UNLV scores tough win over Wyoming in home finale

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Wednesday, March 2, 2022 | 10:56 p.m.

This UNLV team is tough.

Kevin Kruger’s squad certainly proved that on Wednesday by outlasting Wyoming, 64-57, thanks to a tremendous team-wide defensive effort against one of the Mountain West’s top scoring squads.

Wyoming came into the contest ranked No. 42 in the nation in offensive efficiency, trailing only Colorado State among MWC teams, but UNLV held the Cowboys to 34.4% from the field (21-of-61) and 7-of-26 from 3-point range.

Senior center Royce Hamm led the charge, taking on the assignment of defending Wyoming leading scorer Graham Ike. With virtually no help defenders to assist him, Hamm went 1-on-1 with Ike for the majority of the game and won the battle.

Ike is averaging 20.3 points per game on the season, but Hamm and UNLV limited him to a pedestrian 14 points on 6-of-19 shooting.

The gameplan was simple, but not easy. Hamm was tasked with pushing Ike off the low block before the catch, and when the big man did secure an entry pass, Hamm had to erect a one-man wall to keep the Cowboys’ top scorer from getting any easy buckets.

Hamm and junior center David Muoka combined to do exactly that, forcing Ike to take mostly contested shots over their outstretched arms.

After the game, Hamm detailed the physical and mental toughness it took to keep Ike in check.

“First thing, they give him the ball every possession,” Hamm said. “That was kind of tough in itself. Knowing the position, knowing your feet, doing your work early on him knowing they run the offense through him. I think most of the time we just focused on making him finish over us, not around us. If he’s got to finish over us and through us, we’ll live with those shots because we know we’re a great defensive team and we knew we’d secure the rebound.”

Kruger saluted all his post defenders — Hamm, Muoka, Victor Iwuakor and Donovan Williams — for one of the best performances of the season.

“Those guys are not easy to guard,” Kruger said. “It’s not easy to play defense in the post. It’s tough. And when you’ve got multiple guys that are that comfortable with their back to the basket like Wyoming has, all you can do is compete and battle each play. And I thought we did that.”

Hamm didn’t just play lock-down defense — the 6-foot-9, 225-pounder showed off his shooting touch by knocking down three 3-pointers. Hamm finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, both team highs.

While the defense hemmed in Ike, the UNLV offense had to work just as hard to point points on the board. Bryce Hamilton saw constant double teams on every touch, and Wyoming’s length seemed to bother him as he connected on just 3-of-15 from the field. Hamilton did get to the free-throw line consistently (8-of-8) to produce 15 points, and he took advantage of the aggressive defensive scheme by dishing out a team-high four assists.

Despite not getting his shot to drop at his normal rate, Hamilton was more than happy with the victory, which improved UNLV to 18-12 on the season and 10-7 in Mountain West play.

“Aw man, it feels great,” Hamilton said. “At the end of the day the win matters. Our guys stepped up big time.”

Under normal circumstances, the dagger in any UNLV win would be delivered by Hamilton, but against Wyoming it was reserve guard Justin Webster who twisted the blade.

UNLV led, 58-53, with the ball and two minutes on the clock when Webster missed an open 3-point attempt. Wyoming could not secure the rebound, however, and the Scarlet and Gray got a second opportunity; with the shot clock ticking down, Webster received a pass, performed a quick stepback maneuver and swished a long 2-point jumper with 1:33 remaining to seal it.

Aside from the big shot, Webster played a splendid game with 11 points in 20 minutes off the bench.

“I kind of missed the first shot to seal it,” Webster said. “Luckily we got the ball back and I knew time was running down so I knew I had to get something up. I was able to create enough space and get the shot up and it went in, so we’ll take it.”

UNLV remains in fifth place in the Mountain West with only Saturday’s road tilt at New Mexico remaining on the regular-season schedule. Wyoming’s loss dropped the Cowboys to fourth place, potentially setting up a quick rematch between UNLV and Wyoming in the MWC tournament quarterfinals on Thursday if the current standings hold.

After the defensive performance UNLV put forth on Wednesday, Kruger’s team would have to feel confident about their chances.

“We knew we just had to contest their shots and run them off the line,” Hamilton said. “We’re a pretty good defensive team and I feel we executed the gameplan.”

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