UNLV drops fourth straight game in tight loss at UNR

UNLV Rebels head coach Kevin Kruger watches play during an NCAA basketball game against the Memphis Tigers at the Thomas & Mack Center Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. Photo by Steve Marcus

RENO — For the first 25 minutes of UNLV’s road game at UNR, Kevin Kruger stalked the sideline with a burning intensity. He stomped, he clapped, he shouted, he got in ref’s faces — all of it making him the main target of the student section at the Lawlor Events Center.

Then with 15 minutes to play, UNLV came out of a timeout to run a baseline out-of-bounds play Kruger had diagramed in the huddle. The play broke down, the inbound pass was stolen and UNR turned it into an easy basket at the other end.

For the first time all night, Kruger didn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve. He didn’t throw a fit. He only stood and watched, expressionless, as it unfolded. As if the fight had been drained from him as UNR extended its lead to 44-34 in front of a roaring crowd.

“Any time you come out of a timeout and turn it over, it’s not ideal,” Kruger said.

UNLV battled back and even took a brief lead in the final minutes, but UNR ultimately closed the game with an 8-2 run to claim a 71-65 victory over Kruger's visiting squad. It was UNR’s third straight win in the rivalry series and extended UNLV’s season-long losing streak to four games.

The Scarlet and Gray are now below .500 in Mountain West play (5-6) and 11-11 overall, suffering through the kind of skid that can take a toll on a locker room. But as exasperated as Kruger may have been after the haywire out-of-bounds play, he said it’s important the team doesn’t lose its fight.

“We have kept it together,” Kruger said. “We’ve been in four close games. I’m telling them that we’ve given ourselves a chance to win close games. We’re going to focus on the positive — that this is going to turn for us.”

UNLV had its chances to claim a big road win on Saturday. After trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half, the Scarlet and Gray drew even when Julian Rishwain made back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the score at 63-63. D.J. Thomas tied it again at 65-65 with a mid-range jumper, silencing the hostile crowd with 1:17 remaining.

That was the extend of UNLV’s push, however. Xavier Dusell hit a short jumper to give the Wolf Pack a 67-65 lead and Thomas had a layup blocked at the other end with 30 seconds on the clock. UNR sank a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game, Rishwain missed a 3-pointer and the Pack closed it out with more free throws.

Nick Davidson scored 14 points to lead UNR, while Jaden Henley tallied 14 for UNLV. Thomas finished with 12 points and six assists but also committed five turnovers and made just 5-of-10 from the free-throw line.

The result had to be deflating to the UNLV players and coaches, who haven’t experienced a win in two weeks. Since beating San Diego State on Jan. 18, Kruger’s crew has lost at home, lost on the road, lost to good teams, lost to bad teams, lost due to missed free throws and so on and so on.

The team is in need of some positive reinforcement, and Kruger is pressing his guys to not let the accumulating losses weigh on them.

“We’re going to be in close games and we’re going to start being on the other side of it,” Kruger said. “It’s going to turn for us for the better and we’re going to start coming out on top in some close games.”

Junior forward Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry believes the team is close to finding the winning formula that had them riding high just a couple weeks ago.

“It definitely hurts,” Cherry said, “but once you get over that edge you can rip five, six games in a row. So you can’t give up, you’ve got to keep going.”

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