Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Bryce Hamilton delivers for UNLV in double-overtime win at Fresno State

1105_sun_UNLVMastodons2

Steve Marcus

UNLV Rebels guard Bryce Hamilton (13) drives to the basket against the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons at the Thomas & Mack Center Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019.

The Rebel Room

Basketbrawl

Mike Grimala and Case Keefer close out the football season by talking about UNLV keeping the Fremont Cannon, and the post-fight brawl, before switching to basketball where the Rebels continue to fall in tight games.

Bryce Hamilton scored a career-high 21 points to lead UNLV to a double-overtime win at Fresno State on Wednesday, but the sophomore's scoring touch may have been the least impressive aspect of his breakout performance.

Hamilton, a former 4-star recruit who has always been known for getting buckets, contributed in just about every way possible to help the Rebels claim the 81-80 victory. He pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, including five offensive boards (both also career highs), and played the kind of energetic defense that coach T.J. Otzelberger has been asking of him all season.

And when the game was on the line, Hamilton pulled out his old calling card by scoring 10 of his 21 points in the two overtime periods.

It was the kind of all-around performance that UNLV will need from Hamilton, especially with news breaking before the game that starting point guard Elijah Mitrou-Long will miss the next 6-8 weeks with a thumb injury.

Hamilton started in place of Mitrou-Long and did it all.

"With Bryce, as a sophomore we've seen glimpses and moments from him," Otzelberger said. "I think tonight was the first time he played a really complete game. I think his rebounding effort, if he'll rebound it that way — I mean 14 rebounds, five on the offensive end — I think everything else will come to him. And I think the points come to him because of his tenacity on the glass."

UNLV trailed by five with less than a minute to play in regulation when sophomore Marvin Coleman stepped forward and hit a big 3-pointer to trim the deficit to two points. On Fresno State's ensuing inbounds play, Hamilton trapped the ball-handler in the corner and deflected the ball out of bounds off FSU.

Hamilton followed up his key defensive play by driving, spinning and banking in a mid-range shot with six seconds left to tie the game at 65-65 and send it to overtime.

"I knew that it was a two-point game, so I was just trying to get the tie and go to overtime," Hamilton said. "Just get the best shot for us."

Hamilton opened the first OT period by drilling a 3-pointer, and Donnie Tillman closed it by making 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to tie the game with 10 seconds remaining. Fresno State missed on the final possession and the game trekked into double OT.

Hamilton again opened the second overtime by making a 3, and after three minutes of scoreless back-and-forth he gave UNLV a 77-72 advantage by driving, grabbing his own offensive rebound and putting it back in off the glass. UNLV led 79-75 with 32 seconds remaining when Hamilton made two free throws to all but seal it.

Fresno State did get one final chance to tie after an Amauri Hardy turnover with 14 seconds left, but a potential tying 3-pointer from Noah Blackwell bounced off the rim. Fresno forward Nate Grimes rebounded it and scored on a putback to pull the Bulldogs within a single point, but with just one second on the clock UNLV simply inbounded to run out the clock on its first road win of the season.

The Rebels are now 1-0 in Mountain West play, but perhaps more importantly they picked up their first victory in a close game. They had been 0-3 in overtime games and 0-4 in games decided by five points or less — until Hamilton got this game for them.

Tillman led UNLV with 28 points, while Hardy contributed 18.

Hamilton said the Rebels' previous overtime failures helped them win on Wednesday.

"It's huge," Hamilton said. "A lot of our players stepped up, including me and Donnie. We had Marv come in and give big minutes for us. Nick [Blair] stepped up. And we got the good win.

"We've been in these situations before," he continued, "so we knew what we had to go through to get this dub."

On a night when UNLV really needed Hamilton to deliver on his 4-star potential, he hit 7-of-18 from the field, knocked down 3-of-8 from beyond the arc and dished out four assists, with just one turnover in his 41 minutes.

"I'm just really proud of him for answering the call," Otzelberger said.

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

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