Live blog: Rebels pull away from Wyoming, 68-56

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Published Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 | 5:10 p.m.

Updated Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 | 9:02 p.m.

After a slow start, UNLV turned up the intensity and pulled away from Wyoming over the final 20 minutes for a 68-56 victory. 

Joel Ntambwe caught fire early in the second half and finished with 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting. 

UNLV is now 8-6 on the season and 2-0 in Mountain West play, the first time they've won two straight to open conference play in more than a decade. 

Wyoming guard Justin James came into the game averaging 21.3 points per game, but he was held to 15 on 5-of-16 shooting. Wyoming shot 40.8 percent for the game. 

Rebels surge to big lead over Wyoming

Another 10-0 run has propelled UNLV to its biggest lead of the night, and with 7:43 remaining, the Rebels have a comfortable 56-41 lead over Wyoming.

Joel Ntambwe is up to 29 points on 10-of-14 shooting, and Noah Robotham and Amauri Hardy have combined for 11 assists and one turnover.

Wyoming has made just 3-of-15 from the field in the second half, and the Cowboys are 0-of-4 from 3-point range. UNLV has applied defensive pressure in the backcourt and it has led to five second-half turnovers.

Rebels start second half hot, lead Wyoming

The Rebels ran off 10 consecutive points early in the second half and have taken a 44-38 lead with 13:58 to play.

Joel Ntambwe was the catalyst, as he knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight straight to give UNLV the lead. Ntambwe now has a career-high 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

The Rebels have also revved up their defense to start the half, holding Wyoming without a field goal for almost five minutes. Wyoming is now shooting 13-of-30 for the game (43.3 percent).

UNLV trails Wyoming at halftime

Despite never finding a consistent rhythm on offense over the first 20 minutes, a late spurt has allowed UNLV to go into halftime trailing Wyoming by just two points, 32-30.

The Rebels made just 11-of-33 from the field (33.3 percent), but unlike most other games, they were not able to offset that with offensive rebounding; UNLV grabbed just four offensive boards and scored just five second-chance points. Joel Ntambwe was the key to keeping the Rebels close, as he tallied 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Wyoming guard Justin James started hot, but finished the first half with 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Freshman center Hunter Thompson has been more of a thorn in the Rebels' side, as he's got 15 points on 5-of-8 FGs (3-of-5 3FGs).

Slow start for Rebels vs. Wyoming

UNLV has gotten off to a slow start offensively, and Wyoming has ridden Justin James to a 16-11 lead with 11:46 left in the first half.

The Rebels are struggling to create good shots against Wyoming's zone defense, and so far UNLV has made just 4-of-11 from the field. Freshman Joel Ntambwe has eight of those points, mostly from flashing to the middle of the zone and popping short jumpers.

James has been a handful on the other end. The senior guard already has 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Marvin Menzies may have to tweak his defensive game plan if James continues to dominate like that.

Three keys for UNLV basketball vs. Wyoming

Coming off a comeback win over Colorado State, the Runnin’ Rebels will look to add another conference win on Saturday when Wyoming visits the Thomas & Mack Center.

Will it come down to the final seconds again? Three keys to watch:

Keep working new lineup

Marvin Menzies tweaked his starting lineup against CSU, putting just one big man on the floor and inserting Amauri Hardy as a third guard. It worked, as Hardy played a tremendous game (11 points, nine assists, one turnover) and helped UNLV dig out of a late hole to win at the buzzer.

Menzies should stick with a similar approach against Wyoming, not only to take advantage of Hardy’s emergence, but to help the Rebels match up better when Wyoming spreads the floor with multiple shooters. Playing two big men at the same time would make it difficult to defend an offense that features Justin James (21.3 points per game), Trace Young (63.6 3FG%), Hunter Thompson (44.7 3FG%) and Jake Hendricks (42.5 3FG%).

Defend James

James is one of the Mountain West’s most unique players. He’s a long, 6-foot-7 guard, but he doesn’t beat teams with his outside shooting (25.4 3FG%); James is a strong ball-handler, cutter and transition scorer, and he can do damage in different ways. Slowing him down requires a versatile primary defender as well as a team-wide defensive concept.

Senior Kris Clyburn will probably draw the initial assignment on James tonight, because Menzies trusts his experience. If Clyburn can’t handle him, there aren’t a lot of other options — Joel Ntambwe is playing more power forward these days, and the rest of the Rebels’ wings are freshmen. Look for Clyburn to play a big part in whether the Rebels win or lose.

Get Hamilton some run

Bryce Hamilton is supposed to be a long-term building block for UNLV, but over the last six games the freshman has played just 12.5 minutes per contest. He’s attempted just 4.3 field goals per game. That’s not enough development time for such a crucial piece of the rebuilding effort.

Hamilton hasn’t played great basketball over the last month, but it might make sense for Menzies to let him learn on the job and play through some mistakes. It would be unwise to stick Hamilton on James, but there will be opportunities to keep Clyburn on James and let Hamilton play extended minutes while defending one of Wyoming’s spot-up shooters. It should be interesting to see if Menzies prioritizes playing time for his star freshman.

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