Live blog: UNLV knocks off Utah State, 70-53

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Published Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020 | 6 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020 | 10:11 p.m.

T.J. Otelberger has been urging his players to give more effort all season, and tonight he finally got it. The Rebels out-hustled Utah State for 40 minutes and started off the new year with a 70-53 win over Utah State.

The Rebels played superb defense, holding Mountain West Player of the Year Sam Merrill to 10 points on 2-of-6 shooting. Utah State made just 2-of-19 from 3-point range on the night, and UNLV out-rebounded the Aggies, 41-29.

Bryce Hamilton gave UNLV an offensive spark off the bench, as he scored a team-high 20 points in 22 minutes. Center Mbacke Diong was dominant in the post, with 10 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.

UNLV improves to 7-8 on the season and 2-0 in Mountain West play; the Rebels will have a good opportunity to move to 3-0 in league play on Saturday, when they host Air Force.

Rebels on verge of upsetting Utah State

UNLV is going to notch the first big win of T.J. Otzelberger's tenure tonight, as the Rebels have a 65-42 lead over Utah State with 4:34 to play.

The Rebels have simply played harder than Utah State tonight, and it especially showed on the last possession. Amauri Hardy dribbled into the open court, and though the Utah State defense got back in time, the man defender was late in picking up Hardy; that allowed the junior guard to drive for an uncontested layup to push the Rebels' lead to 24 points.

Hardy now has 14 points on the night. Bryce Hamilton leads UNLV with 17, while Mbacke Diong has put up 10 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.

UNLV up 15, looking to upset Utah State

Bryce Hamilton just brought the crowd at the Mack to its feet with a high-flying dunk, and UNLV has a 51-36 lead with 11:12 to play.

Hamilton now has a team-high 14 points in just 15 minutes, as he's hit 7-of-9 from the field. His dunk came after a Mbacke Diong block; the Rebels then passed ahead to Hamilton, who outran the Utah State defense for the breakaway slam.

The usually-efficient Utah State offense continues to struggle against UNLV. The Aggies are shooting 34.2 percent and have committed 11 turnovers.

Rebels lead Utah State at half, 37-26

UNLV held Utah State to 32.0-percent shooting in the first half, and at the break the Rebels have a surprising 37-26 lead.

Some of the Rebels' defensive performance can be chalked up to luck, as USU has missed several open 3-point shots, but much of it can be attributed to effort and execution. Mbacke Diong and Donnie Tillman have protected the rim well and Marvin Coleman has done an admirable job of sticking with Aggies' leading scorer Sam Merrill (eight points, 2-of-5 FGs).

UNLV did get a little sloppy on offense toward the end of the half, and a flurry of late turnovers kept the Rebels from extending their lead any further. If the Rebels can get back to taking care of the ball and making open shots, they might just have a chance of holding off Utah State's best shot over the final 20 minutes.

Rebels lead Utah State in first half

Could something special be happening at the Mack tonight?

The Rebels have started out strong and with 6:15 to play in the first half they've got a 22-17 lead over defending league champion Utah State.

The bad news for UNLV is that junior center Mbacke Diong just hit the floor hard and had to be helped off the court. Diong has been excellent tonight, with eight points, five rebounds and one block already. He has been replaced by senior big man Vitaliy Shibel.

Rebels hanging tight with Utah State

UNLV's margin of error is slim against Utah State, but so far the Rebels have managed to stay in it. With 11:59 to play in the first half, UNLV has an 11-10 lead.

Amauri Hardy started things off on the right note by hitting a 3-pointer on the first possession, and the next time down the court he hit Mbacke Diong on a pick-and-roll for an easy layup. A few minutes later, Hardy tossed an alley-oop to Diong for a dunk, one of several open shots the Rebels have generated against the Utah State defense.

UNLV has committed two turnovers, which bears monitoring. Head coach T.J. Otzelberger pointed to the turnover column as perhaps the most critical factor in the Rebels being competitive tonight.

Three keys for UNLV basketball vs. Utah State

UNLV kicks off Mountain West play in full on Wednesday against Utah State, and the Rebels will be heavy underdogs to the defending league champ.

What will the Rebels have to do in order to position themselves to pull an upset? Three keys to watch:

Cover the shooter

Shooters don't come much better than Utah State senior Sam Merrill. The reigning MWC Player of the Year is hitting better than 44 percent of his 3-point attempts and everything the Aggies do on offense stems from the way defenses have to account for Merrill.

If Elijah Mitrou-Long were healthy, he would have probably drawn the primary assignment to cover Merrill, but in his absence it will likely be sophomore guard Marvin Coleman checking him for much of the game.

Coleman said it will take a team effort to limit Merrill.

"I think all five guys on the court need to know where he is at all times," Coleman said. "A guy like that, we have to key in on and make sure he doesn't get hot. We're probably going to try to deny his catch a lot and make things tough on him. We can't just let him move freely and get to spots where he wants to go."

Hit the glass

With All-MWC center Neemias Queta possibly sitting out this game due to injury, there may be an opportunity for UNLV to win the battle on the offensive glass. The Rebels have had success in that area this year; they rank No. 11 in the nation in offensive rebounding rate, as they grab 35.7 percent of their missed shots.

Utah State is pretty good on the defensive boards. Even with Queta only playing 72 minutes this season, the Aggies are still big and formidable on the front line, posting a defensive rebounding rate of 78.6 percent (No. 35 nationally).

If UNLV commits to crashing and collecting its own missed shots, the extra opportunities and second-chance points could help keep the game close.

Possess the ball

Turnovers have been an ongoing issue for UNLV and it's not likely to improve all that much this year; the Rebels average giveaways on 22.2 percent of possessions, which is 317^th in the country, and this is largely who the Rebels are at this point. But they might be able to get away with it against Utah State.

The Aggies have a top-50 defensive according to efficiency metrics, but forcing turnovers is not a focus — they create turnovers on just 17.0 percent of possessions, which is No. 186 in the nation.

The plan should be for UNLV guards control the ball, avoid risky passes and keep the turnovers to single digits.

TV: CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.

UNLV: 6-8, 1-0 MWC (KenPom No. 175)

Coach: T.J. Otzelberger

Leading scorer: Amauri Hardy, 15.2 points per game

Leading rebounder: Mbacke Diong, 9.1 rebounds per game

Leading assists: Elijah Mitrou-Long, 3.8 assists per game

Utah State: 13-2, 2-0 MWC (KenPom No. 49)

Coach: Craig Smith

Leading scorer: Sam Merrill, 17.7 points per game

Leading rebounder: Justin Bean, 11.4 rebounds per game

Leading assists: Sam Merrill, 3.9 assists per game

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