UNLV Gets One More Shot, and the Rebels Are Treating It Like It Matters

LAS VEGAS — Just when it looked like UNLV’s season had quietly slipped into the offseason, the Rebels got something they clearly wanted: one more chance to play.

One more practice. One more plane ride. One more game that still means something.

And if Monday’s media availability said anything, it was this: UNLV is not walking into the NIT like a team going through the motions. The Rebels sound like a group that genuinely wants more basketball, and for a first-year staff trying to rebuild a program’s identity, that matters.

Josh Pastner made that point over and over ahead of Tuesday night’s first-round NIT matchup at UC Irvine. The message was simple, direct and very much on brand with the tone he has tried to establish all year.

“Obviously, we’re excited to be able to continue to play and compete,” Pastner said. “The ultimate goal is the NCAA tournament, but if not, you want to continue to play.”

Then came the line that felt like the true heartbeat of the afternoon.

“You can’t be laying in a fetal position and just want to stay down on the canvas,” Pastner said. “You gotta get up and fight back.”

That is the lens UNLV is carrying into Irvine.

The Rebels are not pretending the Mountain West Tournament loss to Utah State sat well. Pastner said the second half still lingers, especially after 19 turnovers, missed free throws, missed open shots and defensive letdowns kept UNLV from mounting a real push. But instead of letting that be the final image of Year 1, the Rebels now have another shot to answer it.

For a program that has spent months talking about culture, response and competitiveness, that opportunity feels bigger than just one postseason game.

Pastner said everybody is in. Nobody opted out. Nobody hesitated. In an era when postseason invitations outside the NCAA tournament can get treated like an inconvenience, UNLV’s coach made it clear that was not the mood inside his locker room. He even said one player came right back after leaving for spring break because he was excited the Rebels were still playing.

“Everybody’s playing,” Pastner said. “Everyone’s here and everyone’s ready to go.”

That enthusiasm was echoed by Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, who described waking up from a nap to a call from Pastner telling him UNLV was heading to the NIT.

“For me, that’s still good news,” Gibbs-Lawhorn said. “I love to play, I love to compete.”

It did not sound like a player looking for the finish line. It sounded like a player who understood there was still something left to chase.

Gibbs-Lawhorn called the NIT a historic tournament and said he was excited just to be part of it. But his most telling quote came when he explained why this extra basketball matters for a program trying to build momentum into the future.

“We need all of the momentum we can get,” Gibbs-Lawhorn said. “Even to help this thing grow for next year… the NIT is one of those places to do it.”

That line says a lot about where UNLV is right now.

This team is not where it wants to be. The NCAA tournament is the standard. But for a rebuilding program still trying to stack belief, identity and continuity, another meaningful game in March matters. Another road test matters. More practice time matters. Carrying energy into the offseason matters.

And the challenge waiting Tuesday night is real.

Pastner praised UC Irvine as one of the premier programs on the West Coast and credited longtime coach Russell Turner for building a team around toughness, grit and consistency — traits Pastner openly said he wants reflected in his own program.

He also highlighted one major problem the Rebels will have to solve: Irvine’s rim protection.

Pastner said the Anteaters feature the nation’s leading shot blocker, which makes composure and footwork especially important around the basket. That point led directly back to what he believes UNLV got wrong against Utah State.

“We didn’t play off of two feet like we’re taught,” Pastner said. “We were playing off of one foot… and against Irvine, you have to play off of two feet.”

Gibbs-Lawhorn echoed the same emphasis almost word for word.

“Get in the paint, play off two feet,” he said. “That’s been something even for me that I’ve struggled with… just trying to make the right read.”

That alignment matters. It shows the coaching point landed. The question now is whether UNLV can execute it when the game speeds up.

Monday’s session also pulled back the curtain again on the larger rebuild Pastner is trying to sell in Las Vegas.

He said he is proud of the progress made in Year 1, pointing to player development, regular-season sweeps of Utah State and Boise State, a road win at Stanford and the faster, harder-playing identity UNLV has shown in stretches. He also admitted there is still plenty left to fix, which has become one of the defining parts of his public tone: high energy, high belief and no real attempt to hide the work still ahead.

Pastner also gave one of his most revealing answers when discussing the future of roster building. Asked about the role of a general manager in college basketball, he made it clear UNLV is operating in a different world than the power-conference giants. Fundraising, roster management and resource allocation are all part of his daily reality, and he said he remains deeply hands-on in all of it.

That led into the kind of quote that feels like it could define this era if the rebuild ever fully clicks.

“I believe this program can be a sleeping giant,” Pastner said. “The trees just need to be rattled and awoken.”

That is the dream UNLV is selling.

Not just getting back to relevance, but waking up a program and fan base that still remembers what this place can feel like when the building matters and the games mean something late in the season.

Pastner even touched on that while discussing the possibility of an eventual NBA team in Las Vegas. He said more competition is inevitable, but his answer kept coming back to the same truth: if UNLV wins, people will come. If the Rebels play meaningful basketball, the energy can return.

That is why Tuesday matters, even if it is not the stage UNLV ultimately wants.

The NIT is not the goal. It is not the finish line. It does not erase the frustration of missing the NCAA tournament. But it does offer one more test for a team still trying to define itself, one more chance to respond to disappointment, and one more opportunity to prove that the words Pastner has spent all season preaching are beginning to become real.

UNLV gets another night.

Another chance to compete.

Another chance to show that this team is not interested in ending the season flat.

And for a program trying to wake up, maybe that is exactly the kind of March game that still matters.