Live coverage: E.J. Harkless scores game-winner as UNLV beats Air Force

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Published Friday, Feb. 24, 2023 | 2 a.m.

Updated Friday, Feb. 24, 2023 | 8:37 p.m.

UNLV pulled off a miracle in the final 10 seconds, scoring twice to steal a victory over Air Force, 54-53.

The Scarlet and Gray trailed 53-50 when Shane Nowell slipped a screen and got a dunk to narrow the deficit to one point with nine seconds left. Jackie Johnson then stole the ensuing inbound pass; Keshon Gilbert missed a contested layup, but E.J. Harkless was there to pull down the offensive board and put it back in to give UNLV the lead with 1.7 seconds left.

Air Force's final desperation possession came up empty, allowing UNLV to snap a three-game losing streak.

UNLV is now 17-11 on the year and 6-10 in Mountain West play.

Harkless finished with a game-high 23 points, with 18 coming in the second half. Harkless's effort covered up an otherwise tough night for the UNLV offense, as the Scarlet and Gray shot just 38.7% in the second half. 

Harkless trying to lead UNLV past Air Force

UNLV has basically turned this game over to E.J. Harkless, and the senior is doing his best to carry his team across the finish line. With 4:11 remaining, UNLV and Air Force are tied, 40-40.

Harkless has scored the last nine points for the Scarlet and Gray and now has a game-high 15 points. He is 6-of-13 from the field and has been nearly unstoppable inside; he's 0-of-6 from 3-point range but is now driving into the lane at every opportunity, either getting a close look at the rim or earning a trip to the free-throw line (3-of-5).

Jake Heidbreder has 14 points for Air Force and just hit a 3-pointer, but the Falcons are just 6-of-20 as a team in the second half.

We'll see if Harkless can keep delivering clutch buckets down the stretch.

Air Force still leading UNLV, 30-29

UNLV has done a good job of cutting down on turnovers, but it hasn't helped the offense at all. With 10:57 remaining, Air Force is still holding a 30-29 lead.

After giving the ball away 12 times in the first half, UNLV has only committed two turnovers since the break. The problem now is shooting — the team is 2-of-13 from the field, and 0-of-5 from 3-point range. The worst miss came courtesy of Keshon Gilbert, who drove through the defense and, eschewing an easy layup for a difficult dunk attempt, bricked the slam. Gilbert has two points on 1-of-6 shooting.

UNLV is now shooting 34.3% for the game.

Air Force is only 2-of-10 since halftime, but unless UNLV starts scoring, it might not make a difference.

UNLV trails Air Force at half, 26-25

After 20 of the sloppiest minutes UNLV has played this season, Air Force heads into the locker room with a 26-25 halftime lead.

Holding onto the ball proved near impossible for the Scarlet and Gray, as 12 turnovers prevented them from developing any kind of offensive rhythm. When they were able to get a shot up, UNLV actually made an efficient 10-of-22 from the field, led by David Muoka's seven points (3-of-3 field goals).

E.J. Harkless scored five points in the half but also committed five turnovers. If he can turn it on and play like he has for most of the conference season, UNLV should be able to score at will against the Air Force defense.

Air Force didn't play well in the first half, but the Falcons did grab six offensive rebounds. UNLV will have to make a concerted effort to box out and chase long caroms.

Air Force takes early lead over UNLV basketball

UNLV can't shoot straight tonight, which has allowed Air Force to sneak ahead, 14-8, with 12:11 left in the first half.

Air Force hasn't played particularly well, but the Scarlet and Gray are just 4-of-13 from the field and 0-of-5 from 3-point range. If it wasn't for a couple of David Muoka dunks in the first minute, that would qualify as an ice-cold start.

As expected, UNLV is without starting wings Luis Rodriguez and Eli Parquet, who are sidelined due to injury. Shane Nowell and Justin Webster started in their place; Nowell is 0-of-3.

E.J. Harkless willing to take on bigger workload for UNLV

Sometime soon, UNLV guard E.J. Harkless is going to play his 945^th minute of the season.

It will be more than the fifth-year senior has ever played before, but so far Harkless seems to be dealing with the workload just fine.

The Oklahoma transfer is averaging 30.5 minutes per game and has played a total of 823 minutes, both team highs. And in Mountain West play, his court time has risen to 31.6 per game as Kevin Kruger leans on Harkless to be the No. 1 option for the Scarlet and Gray.

Harkless is currently 121 minutes from surpassing his career high. If he keeps up his current pace, it will happen early in the second half of UNLV’s first game in the Mountain West tournament.

At Thursday’s practice, Harkless said that if called upon, he’s capable of playing even more.

“Yeah, 100%,” Harkless said. “I definitely do think I can.”

Harkless’s endurance is a welcome development for UNLV. He was unable to take part in summer workouts due to injury, and his conditioning lagged behind. It showed early in the season, when the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder sometimes appeared to wear down late in games.

That’s not happening anymore.

Of late, Harkless has done some of his best work in the second halves of games, and for the season he is averaging career highs in points (18.2 per game) and assists (3.3).

Credit head coach Kevin Kruger for finding a sweet spot for Harkless’s playing time. It took some trial and error to dial it in; in an eight-game stretch from Dec. 10 to Jan. 14, Harkless logged 36.2 minutes per contest. Perhaps not coincidentally, that was also one of his least efficient stretches, as he shot a lowly 38.6% from the field and 23.1% from 3-point range.

Since then, the coaching staff seems to have made a more concerted effort to regulate Harkless’s minutes. Over the last eight games he is playing 30.9 minutes, and his production has bounced back, averaging 22.5 points on much better accuracy (46.7% from the field, 36.8 3FG%).

Harkless said he is physically primed to finish out the season strong.

“I feel good,” he said. “Coach does a great job of making sure that we’re good and making sure that we come in and stretch, come in and take a lot of time with our strength and conditioning coach to make sure our bodies feel good. So I feel I’m good and ready to get into this last stretch of the season.”

Harkless isn’t the only UNLV player at the upper limits of his minutes. Keshon Gilbert, Justin Webster, Victor Iwuakor have already surpassed their career highs for a single season, and with the Mountain West tournament less than two weeks away, it might be time to start ramping up the playing time for key contributors.

UNLV might not have much of a choice on that front. With senior wings Eli Parquet and Luis Rodriguez sidelined (as well as junior forward Isaiah Cottrell, who has been out for most of the season), Kruger is down to 10 active players.

While some teams are grappling with how to trim their rotation and consolidate playing time for the biggest games of the year, Kruger is dealing with the opposite problem — figuring out how to dole out available minutes.

“Maybe in a normal year, but our decision on how many we’re going to play has kind of been made for us,” Kruger said.

Who: UNLV (16-11, 5-10 MWC) vs. Air Force (14-15, 5-11 MWC)

When: Friday, 6:30 p.m. at Thomas & Mack Center

TV: CBS Sports Network

UNLV leaders

Scoring: E.J. Harkless — 18.2 points

Rebounding: Luis Rodriguez — 5.5 rebounds

Assists: Keshon Gilbert — 3.4 assists

Air Force leaders

Scoring: Jake Heidbreder — 14.8 points

Rebounding: Rytis Petraitis — 5.8 rebounds

Assists: Ethan Taylor — 3.3 assists

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