Tag: marvin coleman

UNLV Takes Care Of Business At Home in 76-66 Win Over Boise State

Game Recap: UNLV 76, Boise State 66 Amauri Hardy and Bryce Hamilton combine for over half of UNLV’s offense in Wednesday night’s win. Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire Rebel duo leads UNLV over Boise State in late night win at home. Las Vegas, …

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Game Recap: UNLV 76, Boise State 66

Amauri Hardy and Bryce Hamilton combine for over half of UNLV’s offense in Wednesday night’s win.

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Rebel duo leads UNLV over Boise State in late night win at home. 

Las Vegas, NV–The Runnin’ Rebels played host to the Boise State Broncos in a late Wednesday night game in the Thomas and Mack Center. And in preparation for the Mountain West Conference tournament, they started a home winning streak last night (2 strong) that they hope to continue into next week, with a ten-point win over Boise State.

The Bronco’s struggled to knock down shots early on and found themselves with a twelve point deficit going into the half down 24-34. Senior Justinian Jessup continued his strong shooting from deep and led the team in scoring with 19 points, but even he himself finished the night 5-12 from the field. The rest of the team combined to shoot 5-17 (29.4%) from deep and 15-52 (28.8%) from the field. Even leading scorer Derrick Alston Jr. had a poor night shooting but still finished the night with 11 points and 8 rebounds.

Rounding it out was senior RJ Williams got his tenth double-double of the season on Wednesday night as he finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

UNLV looked like a methodical bunch all night, as the ball movement and player cuts were there in abundance from multiple players. Sophomore guard Bryce Hamilton had a great night shooting the ball, going 7-12 from the field and from a little bit of everywhere. And though the Runnin’ Rebels as a whole shot poorly from the free throw line (14-27 for 51.9%) Hamilton was able to convert on 6-10 FTs after effectively driving the lane and getting to the line continuously.

If we were giving out a Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde award to a Mountain West team this season, UNLV would sure be a nominee. They’re back to playing some of their best basketball of the season with a deadly quartet of guards ready to make an impact in the conference tournament. Alongside Hamilton was junior guard Amauri Hardy who scored a team-high 24 points while grabbing 6 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists. The duo created a dangerous scoring attack all night that drew defensive attention while freeing up space for others to score.

Elijah Mitrou-Long contributed 16 points on 1-6 shooting from three but knocked down 7-14 from the field overall. And the last guard of that previously mentioned quartet is Marvin Coleman, who had Nick Blair start in his place on senior night, but managed to chip in five points and grab a team high 11 rebounds in his 29 minutes of play (he’s a 6-2 guard).

When head coach TJ Otzelberger has his guards playing smart basketball by penetrating and distributing the ball, they can win. Don’t let them settle for threes or jump shots because that is not their strength, take last night for example. The team as a whole finished 6-24 (25.0%) from deep and luckily realized early on that they weren’t going to fall and just continued to drive. Like most of the middle of the pack in the Mountain West, UNLV is dangerous.

And it looks like they have found a winning formula with missing starter Donnie Tillman out with what may be a season ending knee injury.

Up Next:

Boise State Broncos:

That’s a regular season wrap for the Broncos. Tonight’s loss was the last regular season game on Boise State’s schedule. For now, Leon Rice and company will take the weekend off, watch some conference match ups and see where they end for tournament seeding come March. 

UNLV Runnin’ Rebels:

Unlike the Broncos the Runnin’ Rebels have one more game on their slate this Saturday as the they head to the Provident Credit Union Event Center to take San Jose State. UNLV should leave with a win, and if they do they would solidify their lead over the Broncos in the final standings.

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UNLV vs. Nevada: Game Preview, TV & Radio Schedule, Livestream, Odds, More

UNLV vs. Nevada: Game Preview UNLV has a chance at breaking their Silver State Series losing streak to intrastate rival Nevada on the road. Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire Can a new look Wolf Pack team keep the streak alive? WHO: UNLV …

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UNLV vs. Nevada: Game Preview

UNLV has a chance at breaking their Silver State Series losing streak to intrastate rival Nevada on the road.

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

Can a new look Wolf Pack team keep the streak alive?

WHO: UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (11-9, 6-1 Mountain West) At Nevada Wolf Pack (11-8, 4-3 Mountain West)

WHEN: Wednesday, January 22nd—11:00 PM EST/8:00 PM PST

WHERE: Lawlor Events Center, Reno, NV

TV: CBS Sports Network 

STREAM: Get a free trial through FuboTV

RADIO: Tunein

SERIES RECORD: UNLV leads all-time series 60-29

PREVIEW: There is something about intrastate rivalries that feel just a bit different than others. Being able to walk around your local grocery store and seeing a T-shirt or encountering the occasional coworker’s mug from your rival school at a work place makes those rivalries a bit more personal and local for most. The best rivalries in College Basketball can be found when two teams from the same state meet and usually meet often being a part of the same conference.

There’s plenty of names on the list but some notable examples are Michigan-Michigan State, Cincinnati-Xavier, Indiana-Purdue, Louisville-Kentucky and maybe the most famous of all North Carolina-Duke.

The Silver State Series has the potential to join the names above as must see T.V. around the country. Even though he is gone now, Eric Musselman helped put the Wolf Pack on the national radar in recent years and UNLV will always have name recognition across the country from their championship runs in the early nineties. But with new faces at the helms in both Reno and Las Vegas, the rivalry seems as up for the taking as ever and each team is looking to establish dominance for years to come with a win tonight.

Some History:

  • UNLV leads the all-time series 60-29
  • While Nevada has won the last four meetings (all under Eric Musselman)

UNLV

The Runnin’ Rebels are 6-1 in Mountain West play and currently sit behind the Aztecs in sole possession of second place. Tj Otzelberger’s squad has adjusted well after the holiday break, riding a three game winning streak while winning seven of their last eight games by an average of 13.8 PPG. This UNLV team looks a lot different than the one who took the court early on and multiple individuals are stepping up to create a much more well rounded attack.

UNLV has four players averaging double figures at this point but it has been sophomore Bryce Hamilton who has brought balance to the Runnin’ Rebel offense, averaging 20.7 PPG in seven conference games so far and getting hotter by the day with a recent 35 point performance against New Mexico at home on Saturday. He isn’t the only sophomore making noise in the new year though as Marvin Coleman posted UNLV’s first triple-double of the century on Saturday night against the Lobos earning his first player of the week honors from the conference in the process.

Their emergence has been key for UNLV thus far and make this team that much more dangerous going on the road in Reno this evening. Things will be interesting, and it’s not just the young guns having an impact either don’t forget about leading scorer Amauri Hardy or leading rebounder Cheikh Mbacke Diong who should look to take advantage of a very young Nevada frontcourt.

Nevada

Now, while the Runnin’ Rebels have the winning streak, the Wolf Pack have the home court tonight, in which they are 28-2 in their last 30 conference home games. Like UNLV Nevada has also proved some naysayers wrong this season, you know those who said a fourth place finish was too high considering a coaching change and lack of experience (check out my first article ever saying just that here). To be fair it has been upperclassman doing most of the heavy lifting this season, guys like Jalen Harris, Jazz Johnson and Lindsey Drew who have helped make the transition in Reno a bit smoother than expected for a new coaching staff who had a lot to live up to coming in (three straight NCAA tournament appearances, three straight regular season conference championships).

With fresh starts at both schools this season, in-state supremacy is up for the taking. For Runnin’ Rebel fans who haven’t had that opportunity in a while, that’s big. And for those wearing blue and silver tonight it’s the chance to keep the title home in a new era under Alford.

Prediction: Nevada 80, UNLV 77

This game will come down to who want’s it more and who is knocking down more shots (like most should). Though while UNLV has a squad that could go about five deep in the scoring column as of recent, Nevada’s big three (i.e. Harris, Johnson, Drew, sometimes Zouzoua) doesn’t receive much help most nights and if one of those Wolf Pack members above isn’t scoring things get a bit trickier for Alford and crew.

Something else to note is the list of most recent opponents for each squad. While Nevada’s slate consisted of Colorado State (W), Boise State (W), Utah State (L) and San Diego State (L). UNLV has faced Utah State (W), Boise State (their one league loss) and New Mexico (not the same Lobos we were used to either) from the top half of the Mountain West standings. Not to say the Rebels’ performance in those games were something to knock, it just seems like their toughest challenges lie ahead.

But the most important thing tonight is,

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Mountain West Wire’s Player of The Year Watch List: Week Eleven

San Diego State’s Malachi Flynn is shooting up our player of the year watch list.

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Who is in the running for Player of the Year?

Take A Look At the Best Performances Around the Mountain West In Week Eleven

Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire

The list sees a pair of newcomers as UNLV sophomore duo make a splash along with San Diego State big man.

The staff at the Mountain West Wire wanted to do something a little different this year. We are going to keep track of the top performers from teams around the Mountain West throughout the year and vote on who had the best performances that week. 

How it works description now at the bottom of the article

The order for the eleventh week is as follows:

1. Malachi Flynn, junior guard San Diego State (5 Points)

22 Points, 5 Rebounds and 2 Assists against Fresno State

14 Points, 7 Assists and 5 Rebounds against Nevada

Flynn is separating himself from the pack in late January, with a now 7 point lead over second place JaQuan Lyle who is in a bit of a situation at a struggling New Mexico. A lot of people knew Flynn was going to be a difference maker for the Aztecs, but even I can say I didn’t expect a top-5 ranking, undefeated record through nineteen games and a chance at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament this year.

His role as a leader on this team has made everyone better around him, seeing the emergence of guys like Yanni Wetzell and Matt Mitchell on the court with Flynn at the helm has been key to the Aztecs undefeated run. Even when things aren’t going exactly right he makes the best of his playing time. Though he struggled from the field a bit on Saturday, shooting about 30% on the night. He made sure his presence was felt, distributing the ball well among the Aztecs on his way to 7 assists and a win against a Wolf Pack team who made things interesting most of the way.

The Player of the Year race is his to win or lose at this point as Flynn has the Aztecs on a level most other Mountain West teams cannot get to at this point in the season. The Aztecs just need to make sure if they do suffer a loss in conference play it is from the right team. A bad loss can only hurt their chance at a No. 1 seed and San Jose State is looking for another upset to add to their win column, and the Spartans almost made that happen in Viejas Arena earlier this season. We can only watch and wait as the month of January is almost over and March is on the Horizon.

2. Marvin Coleman, sophomore guard UNLV (4 Points):

17 Points, 8 Assists and 4 Rebounds against San Jose State

11 Points, 12 Rebounds, 11 Assists and 6 Steals against New Mexico

3. Bryce Hamilton, sophomore guard UNLV (3 Points):

16 Points, 3 Assists and 2 Steals against San Jose State

35 Points, 3 Rebounds and 1 Assist against New Mexico

4.  Sam Merrill, senior guard Utah State (2 Points):

12 Points, 8 Rebounds and 8 Assists against Nevada

30 Points, 3 Rebounds and 3 Assists against Boise State

5. Yanni Wetzell, senior forward San Diego State (1 Point):

17 Points, 6 Rebounds, 2 Assists against Fresno State

17 Points, 16 Rebounds and 2 Blocks against Nevada

Past Weeks:

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3| Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9| Week 10

Current Overall Point Totals:

Malachi Flynn, junior guard San Diego State (22 Points)

JaQuan Lyle, senior guard UNM (15 Points)

Derrick Alston Jr, junior guard BSU (14 Points)

Sam Merrill, senior guard USU (13 Points)

Jalen Harris, junior guard Nevada (11 Points)

Jazz Johnson, senior guard Nevada (9 Points)

Nico Carvacho, senior center CSU (7 Points)

Hunter Maldonado, sophomore guard Wyoming (7 Points)

Alphonso Anderson, junior guard USU (5 Points)

Carlton Bragg Jr., senior forward New Mexico (5 Points)

Bryce Hamilton, sophomore guard UNLV (5 Points)

Lindsey Drew, senior guard Nevada (5 Points)

Justinian Jessup, senior guard Boise State (5 Points)

Seneca Knight, sophomore guard San Jose State (5 Points)

Justin Bean, sophomore forward USU (4 Points)

Marvin Coleman, sophomore guard UNLV (4 Points)

Amauri Hardy, junior guard UNLV (4 Points)

Orlando Robinson, freshman forward Fresno State (4 Points)

David Roddy, freshman guard Colorado State (4 Points)

Isaiah Stevens, freshman guard Colorado State (4 Points)

Roderick “RJ” Williams, senior forward Boise State (3 Points)

Corey Manigault, senior forward New Mexico (2 Points)

Jordan Schakel, junior guard SDSU (2 Points)

Donnie Tillman, junior forward UNLV (2 Points)

Abu Kigab, junior forward Boise State (1 Point)

Ryan Swan, senior center Air Force (1 Point)

Yanni Wetzell, senior forward San Diego State (1 Point)

How It Works: 

Each person will award 15 points in total to five players and should award it as so:

1st place (Player of the week): 5 pts

2nd place: 4 pts

3rd place: 3 pts

4th place: 2 pts

5th place: 1 pt

The player with the most points total will be our player of the week and we will keep track of the point totals every week so that the player who has the most at the end of the year will receive the Mountain West Wire Player of the Year award. Just copy the players below and type your names above it like we do for the pick them docs we get and award your points. 

Now some guys made the list and others didn’t. A big thing to think about was consistency throughout the week. Something that hurt some guys was having a decent game one day and a bad one the other day. Guys who made the list had a great game one day and a good one on other days, or good games both days.

This column will come out on Sunday nights or Monday mornings depending on how late some games finish on Sundays. 

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UNLV needs late surge to survive Wyoming upset bid

Game Recap: UNLV 78, Wyoming 69 (OT) Rebels move to 4-1 in MW; Cowboys still winless Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire UNLV holds steady in second place despite a close call in Laramie TJ Otzelberger’s team found a way to survive on …

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Game Recap: UNLV 78, Wyoming 69 (OT)

Rebels move to 4-1 in MW; Cowboys still winless

Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire

UNLV holds steady in second place despite a close call in Laramie

TJ Otzelberger’s team found a way to survive on Saturday, preserving the hot streak that has marked their coach’s first season in the Mountain West.

UNLV (9-9, 4-1 MW) beat Wyoming 78-69 in Laramie’s Arena-Auditorium, but the Runnin’ Rebels needed a late push – and an extra five minutes – to save themselves from the Cowboys’ upset bid.

The Rebels were led by Bryce Hamilton’s 19 points off the bench. Jonah Antonio and Marvin Coleman were both also in double digits for UNLV, scoring 15 and 14, respectively. Donnie Tillman also added 10 points from the bench.

Kwane Marble paced Wyoming (5-13, 0-6 MW) in the scoring department with 19 points, followed closely by Jake Hendricks with 18 and Hunter Maldonado with 16. Marble was extremely efficient, going 4-for-4 from the field and 9-for-11 on free throws, but Maldonado and Hendricks combined to shoot just 30% on the game.

Wyoming led by seven points with 1:25, after Hunter Thompson hit the front end of a trip to the free throw line. But a 7-0 run, capped by two Donnie Tillman free throws in the dying seconds, forced overtime.

The Cowboys never led again.

UNLV opened up the extra period with back-to-back three-pointers from Coleman and Antonio. Coleman also hit a three during the late run to push the game into overtime.

The second-year Rebel is averaging nearly ten points per game since being installed in the Rebels’ starting lineup just before Christmas. Antonio, another recent addition to the starting five, reached double figures for the first time since the team’s opening game of the season.

Those adjustment has already paid early dividends for Otzelberger, with the team going 5-1 over their past six games. UNLV has finally climbed back to .500 after losing eight of their first 12 games.

That they were victorious despite a poor offensive showing from Amauri Hardy is especially encouraging for a team that has looked one-dimensional at times.

Saturday’s triumph was the fourth in five tries for UNLV in Mountain West play, keeping them in a second-place tie with New Mexico. The Lobos were also victorious over the weekend, beating Air Force at home. Both teams trail undefeated San Diego State, with the Aztecs moving to 17-0 after an easy win over Boise State.

In stark contrast to the early success of those teams, Wyoming still remains winless on the conference season. The Cowboys are in last place in the Mountain West, trailing Fresno State by a game and a half.

UP NEXT

UNLV hosts San Jose State (6-12, 2-4 MW) on Wednesday night. The Spartans are coming off a loss to Colorado State over the weekend, but they haven’t looked like the pushovers they were a year ago. Jean Prioleau’s club has already beaten New Mexico and Nevada in league play. They also came closer than anyone else to beating San Diego State, with Malachi Flynn’s buzzer-beater serving as the Aztecs’ only saving grace.

Wyoming will head to Reno to take on Nevada (10-7, 3-2 MW) in a Tuesday night matchup. The Wolf Pack have stumbled a bit of late, with the aforementioned loss to San Jose State and another to Utah State making for a very forgettable week. But this team is plenty talented and should have the offensive firepower to outgun the Cowboys. Jalen Harris should be in the mix for MW Player of the Year honors if he can continue to light up the league’s defenses.

Andrew is a current USBWA member, covering college basketball for multiple outlets, including Mountain West Wire of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Busting Brackets of the FanSided Network. He also runs the Dieckhoff Power Index, a college basketball analytics system, and provides bracketology predictions throughout the season.

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