Game day: UNLV wins third straight by finishing off Wyoming, 62-48

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Published Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024 | 2 a.m.

Updated Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024 | 6:58 p.m.

Don't look now, but UNLV might be making a move in the Mountain West.

The Scarlet and Gray just polished off Wyoming, 62-48, to move into a three-way tie for fifth place in the standings at the midpoint of the conference season. UNLV is now 12-9 overall and 5-4 in MWC play.

D.J. Thomas led the way on Saturday, as the freshman guard put up a team-high 14 points, plus five assists and four steals in 30 minutes. Senior wings Keylan Boone and Luis Rodriguez also finished in double figures, chipping in 14 and 12 points, respectively.

UNLV has now won three consecutive games against Division-I opponents for the first time this season, and with a week off until the next game at New Mexico on Feb. 10, Kevin Kruger has to like where his team is positioned right now.

UNLV basketball leads Wyoming, 48-34

The Scarlet and Gray haven't quite been able to deliver a knockout punch yet, but with 7:47 remaining they still have a commanding 48-34 lead over Wyoming.

UNLV pushed its lead as high as 23 points midway through the half, but the Cowboys are staying in this game at the free-throw line. Wyoming has two and-1 buckets in the past few possessions, and Mason Walters just converted another shot while drawing a whistle, so he'll be shooting a free throw after the timeout.

UNLV is 8-of-15 from the field in the second half and probably just needs a few more shots to drop until you can close the book on this one, but for now Wyoming is staying alive.

UNLV basketball opens up big second-half lead over Wyoming

UNLV has opened this one up, extending its lead to 39-23 with 15:35 remaining.

The Scarlet and Gray have come out of the locker room hot, using an 8-0 run to put some distance between them and visiting Wyoming. D.J. Thomas scored twice during that span, first one a layup and then on an in-between floater. Thomas is now UNLV's leading scorer with eight points, and he's also got four assists and four steals.

Rob Whaley just muscled his way inside for a bucket, too, giving him seven points to go along with a team-high six rebounds.

Wyoming is 0-of-7 from the field so far in the second half; unless the Cowboys start hitting soon, UNLV could put this one on ice early.

UNLV basketball leads Wyoming at half, 31-23

After a first half that seemed to fly by, UNLV has a 31-23 lead over Wyoming at the break.

Freshman point guard D.J. Thomas stuffed the stat sheet in the first half, totaling four points, four assists and three steals. Senior wing Keylan Boone logged five points and five rebounds. Luis Rodriguez leads UNLV with seven points.

Neither team got into the bonus, as only 10 total fouls have been called. There were no lengthy reviews to slow down the action, either, so while both teams struggled to shoot, the game at least has a nice pace to it.

UNLV pushed its lead as high as 10 points late in the half, as they led 31-21 with a minute on the clock, but Wyoming scored the final bucket to trim the deficit to eight points at the break.

Brendan Wenzel paced the Cowboys with eight points in the half. As a team, Wyoming shot just 32.1% from the field (9-of-28).

UNLV takes early 17-11 lead over Wyoming

After a slow start, UNLV has found its footing and has built a 17-11 lead over Wyoming midway through the first half.

UNLV missed five of its first six shots, but things began to heat up when freshman guard Brooklyn Hicks entered the game. Hicks knocked down a quick 3-pointer, then followed up with a pull-up jumper from the free-throw line to help power an 8-0 run for the home team.

Junior forward Rob Whaley has had success on the block, scoring five points on 2-of-4 shooting.

The Scarlet and Gray have done a good job limiting Wyoming to difficult shots. The Cowboys are 5-of-15 from the field, and a couple of their makes were difficult 2-point jumpers. Whaley just had a nice block before the timeout, one of three for UNLV so far.

UNLV basketball looks to make it three in a row vs. Wyoming

The UNLV basketball team is coming off back-to-back victories and looking to make it three in a row on Saturday, when Wyoming visits the Thomas & Mack Center (5 p.m., CBS Sports Network).

Can Kevin Kruger and his squad keep the momentum rolling? Three keys to watch:

Three in a row?

Winning a third consecutive game might not sound like a grand achievement, but it would be a big deal for this UNLV team because they haven’t been able to do it yet this season.

You read that correctly. The Scarlet and Gray have been so up-and-down this season (11-9 overall, 4-4 Mountain West), they haven’t won three in a row — unless you count non-Division I opponents like Carroll College and Bethesda, and we don’t. In fact, they’ve only won two in a row on two occasions, including the current streak.

Senior center Kalib Boone said more consistency would be a sign that UNLV is turning a corner.

“One of our biggest problems this year is we’ll win one, lose one, lose two,” Boone said. “It just wouldn’t be consistent. Obviously now we’ve got two, can we grow from two to three and take it day by day, game by game?

“We know we can be better.”

Brooklyn in the house

At Friday’s practice, Kruger said senior guard Justin Webster will be out at least two more weeks due to his ankle sprain, and the severity of the injury could keep him sidelined even longer.

That means more playing time for freshman guard Brooklyn Hicks, who has stepped up in Webster’s absence with two strong performances in wins over San Jose State and Fresno State.

On Tuesday, Hicks was part of the closing lineup and scored two clutch baskets down the stretch to help seal the victory.

Kruger said Hicks, junior guard Jackie Johnson and senior wing Luis Rodriguez will rotate through Webster’s spot, soaking up the 30 minutes per game Webster logged before his injury.

“I think we’re going to see a lot more of Brooklyn, Jackie, we’re still going to lean on Lu at that wing spot like we have,” Kruger said. “Just figure out how they can play together, what works.”

Midway point

UNLV has suffered some disappointing results this season, especially in conference play. They gave up late leads to Utah State and Colorado State, and no-showed a blowout loss at the hands of last-place Air Force, but as luck would have it, the Scarlet and Gray are still in decent position in the Mountain West standings.

With a 4-4 conference record, UNLV is currently tied for sixth place with Colorado State. A win over Wyoming on Saturday would move UNLV to 5-4, tied with Wyoming in fifth place.

That’s important, because the top five teams at the end of the regular season receive a bye through the first round of the MWC tournament.

A 5-4 record and a bye at the midway point of the conference season would be a good place for UNLV to be, especially given how rocky the first half has been.

Kruger likes where his team finds itself.

“I think we’re seeing in the Mountain West that everybody can win,” Kruger said. “Everybody has a style of play that can win games, and most nights it’s going to be who takes care of it and who shoots it well. We’ve obviously proven we can play with everybody in this league, as have a number of other teams. It’s definitely shaping up where, as the front nine finishes, there could be a lot of exciting basketball left on the back nine.”

Who: UNLV (11-9, 4-4 MWC) vs. Wyoming (12-9, 5-3 MWC)

When: Saturday, 5 p.m.

Where: Thomas & Mack Center

TV: CBS Sports Network

Radio: 1100 AM, 100.9 FM

UNLV leaders

Scoring

Kalib Boone: 13.0 points

Rebounds

Luis Rodriguez: 7.0 rebounds

Assists

D.J. Thomas: 6.3 assists

Wyoming leaders

Scoring

Sam Griffin: 18.1 points

Rebounds

Cam Manyawu: 5.9 rebounds

Assists

Sam Griffin: 3.6 assists

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