Blog: Colorado State pulls off comeback, drops UNLV to 9-6 overall

By Taylor Bern

Published Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016 | 5:13 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016 | 9:10 p.m.

Colorado State 66, UNLV 65

Game over

The Rebels led by five with 50 seconds left and then managed to squander the lead they had worked so hard to get and lost 66-65 at Colorado State tonight. UNLV is now 9-6 overall and 0-2 in Mountain West play.

CSU's John Gillon hit 1-of-2 free throws with 1.1 seconds left for the final go-ahead points, and that was after a crazy back and forth that saw UNLV take a 10-point lead with a 23-4 run before blowing that lead down the stretch. Ben Carter led all scorers with 16 points and his high-low offensive game with Stephen Zimmerman Jr. was a big part of that run, as was that duo's defensive rebounding.

Jalen Poyser scored 12 on six shots and UNLV shot 56 percent in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome 18 turnovers. And when UNLV's offense most needed points to keep CSU at bay, they either came up empty or couldn't take advantage at the free-throw line, where Zimmerman missed a front-end in the final minute.

UNLV stays on the road to play at Wyoming on Saturday. Check lasvegassun.com later tonight for a full report from the Rebels' defeat.

Pat McCaw taking over as UNLV’s primary point guard is a move a lot of people, myself included, have wanted to see. Now it’s time to find out how big of a difference it makes to the Rebels offense against another experienced but struggling Mountain West foe.

UNLV (9-5, 0-1) tips off against Colorado State (8-6, 0-1) at 7 p.m. Las Vegas time. The game will air on CBS Sports Network.

UNLV coach Dave Rice plans to announce his starting lineup on the pregame radio show, but what we already know is that McCaw will replace senior Jerome Seagears at point guard. Seagears could still start as the 2 or he might come off the bench in a backcourt rotation with Ike Nwamu and Jordan Cornish while freshman Jalen Poyser moves up the point guard depth chart.

At minimum, getting the ball into McCaw’s hands more should increase his usage rate and that’s a good thing considering he’s the most efficient player on the roster. The Rebels have been trying to get McCaw to tap more into his aggression and handing him more responsibility could be an effective way to do that.

Either way, Rice still trusts everyone on the floor to be an outlet passer and if playing with an uptempo pace is still the stated goal — and it is — then on many possessions it won’t matter who’s getting UNLV into its offense, because the offense should be transition-based. But as we’ve seen, less than 20 percent of UNLV’s possessions this season are in transition to it has very much mattered who’s running the show. And quite frankly, McCaw and Poyser have looked like the best options for the gig for more than a month now.

Prediction: This move could be a needed jolt for the Rebels, who have been bet up to 4.5-point favorites. That’s too many points for me but I’ll pick Rice to get his first-ever win at Moby Arena. UNLV 78, Colorado State 74

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.