UNLV turned Monday night into a track meet early, and La Sierra never got an opportunity to catch up.
The Rebels completely overwhelmed the Golden Eagles 89-47 at the Thomas & Mack Center. UNLV jumped to a 49-19 lead at halftime thanks to relentless pressure to create turnovers.
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UNLV now finds itself 6-6 on the season and completed the final nonconference game in a statement fashion. La Sierra came to Las Vegas after losing its previous two games and two lopsided losses to Division I opponents earlier in the season.
UNLV turned turnovers into offense fast, with Tyrin Jones scoring an alley-oop dunk in transition and a pair of Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn threes to help the Rebels jump to a 21-0 lead.
The Rebels never let up, finishing with 17 steals and 11 blocks and scoring 34 points off of turnovers, compared to La Sierra’s five points off of turnovers. UNLV also dominated in the paint and in transition, winning by points in the paint 52-12 and in fast-break points 24-0.
Gibbs-Lawhorn led the Rebels with 19 points, and Jones added 15. Howie Fleming Jr. scored 11 points and ignited the break with multiple fast break plays, and Emmanuel Stephen added 10 points and eight rebounds.
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Mateo Hamilton scored 12 points, the most for the Golden Eagles. However, he wasn’t efficient, shooting only 33.3%, which wasn’t that bad compared to the team’s 28% from the field. Jasper Reinalada, who entered the game averaging 16.2 points per game, only scored four points.
This game officially closes the book on the Rebels’ nonconference play. Next up, on Saturday, January 3rd, the Rebels will take on the Air Force Falcons.
