Runnin Rebels vs San Jose State

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Runnin’ Rebels (10-9,5-1) | San Jose State Spartans (6-13,2-5)

 

UNLV scores their season-high in a convincing victory over San Jose State, 98-87.

 

With the win, the Runnin’ Rebels improve their record to over .500 and now sit at second place in the Mountain West standings. The only team ahead of them is nationally seventh-ranked and undefeated San Diego State. Auburn lost earlier in the night to Alabama, which now makes San Diego State the last remaining undefeated team in the country.

UNLV will face SDSU next Sunday, but they will have to put their focus on the two tough games that lie ahead of them before the Aztecs. This week, the Runnin’ Rebels will have to play New Mexico at home and then travel up north to play UNR. The game this Saturday against New Mexico is a big one because they are the team sitting right behind UNLV in third place in the conference standings. They dropped earlier in the night to third after losing just their fourth game of the season on the road to Colorado State, 105-72.

Back to this game against San Jose State, the Runnin’ Rebels had six players score in double-figures, led by sophomore guard Marvin Coleman. He scored 17 points along with dishing out a game-high eight assists. Coleman shot 3-7 (42.8%) from the field, 2-6 (33%) from the three, and was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, 9-10 (90%).

Sophomore guard Bryce Hamilton continued his streak of scoring in double-figures in conference play with 16 points, shooting 6-10 (60%) from the floor and being perfect from the charity stripe, 4-4. Junior guard and team co-captain Amauri Hardy also scored 16 points on 6-8 (75%) shooting, while also matching the game-high eight assists. Junior guard Jonah Antonio contributed 15 points all from three-pointers, while also grabbing five rebounds.

Junior forward, Mbacke Diong posted another double-double with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Diong shot 6-10 (60%) from the field, including a long two that was initially called for a three-pointer. Junior forward Donnie Tillman rounded out the list of guys who scored in double-figures with 10 points while grabbing five rebounds. The reigning Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year struggled a bit shooting from the floor but was perfect from the charity stripe, 8-8.

San Jose State was led by their leading scorer on the season, sophomore guard Seneca Knight, who had a game-high 30 points. The Lafayette, Louisiana native shot 7-16 (43.7%) from the floor and 4-10 (40%) from beyond the arc. Knight did a great job of drawing fouls, which resulted in a game-high 15 free-throw attempts. Three other players scored in double-figures for the Spartans. Junior guard Richard Washington scored 12, sophomore forward Christian Anigwe had 10, and sophomore guard Kaison Hammonds also contributed 10 points.

San Jose State head coach Jean Prioleau received the only technical foul of the game early in the first half when he argued heavily with a referee about a call. Shortly after, a player sitting at the end of the Spartans’ bench got into a heated exchange with people in the crowd. He was then escorted into the locker room, smacking a lit-up sign and punching a wall on his way there. He never returned out to the court and was ejected from the game.

Although being content with the victory, UNLV head coach TJ Otzelberger said he was unhappy with how the team played defense overall, committing 23 fouls. When asked what they can learn from this game, he replied, “Well, we are going to learn how to play defense tomorrow in practice when we watch the film.”

Despite committing more fouls, the Runnin’ Rebels dominantly won the rebounding battle, 45-23.

 

UNLV will play New Mexico on Saturday, Jan. 18, at 3pm inside the Thomas & Mack Center. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network and can be heard live on ESPN Radio 1100 AM.

 

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Isaiah Torres

Twitter: Isaiah_Torres24

 

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Bryce Hamilton Donnie Tillman Elijah Mitrou-Long Marvin Coleman Mountain West Conference NCAA Basketball recap Runnin' Rebels Basketball TJ Otzelberger UNLV Mens Basketball UNLV Mens BB UNLV Runnin' Rebels