Men’s Hoops Falls to UNLV Saturday Afternoon

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State men’s basketball suffered a 76-68 defeat to UNLV at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Aztecs (11-5, 4-3 Mountain West) could not overcome their first half shooting struggles shooting just 26.9% (7-of-26) and 18.8% (3-of-16) from beyond the arc.

Miles Byrd led all scorers with 21 points, all coming in the second half. Nick Boyd finished 16 and BJ Davis added 10.

Dedan Thomas Jr. led the Rebels (11-7, 5-2 MW) with 19 points and a game-high five assists. UNLV also received 13 points from Brooklyn Hicks and 12 from Jaden Henley.

UNLV jumped out to an early lead as San Diego State started the contest 0-for-5 from the field.

The Aztecs wound up taking the lead with 11:15 left in the first half as the first of four lead changes over the next four minutes. However, the Rebels took the lead back at the 6:51 mark and never relinquished it again, taking an eight-point lead into halftime.

UNLV had their largest lead of the game with a 13-point advantage early in the second half, but a pair of Boyd triples flipped the momentum and forced a Rebel timeout.

At the 11:18 mark, the Scarlet and Black started a quick 9-0 run to make it a one-possession game. But once again the shooting went cold and despite a stretch of nearly five full minutes without a UNLV field goal, SDSU could never get back within three the rest of the way.

San Diego State returns to action next Wednesday with a trip to Colorado Springs to face Air Force. Tip will be at 8 p.m. MT (7 p.m. PT) on CBS Sports Network.