‘No moral victory’: Rebels disappointed in loss to No. 4 San Diego State

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020 | 4:08 p.m.

A month ago, a four-point loss to the No. 4 team in the country would have been a positive development for UNLV. On Sunday, however, there was no moral victory — just frustration for a resurgent Rebels team that now expects to win.

San Diego State continued its quest for a perfect season by defeating UNLV, 71-67 at the Thomas & Mack Center, and afterward the Rebels didn’t want to hear about how they went toe-to-toe with the Mountain West favorites.

Point guard Marvin Coleman refrained from throwing bouquets at SDSU and instead focused on the reality that UNLV let a winnable game slip away.

“There’s no moral victory for us,” Coleman said. “We want to win games. That was a good team. That was a credit to them, they took advantage when we made mistakes.”

Going up against one of the nation’s best defensive teams, UNLV predictably struggled to generate consistent offense. Sophomore guard Bryce Hamilton carried most of the load, as he scored 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting, but the rest of the team finished 14-of-38.

San Diego State jumped out to a nine-point lead in the first half and led at the break, 34-28. After UNLV clawed back to take a 45-43 lead midway through the second half, San Diego State clamped down on defense and held the Rebels scoreless for nearly six minutes. By the time UNLV ended the drought, SDSU had regained a 50-45 advantage.

The Rebels played catch-up from that point on, but no matter how many times Hamilton put the ball through the basket San Diego State came back with an answer. It was 55-52 in favor of the Aztecs when Jordan Schakel snaked through the UNLV defense for a layup to extend the lead, and a turnover on UNLV’s ensuing possession led to a Malachi Flynn breakaway layup. He was fouled on the play and converted the free throw to make it 60-52 with less than three minutes to play.

Coleman then hit a 3-pointer and Mbacke Diong finished a layup inside to pull UNLV within 63-58 with 1:05 to play, but Trey Pulliam connected on a slashing bank shot with 33 seconds left to secure the win.

San Diego State looked every bit like a Final Four contender in improving to 21-0 (10-0 Mountain West). The Aztecs committed only six turnovers and made 18-of-21 from the free throw line.

UNLV coach T.J. Otzelberger called San Diego State an “elite” team and said the Aztecs’ poise in the second half was the biggest difference in the game.

“Offensively they don’t turn the basketball over,” Otzelberger said. “They don’t make mistakes…Defensively, they’re always in the right spot at the right time. So it’s not that they make heroic plays, it’s just that they’re so sound over and over again.”

Point guard Malachi Flynn led San Diego State with 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting, but it was Pulliam who did the most damage to the Rebels’ cause. The junior guard came off the bench and scored 18 points on 6-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range.

UNLV dropped to 11-11 on the season and 6-3 in the Mountain West. After opening conference play 6-1, the Rebels have lost two in a row and are now tied with UNR for second place in the league standings at the midway point of the season.

While San Diego State pursues its goal of an undefeated season, UNLV will now have five days off before having to travel to face Colorado State on Saturday

Coleman, who posted 11 points and six rebounds, said he expects his team to show some resolve over the second half of the Mountain West schedule.

“We had a stretch like this at the beginning of the year, so it’s nothing new to us,” Coleman said. “Our season’s not over — nowhere near over.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.