Hot-shooting UNLV overwhelms San Jose State

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Monday, Jan. 17, 2022 | 8:16 p.m.

UNLV got back to .500 in league play with a smooth-sailing 81-56 win at San Jose State on Monday.

The Scarlet and Gray nailed five of their first six 3-point attempts, jumped out to an 18-9 lead and never looked back. Kevin Kruger’s squad built a 44-29 advantage at the half and held San Jose State to 27 points on 32.0% shooting over the final 20 minutes. UNLV led by as many as 28 points and never let the margin shrink below 16 in the second half.

UNLV is now 2-2 against Mountain West competition and 10-7 overall. Kruger will take his team to Air Force on Thursday before coming home for the return game against San Jose State on Saturday.

A look at how UNLV got back in the win column:

Pass it around

One of Kruger’s continuing points of emphasis this season has been ball movement. It hasn’t been an easy thing for the players to accept and implement, but on Monday things seemed to click, if only for 40 minutes.

UNLV racked up 17 assists, and they came from a variety of sources. Jordan McCabe handed out five assists while leading scorers Bryce Hamilton and Donovan Williams notched three helpers apiece. Freshman guard Keshon Gilbert played 22 minutes and dished out three assists. Overall the ball moved as well as we’ve seen all season.

Was it a step in the right direction and a sign of things to come, or a one-game blip against one of the worst defensive teams in the nation? Kruger will certainly hope to see the passing trend continue on Thursday at Air Force.

Top pair produces

Once again the duo of Bryce Hamilton and Donovan Williams shouldered the offensive production, combining for 32 points on the night. Williams scored in double figures for the seventh straight game, totaling 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting; Hamilton struggled to convert around the rim and made just 4-of-16 overall, but he scored 12 points and played strong defense.

And as covered above, both of the team’s scoring wings were generous with the ball, dishing to the open man and combining for six assists.

The main takeaway from Monday’s game is how smoothly UNLV’s offense was able to function even with Hamilton having an off night. The Scarlet and Gray shot 50.0% as a team and enjoyed a 15-0 advantage in fast-break points. If they’re able to do that with their leading scorer playing “just okay,” that bodes well for nights when both Williams and Hamilton are hot.

Supporting cast steps up

It was a tough first half of the season for guards Mike Nuga and Justin Webster. Both averaged double figures last year at Kent State and Hawaii, respectively, and after transferring to UNLV they were expected to be key players. Instead, neither was able to integrate into the rotation through the first 16 games. Coming into Monday Nuga was scoring 6.8 points per game and Webster was at 3.9 points.

The win over San Jose State may prove to be a turning point. Nuga and Webster both looked more comfortable than at any point this year as they combined for 26 points off the bench.

Nuga shot the ball confidently from the perimeter and finished with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. Webster canned 2-of-3 from deep, made 5-of-6 overall and tied a season high (against Division-I competition) with 12 points.

Considering one of UNLV’s biggest issues this season has been untimely scoring droughts, having a deeper bench could prove invaluable down the stretch. If Nuga and Webster can build on this performance, Kruger would surely love to have more microwave-type options when the offense goes cold.

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