Courtesy of UNLV Athletics

STANFORD – 7-foot center Emmanuel Stephen had career highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds in his UNLV debut, and Kimani Hamilton made the game-winning free throw with 3.8 seconds remaining as the Runnin’ Rebels defeated Stanford, 75-74, Sunday afternoon at Maples Pavilion.

The game marked UNLV’s (4-5) first in a 10-day span and ended a three-game losing streak. Stephen missed UNLV’s first eight games of the season because of an injury.

Three other Runnin’ Rebels also scored in double figures: Hamilton (15), Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (15) and Tyrin Jones (11).

Stanford (7-2) was led by Ebuka Okorie’s 18 points, while Oskar Giltay had a game-high 14 rebounds.

HOW IT ENDED: Stanford used a 6-0 run with 3:45 left in the game to take a 66-63 lead, but UNLV took advantage of three Cardinal turnovers in a two-minute stretch and tied the game at 70-70. Gibbs-Lawhorn made two free throws to give UNLV a 72-70 lead with 1:05 to go, but Stanford came right back with an and-1 to take a one-point lead at 73-72.

After a UNLV timeout with 49 seconds left, Hamilton made a turnaround jumper in the lane to make it 74-73 Runnin’ Rebels. Okorie went to the line with 17.7 seconds left, missing his first before making the second to tie the game at 74-74. Hamilton was then fouled with 3.8 seconds to go, missing his first but hitting the second. The game ended with Okorie missing a runner near the top of the key at the buzzer, giving the Runnin’ Rebels the victory.

STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV held Stanford to just 35.5% shooting in the second half (11 of 31), including 26.7% on 3-pointers (4 of 15). The Cardinal finished the contest at 38.1% on field goals (24 of 63).

QUOTABLE: “It was a complete fight, just a heck of game. Stanford is tough, physical, and very well-coached. They don’t beat themselves. We knew that for us to win, we were going to have to win in the combat zone (the paint). We did a nice job in the paint, outscoring them 48-28. They got us on the offensive glass and in second-chance points. But in the end, we found a way to win through our defense. Our guys made big plays late, but we won by getting stops. This isn’t easy. We’ve been on a little bit of a losing streak, and we’ve been injured, so we’ve had to fight, scrap, kick, claw, just to figure it out with thelineups and everything else, and we found a way tonight against a really good, well-coached Stanford team.” – UNLV head coach Josh Pastner

OTHER NOTES: 

– Stephen scored his 10th point of the first half on a dunk at the buzzer. For the game, he shot 8 of 13 from the field.

– Hamilton added a career-high-tying four steals.

– Okorie was just 4 of 16 from the field, but shot 9 of 12 on free throws.

– Ryan Agarwal and Benny Gealer were also in double figures in scoring for Stanford with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Nine of Giltay’s rebounds came on the offensive end.

– Stanford made nine 3-pointers to UNLV’s three for the game.

– Stanford out-rebounded UNLV 46-34. The Cardinal had 20 offensive boards.

– Stanford led in second-chance points (26-8) and bench scoring (31-19).

– UNLV shot 53.3% (16 of 30) from the field in the first half, finishing the game at 48.3% (28 of 58).

– Stanford held a one-point lead at the half, 39-38.

– UNLV improved to 2-0 in true road games this year (also won at Memphis).

– Jacob Bannarbie and Ladji Dembele both missed the game because of injury, while Howie Fleming Jr. also missed because of conjunctivitis. Myles Che is still out with an injury.

– UNLV has made at least one 3-pointer in a NCAA-record 1,269 straight games.

NEXT FOR THE RUNNIN’ REBELS: UNLV’s next game will be in the Jack Jones Classic at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson on Saturday, Dec. 13, vs. Tennessee State at 6:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased by clicking here.