Courtesy of UNLV Athletics

TULSA, Okla. (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV men’s basketball team had its season come to an end with a 77-66 loss in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament at Tulsa on Sunday night.
The shorthanded Runnin’ Rebels (18-17) had just four players score in the contest, led by Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn’s 29 points. Tyrin Jones added 18 points with eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks, while Issac Williamson contributed 10 points and Kimani Hamilton scored nine with six rebounds.
The Golden Hurricane (28-7) were without their leading scorer (David Green), but had four players score in double figures. Miles Barnstable and Ade Popoola each scored 16 points, while Romad Dean had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Myles Rigsby added 10 points.
SHORTHANDED REBELS: UNLV’s leading rebounder Howie Fleming Jr. was out with an ankle injury, while Jacob Bannarbie missed the game because of a back injury.
SLOW START: UNLV made just 3 of its first 13 shot attempts and found itself down 13-6 with 10:30 to go in the first half. Seven straight makes for Tulsa pushed its lead to 26-15 with 6:30 left in the first half. UNLV was held scoreless over the half’s final four minutes and trailed 36-24 at the break. The Runnin’ Rebels made just 1 of 11 on 3-pointers during the first 20 minutes.
SECOND HALF: UNLV used a 10-0 run early in the second half to cut its deficit to just five points at 45-40 with 15 minutes left in the game. The Runnin’ Rebels started the second half by making 9 of 12 shots, but a 9-0 Tulsa run pushed its lead to 63-47 with just under seven minutes to go. UNLV used a 7-0 run to cut it to nine at 63-54 with just over five minutes left, but could only get as close at seven points on several occasions the rest of the way.
STATS OF THE GAME: UNLV was outrebounded 49-23 for the game and Tulsa’s bench outscored UNLV’s 20-0.
 
QUOTABLE: “Credit to Tulsa. They are a really good basketball team. We got our butts kicked on the glass. We made some shots and had opportunities in the second half, but we just couldn’t get a defensive rebound. Obviously, losing Howie Fleming Jr. was a big loss because he was the leading rebounder in the Mountain West among perimeter players, and then not having our starting center Jacob Bannarbie. Those absences hurt us, but Tulsa had a really good player out too (David Green). Their guards were great and made big shots. I was proud of our guys and our effort. Our guys give us everything they have, they fight, they scrap, they dive on the floor. There are a lot of positives that we can take from this season in year one, but also as we go into the offseason there are some things we need to get better at, to clean up, to improve at.” – UNLV head coach Josh Pastner.
OTHER NOTES: 
– Tulsa turned 18 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.
– Tulsa went to the free-throw line nine more times than UNLV did (22-13), outscoring the Runnin’ Rebels by seven at the charity stripe (13-6).
– UNLV shot 56.7% from the field in the second half (17 of 30), finishing the game at 45.8% (27 of 59). The Runnin’ Rebels made just 23.1% of their 3-pointers (6 of 26).
– Tulsa finished the game with shooting percentages of 46.6% from the field (27 of 58) and 35.7% on 3-pointers (10 of 28).
– UNLV forced 15 turnovers, while committing just seven. UNLV outscored Tulsa on points from turnovers, 20-9.
– UNLV outscored Tulsa in points in the paint, 40-32.
– UNLV has made a 3-pointer in 1,295 straight games – every one since the NCAA adopted the rule in 1986.

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