Coach Kevin Kruger of the UNLV mens basketball team disagrees and argues with the referee in a game against Loyola Marymount in the Jack Jones Classic at The Dollar Loan Center on Dec. 9, 2023.
Published Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024 | 4:39 p.m.
Updated Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024 | 4:48 p.m.
The Scarlet and Gray knew what they were walking into on Saturday. They were just powerless to stop it.
San Diego State looked primed for another Final Four run as they delivered an early knockout punch to visiting UNLV, racing out to a 20-5 lead and eventually closing out a 72-61 victory in front of a sold-out crowd at Viejas Arena.
Kevin Kruger spent much of the past two weeks telling his team how tough and intense San Diego State is, especially on defense, and how important it would be to match their physicality early in the game. Despite his warnings, the contest was decided in the first five minutes.
Inspired by a frenzied atmosphere, the Aztecs overpowered UNLV from the opening tip, forcing turnovers on each of UNLV’s first two possessions while building an 8-0 lead. Back-to-back post buckets by center Jaedon LeDee made it 15-3, and a 3-pointer by Miles Byrd pushed it to 18-3.
UNLV missed 12 of its first 14 field-goal attempts, as San Diego State’s strong, lengthy defenders contested every pass and forced deflection after deflection. The explosive crowd noise only spurred them on, and by the time the second media timeout rolled around, UNLV trailed, 25-9, and that was that.
The game settled from that point on, and UNLV found its way back within single digits on a few occasions, but the damage was done.
Kruger said his team was ready to take San Diego State’s best shot, but it didn’t matter.
“Unfortunately, they just kind of did what I think their gameplan was,” Kruger said, “which was come out, throw a haymaker and get us in an early deficit and get off to a great start.”
LeDee took turns bullying UNLV defenders, scoring easily on Kalib Boone, Jalen Hill and Isaiah Cottrell on his way to 11 first-half points. He finished with a game-high 20 points, and the eight fouls he drew were an illustration of the physicality gap between the two teams. LeDee also pulled down 11 rebounds.
UNLV shot just 39.7% for the game, including a rough 8-of-30 showing from 3-point range (26.7%).
Freshman guard D.J. Thomas battled through 39 minutes of harassment from San Diego State defenders to score 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting, with five assists. Luis Rodriguez also tallied 13 points and five rebounds.
After the initial surge subsided, UNLV was able to get back within striking distance by playing some solid defense of its own. Junior forward Rob Whaley came off the bench and did a good job matching up against LeDee, and when Whaley banked in short jumper with two minutes left in the first half, SDSU’s lead was down to 31-24.
It was a 35-25 game at the half, and UNLV got as close as six points with 14 minutes remaining in the second half, but Kruger’s squad could never completely dig themselves out of that early hole.
LeDee converted a 3-point play to make it 54-42 with 10 minutes on the clock, then scored again to increase the Aztecs advantage to 62-49 with 6:06 left.
That sequence pretty much put a bow on it, but the decisive stretch had come more than an hour earlier, when San Diego State opened the game on fire.
“They came out and they threw a haymaker at us,” Whaley said. “We were ready for it, but we just didn’t execute the way that we wanted to.”
Whaley said he could feel San Diego State feeding off the energy from the 12,414 fans in attendance.
“At home, with a sold-out crowd, it boosts you. You feel good,” Whaley said. “It boosts you a whole lot.”
The morale on the UNLV sideline certainly took an additional hit when Jalen Hill went down late in the first half with an apparent knee injury. The senior forward hadn’t played since suffering a hand injury on Nov. 28, and he gave the Scarlet and Gray some good minutes before exiting after a fall under the basket.
Hill spent the second half on the bench wearing a knee brace. He finished with six points and two rebounds in 14 minutes. Kruger did not have an update on his status after the game.
UNLV is now 7-6 on the season and 0-1 in Mountain West play. Kruger and his crew will host New Mexico on Tuesday.
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy