unsettled and another opportunity to prove their recent improvement is something that can travel.
UNLV enters at 16-14 overall and 11-8 in conference play after winning six of its last eight games. San Diego State is 19-10 and 13-6 but has lost four of its last five, putting additional pressure on a program still trying to protect its NCAA Tournament at-large résumé. The Aztecs will also honor their senior class inside a building where they have lost only twice this season.
“It’s going to be an absolute 12-round heavyweight boxing match type of mentality that you’ve got to have in a game like this,” Pastner said.
UNLV Is Playing Better Basketball Right Now
The overall records favor San Diego State, but the recent numbers tell a different story.
Over its last five games, UNLV is averaging 84.2 points while shooting 52.1% from the field. The Rebels are making 57.4% of their 2-point attempts and 42.2% from beyond the arc during that stretch. Opponents are averaging 77 points against them while shooting 45.9%.
It is the best offensive stretch UNLV has produced all season and one of the strongest recent stretches in the Mountain West.
San Diego State has gone the other direction. Over its last five games, the Aztecs are averaging 75.8 points on 44.2% shooting while allowing opponents to score 79 points per game. A program built around defensive consistency has been getting outscored during the most important stretch of the regular season.
That does not make Friday easy. Viejas Arena remains one of the league’s most difficult places to play, and San Diego State will have the urgency of Senior Night and an NCAA Tournament résumé hanging over the result. What it does mean is that UNLV arrives playing significantly better basketball than it was when these teams met in January.
San Diego State Will Build the Defense Around Gibbs-Lawhorn
The obvious starting point for San Diego State is Gibbs-Lawhorn.
UNLV’s offensive formula for most of the last month has been simple because nobody has consistently stopped it. Gibbs-Lawhorn is averaging 23.1 points in Mountain West play while shooting 59.3% on 2-point attempts and 47.9% from 3-point range. He is also converting 83.5% of his free throws while carrying the responsibility of being the player every opponent structures its scouting report around.
Utah State tried to remove him Tuesday. The Aggies pressured him from the opening possession, sent extra defenders toward him before catches and repeatedly forced the ball out of his hands. Gibbs-Lawhorn was scoreless in the first half and finished with only 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting.
UNLV won 92-65 anyway.
“Most people, when you’re on the stretch he’s on, you’re thinking you’ve got to keep getting 30,” Pastner said. “The way he ran the team tonight, found the open man and just let it come to him, it was beautiful basketball.”
That may have been the most important development from the Utah State win. Gibbs-Lawhorn did not chase his recent scoring numbers into double teams. He allowed the defense to commit extra players toward him and trusted the rest of the offense to attack the space it created.
Kimani Hamilton described the read simply.
“At times you can kind of tell when they’re trying to trap Dra,” Hamilton said. “All you do is make a great pass and break the defense. Play four on three.”
The concept is simple. Executing it for 40 minutes at Viejas Arena is different.
San Diego State has the personnel and discipline to make those reads uncomfortable. If the Aztecs trap Gibbs-Lawhorn, UNLV has to move the ball quickly enough to attack before the defense can recover. Tuesday showed the Rebels can do it against a good team. Friday will test whether that improvement carries to the road.
Hamilton May Be the Biggest Swing Piece
Gibbs-Lawhorn will receive most of the defensive attention, but Hamilton may determine how dangerous UNLV actually becomes.
Hamilton has fouled out 11 times this season, more than any player in the country. When he remains available and plays without constantly managing his foul count, the difference in UNLV’s offense is significant.
He scored 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting against Utah State, had 27 on 11-of-19 shooting at Air Force and scored 23 on 6-of-9 shooting against San Jose State. Those performances show what UNLV looks like when Hamilton can stay aggressive and remain on the floor.
The difficult games tell the other side. Hamilton scored two points against New Mexico, six at Grand Canyon and five against UNR while dealing with foul trouble in each. Those games either became losses or required UNLV to survive without one of its most versatile pieces playing his normal role.
In conference play, Hamilton is averaging 12.8 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 55.1% on 2-point attempts and 41.8% from three. His ability to stretch the floor creates driving space for Gibbs-Lawhorn and opens the paint for Tyrin Jones. When Hamilton leaves the game, the floor becomes smaller and the lineup combinations become more difficult for Pastner to manage.
San Diego State knows that.
In the first meeting Jan. 24 at the Thomas & Mack Center, Hamilton played 36 minutes and committed only one foul, but the Aztecs still limited him to 12 points on 3-of-7 shooting. They took away his impact without needing foul trouble to do it.
Friday, San Diego State will likely try both approaches. It can make Hamilton defend physical frontcourt actions, attack him around the rim and force him into early foul decisions while also trying to limit his touches offensively.
If Hamilton reaches the final eight minutes with room to play aggressively, UNLV’s chances improve considerably.
Fleming Gives UNLV Another Way to Control the Game
When defenses load toward Gibbs-Lawhorn or Hamilton leaves the floor, Fleming has increasingly become the player keeping everything organized.
The senior guard is averaging 4.3 assists against 1.8 turnovers in Mountain West play while also grabbing 6.4 rebounds per game, an unusual number for a guard. Pastner has repeatedly highlighted Fleming’s recent assist-to-turnover stretch, including a run where he approached a 10-to-1 ratio.
Those rebounds matter against San Diego State because every defensive possession Fleming finishes creates an opportunity to attack before the Aztecs can set their defense.
That is one of the clearest ways UNLV can change the game Friday.
San Diego State wants to defend in structure. Fleming can prevent that by rebounding, pushing immediately and forcing the Aztecs to guard in transition. The more UNLV can turn missed shots into early offense, the less time San Diego State has to load toward Gibbs-Lawhorn and establish the physical half-court defense that has defined the program for years.
San Diego State Still Has Players Who Can Flip the Game
The Aztecs may be struggling, but the first meeting provided a reminder of what Miles Byrd can do against UNLV.
Byrd scored 23 points with five assists and four steals in the January win at the Thomas & Mack Center. He shot 7 of 8 from the field and made five 3-pointers, giving UNLV problems on both ends and repeatedly changing the momentum with one possession.
That is the type of player UNLV cannot allow to get comfortable Friday.
Jones becomes an important part of the answer. He leads the Mountain West in blocks, is shooting 60.9% on 2-point attempts in conference play and has developed into one of UNLV’s most dangerous open-floor players.
Pastner has repeatedly pointed to how much Jones has changed since November.
“Do you remember a 6-9 guy who in the open floor can take it and finish as well as he does?” Pastner said after the Utah State win.
The answer earlier in the season probably would have been no. Jones has become more confident pushing off rebounds, running the floor and creating immediate rim pressure before opposing frontcourts can organize.
San Diego State has more than Byrd to worry about. Pharaoh Compton is shooting 74.1% on 2-point attempts in conference play, with most of that production coming near the rim. Tae Simmons is at 67.6%. If Jones gets into foul trouble and UNLV loses some of its size and rim protection, those matchups become much more difficult.
Free Throws Could Decide It Again
The first meeting between these teams came down in part to the free-throw line.
San Diego State went 22 of 26 while UNLV finished 12 of 22. That created a 10-point difference in made free throws in an 11-point game.
The Aztecs continue to create those opportunities. Over their last five games, they are averaging 21.6 free-throw attempts per game, the highest mark in the Mountain West during that stretch. They screen hard, play through contact and consistently put defenders into situations where one late rotation becomes two shots.
That makes UNLV’s foul discipline one of the most important parts of Friday’s game.
Hamilton has fouled out 11 times. Jones is too important defensively to spend the first half sitting with two fouls. If either player gets into early trouble, San Diego State can attack a thinner frontcourt while forcing Pastner to manage rotations instead of dictating them.
UNLV cannot allow the free-throw line to create the same separation it did in January.
The Stakes Are Different for Each Team
UNLV is playing for Mountain West tournament seeding Friday. At 16-14, an at-large NCAA Tournament bid is not part of the conversation. A road victory would improve the Rebels’ seed before the rest of the relevant conference games are played Saturday and could significantly change their path next week.
For San Diego State, the stakes are different.
The Aztecs entered the season expecting to reach the NCAA Tournament. Four losses in five games have made that much less comfortable. A home loss on Senior Night to a 16-win UNLV team would add another problem to an at-large résumé that has already lost some of its margin.
San Diego State needs the game for reasons that extend beyond conference seeding.
UNLV does not have that same pressure, but it has something else to prove.
The Rebels have spent the last month changing how they look. Gibbs-Lawhorn has become one of the best scorers in the conference. Fleming has stabilized the offense. Hamilton is producing efficiently when he stays on the floor. Jones has developed into a rim protector and open-floor threat, and Tuesday showed the rest of the roster can punish a defense that commits everything toward stopping Gibbs-Lawhorn.
Now they have to show it away from home against a program Pastner has called the Mountain West’s gold standard.
“A lot of people at this point had written us off,” Fleming said Tuesday. “But the people in that locker room, we all agree that we can do what we think we can do. These games are just confirming that we are who we think we are.”
Friday gives UNLV another opportunity to confirm it.
The Rebels have already shown they can beat Utah State twice, survive rivalry overtime against UNR and win without a Gibbs-Lawhorn takeover. Beating San Diego State at Viejas Arena would add something different, a road win over a desperate opponent with postseason pressure sitting on every possession.
It would improve UNLV’s tournament position.
It would strengthen the belief that the Rebels are playing their best basketball at the right time.
And it would send them back to Las Vegas for the Mountain West Tournament having made somebody else’s March considerably more uncomfortable.
UNLV and San Diego State tip at 7 p.m. Friday on CBS Sports Network. Dave Ryan and Pete Gillen will have the television call, while Matt Neverett, Curtis Terry and Steve Cofield will call the game on ESPN 1100 AM.
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