UNLV fell to Colorado State 61-53 on Saturday without star guard Dedan “DJ” Thomas Jr. in Las Vegas. The loss dropped the Runnin’ Rebels to 8-8 in Mountain West Conference play.
The Runnin’ Rebels entered the game without star guard DJ Thomas, who head coach Kevin Kruger has ruled out “indefinitely.”
According to coach Kevin Kruger, the sophomore guard is out indefinitely. He is still practicing but has withdrawn from specific contact drills. Kruger did not specify the injury, but Thomas had bandages on his off-ball shoulder during Friday’s practice. Kruger said the physicality against Fresno State raised some concerns.
Without Thomas on the floor, the starting five consisted of the usual Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry, Julian Rishwain, Jaden Henley, Jalen Hill, and sophomore guard Brooklyn Hicks, who made his first career start.
Colorado State took a 14-2 lead at 14:59 in the first half. UNLV hit a 3-point shot courtesy of Hill to end the Rams’ run, sparking some offense for UNLV.
The Runnin’ Rebels, in the absence of Thomas, lacked the team’s primary ball handler putting the pressure on Henley, Hicks and Jailen Bedford.
The Rebels worked the ball around the perimeter and fed big man Cherry in the post, who got some quality looks.
Cherry was second in scoring for UNLV with 16 points and six rebounds.
UNLV trailed the entire first half of the game. Kruger and Co. made it a one-point game at the half thanks to a jump shot made by Hill, with Coloraado State holding a slim 27-26 advantage.
The Runnin’ Rebels offense came out stagnant. Colorado State held UNLV scoreless for the first four and a half minutes of the second half as the Rams went up 35-27.
Cherry scored five straight for the Rebels to break the Colorado State run. The UNLV defense stopped the Rams and lowered the lead to 35-32.
It was a back-and-forth affair between the teams, exchanging large point runs before UNLV tied the game at 51 late in the second half.
At this point, Colorado State held UNLV scoreless for the game’s final three minutes, similar to the scoreless finish the Rebels saw against Fresno State.
Bedford led UNLV in scoring with 17 off the bench. UNLV had three players in double-digit scoring. Besides Bedford andCherry, Hill scored 10 points and eight rebounds on the night.
UNLV struggled from the free-throw line, shooting 7 of 17 for only 41.2%. The Runnin’ Rebels also struggled with rebounding. Colorado State outrebounded the Rebels 35-30.
The team also failed to contain Nique Clifford, the Rams’ top scorer. Clifford scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. He also hit tough turnaround shots in the closing minutes of the game to give his team the edge.
“Obviously, a tough one. We did what we needed to do to give ourselves a chance to win the game. Guys were locked in,” Kruger said.
“There was disappointment in the locker room because of the investment put in, getting ready for a very good Colorado State team. There are a lot of great things that we will take from the film, but the most important thing is that I am so unbelievably, incredibly proud of them for taking that prep and for giving it every single thing they had out there, trying to make it work in a number of situations that were new and that hopefully lights even more of a fire for us tomorrow to get ready for another really good team in the conference.”
UNLV, now 14-13 on the season, sits sixth in the Mountain West standings. With just four more regular-season games left, UNLV is playing for a strong seed in the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
UNLV will take on the San Jose Spartans on Tuesday in San Jose, California. The matchup will start at 10 p.m. E.T. and be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network.
