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LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The UNLV men’s basketball team (1-0) earned a victory in its season opener with a 93-79 decision over Alabama State (0-1) on Monday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Runnin’ Rebels had four players score in double figures and were led by Bear Cherry’s double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds, which were both game highs. He was a dominant 10 of 11 from the field and recorded two blocked shots. Dedan Thomas Jr. added 17 points and a game-high seven assists, while Julian Rishwain had 13 points on 4 of 8 3-point shooting and Brooklyn Hicks added 11 points on 5 of 7 from the field.
The Hornets also had four players score in double figures, led by Amarr Knox’s 19 points, five assists and two steals.
STATS OF THE GAME: UNLV shot 56.9% from the field (33 of 58) and 45.5% on 3-pointers (9 of 20), and outscored ASU 42-26 in points in the paint.
“I’m proud of our team for a lot of things. Every non-conference game for us will have a different challenge to prepare us for conference play. Alabama State brought back five starters and is a team that is comfortable with and understands each other well, which presented a really good and unique situation for us. I thought the guys did a really good job of talking, communicating and figuring it out, running the sets we were looking for and making plays for each other. We did a lot of good things that we can continue to build on, but also some things that we can fix and continue to get better,” said UNLV head coach Kevin Kruger.
OTHER NOTES:
- UNLV outrebounded Alabama State 38-30.
- The Runnin’ Rebels dished out 20 assists and committed just 11 turnovers.
- UNLV led in second-chance points, 18-8.
- UNLV held the lead for 36 minutes of the contest.
- UNLV led at halftime, 46-41.
- After Alabama State shot 55.6% on 3-pointers in the first half (5 of 9), UNLV held it to just 30.8% in the second half (4 of 13).
- Alabama State shot 44.3% (27 of 61) from the field for the game and 40.9% (9 of 22) on 3-pointers.
- This was the first all-time meeting between the two schools in men’s basketball.
- UNLV improved to 8-1 all-time against Southwestern Athletic Conference schools.
- UNLV improved to 52-15 all-time in season openers and 44-9 in lid-lifters at home.
- The Runnin’ Rebels are now 29-5 all-time in season openers at the Thomas & Mack Center.
- UNLV has made at least one 3-pointer in an NCAA-record 1,228 straight games.
NEXT FOR THE RUNNIN’ REBELS: UNLV will continue its season-opening five-game homestand on Saturday, Nov. 9 with a 3 p.m. game vs. Memphis at the Thomas & Mack Center.
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