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March 29, 2024

Live blog: Rebels hold off Fresno State in double OT, 81-80

UNLV beats Jackson 80-57

Las Vegas News Bureau

Jackson State Tigers guard Tristan Jarrett (4) defends UNLV Rebels guard Amauri Hardy (3) during their NCAA basketball game Tuesday, November 26, 2019, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. (Sam Morris/Las Vegas News Bureau)

Updated Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019 | 9:28 p.m.

The Rebels finally have their first quality win of the season, as they held off Fresno State, 81-80 in double overtime. 

UNLV had been 0-3 in overtime games this season and 0-4 in games decided by five points or less, so grinding out this victory on the road to start Mountain West play has to feel good. Bryce Hamilton was the hero, as he scored 21 points and collected 14 rebounds (both career highs). Ten of his points came in the overtime periods. 

Donnie Tillman led the Rebels with 28 points, while Amauri Hardy contributed 18. 

The Rebels are now 4-6 on the season and will resume non-conference play on Saturday when they head to BYU.

UNLV and Fresno going to second overtime

Donnie Tillman made 1-of-2 from the free throw line with 10 seconds to play to tie the game, and we are headed to a second overtime in Fresno.

After Tillman made the first and missed the second free throw, Fresno State attempted a full-court pass that was deflected away by Tillman. Amauri Hardy came up with the loose ball and raced into the frontcourt, but his runner bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

UNLV is 0-3 in overtime games so far this season; could they be 1-0 in double overtime games after this one?

UNLV heading to OT (again) at Fresno State

For the fourth time already this season, UNLV is heading to overtime.

Bryce Hamilton banked in a short jumper with six seconds left to tie the game, 65-65, and now the Rebels will try to win their first OT game, as they're 0-3 in extra time this year (including a 72-65 defeat at Cincinnati three days ago.

Marvin Coleman came up clutch on UNLV's prior possession, nailing a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two. After Hamilton and Amauri Hardy combined to steal the inbound pass, Hamilton drove the lane and made the biggest bucket of the game so far.

Fresno State leads UNLV late, 52-51

Bryce Hamilton just grabbed his own offensive rebound and scored the putback to pull UNLV within 52-51 with six minutes remaining.

The Rebels and Fresno State have been going back and forth for the past 10 minutes, with Donnie Tillman and Amauri Hardy shouldering most of the offensive load. Tillman has a game-high 20 points, while Hardy is up to 15.

Fresno State is shooting 43.8 percent in the second half and continues to beat UNLV from deep, as the Bulldogs are now 10-of-26 from 3-point range. UNLV has hit just four 3-pointers tonight.

Rebels coming back, trail 38-36 at Fresno State

UNLV opened the second half with a 10-2 run, and with 15:37 remaining Fresno State leads, 38-36.

Donnie Tillman has been the catalyst for the Rebels, as he opened the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer and followed it up with two driving buckets. Tillman now has a game-high 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

Fresno State has gone to a 2-3 zone defense on a bunch of possessions as the game has gone along, but UNLV has attacked it with success. The last time Fresno went to it, Bryce Hamilton sliced into the middle and found Mbacke Diong for an alley-oop dunk.

Fresno State leads UNLV at half, 31-25

UNLV fell behind by as many as 12 points late in the first half, but a mini-surge allowed the Rebels to close within 31-25 at the break.

It's been ugly to the extreme, as neither team has much offensive talent to speak of, but the difference has been Fresno's 3-point shooting. The Bulldogs are 7-of-17 from beyond the arc while UNLV is just 2-of-8. Whichever team shoots it better from deep in the second half is probably going to win, as there's nothing else to differentiate the two squads.

Donnie Tillman has stepped up in the absence of Elijah Mitrou-Long, scoring a team-high 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting. Amauri Hardy and Mbacke Diong have scored six points apiece.

Fresno State takes 26-17 lead over UNLV

In a low-scoring game, 3-point shooting can make the difference. And right now, it's advantage Fresno State.

The Bulldogs have hit four straight from long distance to take a 26-17 lead over UNLV with 2:05 left in the first half.

Neither team is playing well on offense, but Fresno State managed to find the range first and now UNLV is in trouble. The game was tied, 14-14, before FSU connected on four straight trips to open a 12-point lead. Amauri Hardy finally ended the run with a 3-pointer of his own (and UNLV's first of the game).

UNLV has early 6-5 lead at Fresno State

Scoring has been at a premium so far, and with 11:50 left in the first half UNLV has a 6-5 lead at Fresno State.

The Rebels have made just 3-of-9 shots from the field, and leading scorer Amauri Hardy is scoreless (0-of-2 FGs) as he adjusts to life without the injured Elijah Mitrou-Long beside him in the backcourt. Defensively UNLV has responded, however, holding Fresno State to 0.38 points per possession so far.

As crazy as it sounds, the scoring pace may not pick up significantly tonight. These are two offensively-challenged teams and right now they're playing like it.

Elijah Mitrou-Long out for 6-8 weeks

UNLV is going to be without starting point guard Elijah Mitrou-Long tonight and for the next couple months, as a broken left thumb is expected to sideline the senior for the next 6-8 weeks.

Mitrou-Long broke the thumb in practice on Monday, according to a team spokesman.

That will leave the already-thin Rebels without a key contributor for the start of Mountain West play. Mitrou-Long averaged 36.1 minutes through the team's first nine games (second only to Amauri Hardy) and led the team in assists at 3.8 per game.

In his absence, T.J. Otzelberger will likely turn to sophomore Marvin Coleman as the next man up at point guard. He could also shift more ball-handling duties on to Hardy and give sophomore Bryce Hamilton an increased role at shooting guard.

Three keys for UNLV basketball at Fresno State

Coming off Saturday's heartbreaking loss at Cincinnati, the Rebels will look to open conference play today by snagging their first Mountain West win — and their first road win — of the season.

Three keys to watch as UNLV takes on Fresno State:

Minimize droughts

The biggest issue plaguing UNLV this season is an inconsistent offensive attack. The Rebels lapse into long stretches where ball movement dissipates, and that leads to extended scoring droughts. The team suffered through two long droughts in the second half against Cincinnati that helped the Bearcats erase a double-digit deficit in no time, and that will keep happening to UNLV until they figure out how to score consistently.

Look for T.J. Otzelberger to save his timeouts and use them to stem those second-half droughts as best he can.

Get Tillman involved

Junior forward Donnie Tillman hasn't produced up to expectations since transferring in from Utah over the offseason, but the talent is still there for him to be a big-time contributor. But is he prepared to seize his opportunity? He came off the bench against Cincinnati as punishment for being late to a team activity; he'll have to show up on time and ready to give his best effort today, especially if he's matched up against Fresno State forward Nate Grimes.

Grimes is a Las Vegas native who seems to love sticking it to UNLV, and the majority of his production comes around the basket. He's currently hitting 72.2 percent of his shots around the rim, which leads the Bulldogs. UNLV needs Tillman and its other big men to limit Grimes on the interior.

Win a close one

UNLV is 0-4 in close games this season, and Otzelberger thinks it's more about mentality than X's and O's. The Rebels still have to learn what kind of plays win games in the final minutes, and then they've got to execute them. That hasn't happened so far and the team's record in tight games reflects those failures.

Otzelberger and leading scorer Amauri Hardy agree that one such victory could get the Rebels over the hump and make it easier to start taking close games regularly. With tonight's game likely to be a low-scoring affair, UNLV may get another shot at a clutch win soon.

TV: AT&T SportsNet, 7 p.m.

Betting line: Fresno State -4.5; over/under 125.5

UNLV: 3-6

Coach: T.J. Otzelberger

Leading scorer: Amauri Hardy, 17.7 points per game

Leading rebounder: Mbacke Diong, 10.6 rebounds per game

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

Fresno State: 2-4

Coach: Justin Hutson

Leading scorer: Jarred Hyder, 17.8 points per game

Leading rebounder: Nate Grimes, 9.5 rebounds per game

Leading assists: Mustafa Lawrence, 2.8 assists per game

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

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