Photo source: Mountain West ConferenceLAS VEGAS — Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn earned first-team All-MW and Newcomer of the Year. Tyrin Jones landed on the all-defensive team and honorable mention recognition.
The awards reflect the season. Most of them, anyway.
Gibbs-Lawhorn led the Mountain West in scoring during conference play at 23.6 points per game. He topped the league in three-point percentage at 47.7% and three-pointers made per game at 3.6. He ranked second in field-goal percentage at 53.5%. He started all 20 conference games and averaged 35.7 minutes, third-most in the league.
He scored in double figures in 19 of those 20 games. Twenty or more in 14. Thirty or more in six, five of those coming in the final seven games of the regular season.
The two highest-scoring games in the Mountain West this season belonged to him. Thirty-six against Boise State on Feb. 13 in overtime. Forty-two against UNR on Feb. 28 in overtime, a career high. Both wins. Both times, UNLV needed him to close it.
He won Mountain West Player of the Week three times.
And he didn’t win Player of the Year.
That’s the part worth sitting with. Gibbs-Lawhorn led the league in scoring, led it in three-point percentage, led it in threes made, and closed the season as the most unguardable player in the conference. The coaches and media who voted gave him Newcomer of the Year and first-team recognition. They stopped short of the top award. It’s a decision that will be hard to explain if you watched him play in February.
The Newcomer of the Year award is only the second in program history in the Mountain West era. Mike Moser won it in 2012. Gibbs-Lawhorn’s first-team selection is UNLV’s first since Bryce Hamilton in 2022. He transferred from Illinois before the season. By February, he was the best player in the conference. The voting didn’t fully reflect that.
Jones did something different. He led the Mountain West in field-goal percentage at 60.3% and blocks per game at 2.0, both at the top of the league, as a freshman. He averaged 13.2 points during conference play, scored in double figures in 14 of 17 games, and closed the regular season with double digits in each of his last eight. Career high of 22 at San Diego State on Friday.
Jones won Mountain West Freshman of the Week twice, in December and again this past week. The all-defensive recognition isn’t just about blocks. Jones alters possessions before they develop. His combination of length, timing, and instincts made him one of the hardest covers in the conference all season. UNLV’s last all-defensive team selection was Luis Rodriguez in 2024. Jones earned it in year one.
UNLV has won six of its last nine.
The Rebels open the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Championship against Wyoming on Wednesday at noon. The conference recognized what these two players did over four months, mostly. There is one more stage to settle the rest.
When the game narrows, the decision isn’t complicated.
You know where the ball goes.
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