UNLV Rebels head coach Kevin Krugar watches from the sideline during an exhibition game against the Bethesda University Flames at the Cox Pavilion Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024.
Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024 | 10:53 p.m.
UNLV really needed that one.
Three days after dropping a difficult Mountain West opener at San Diego State, Kevin Kruger’s squad regrouped and put forth one of their best performances of the season, dropping a good New Mexico team, 83-73, at the Thomas & Mack Center.
UNLV is now 8-6 on the year and 1-1 in conference play.
“Obviously, ecstatic for the guys to come back and bounce back and win against another great defensive team,” Kruger said. “To come home and protect homecourt to start the conference is really important.”
It’s an affirming win for UNLV. New Mexico came into the game at No. 35 in the NET Ratings and No. 41 in KenPom, putting them squarely in the NCAA Tournament field — which is where UNLV ultimately wants to end up. The Scarlet and Gray have now toppled a couple of potential tourney teams in New Mexico and Creighton, so although they’ve had an up-and-down campaign to this point, the ceiling remains high.
Kalib Boone served as the closer on Tuesday, as he converted five post-up baskets in the final six minutes to keep New Mexico at bay. The senior big man finished with a career-high 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting, doing most of his damage in just 28 minutes due to foul trouble.
His twin brother, Keylan Boone, also played his best game since becoming eligible three weeks ago. He moved into the starting lineup in place of injured forwards Jalen Hill and Isaiah Cottrell and nailed five 3-pointers and tallied 17 points.
It was the first time Keylan and Kalib Boone were in the starting lineup together since the 2020-21 season, but the natural chemistry was apparent.
“It’s been a minute,” Keylan said when asked how it felt to be starting alongside his brother.
Contrary to the bloodbath at San Diego State, UNLV opened the game ready to play, storming out to a 13-4 lead on a post-up score by Kalib Boone, a 3-pointer by Keylan and a 3 from freshman guard D.J. Thomas.
Luis Rodriguez spearheaded an impressive defensive effort on New Mexico leading scorer Donovan Dent. The 6-foot-2 sophomore came into the night averaging 16.6 points, but with the 6-foot-6 Rodriguez harassing him most of the time, Dent managed just three points on 1-of-6 shooting.
The Scarlet and Gray took a 40-38 lead into halftime, then broke off a 16-4 run coming out of the locker room to reestablish a double-digit lead. New Mexico trimmed the deficit to 73-64 with four minutes to play, and that’s when UNLV really started feeding Kalib Boone.
The ball found Boone on four straight possessions, and he used a variety of post moves to score all four times, sealing an important win.
Keylan Boone assisted on two of the baskets, a fact he was quick to point out in the postgame press conference.
Kalib Boone said he was determined to come through after a down game on Saturday that saw him score eight points and commit four turnovers in the loss at San Diego State.
“My teammates give me confidence; the coaching staff gives me confidence to be aggressive,” Kalib Boone said. “Against San Diego State I wasn’t a presence, but today I was like, I’m going to make myself a presence somehow, some way in this game today.”
Thomas directed the UNLV offense expertly, posting 14 points and seven assists while the team shot 50.0% from the field.
UNLV will have another opportunity for a quality win on Saturday, when No. 20 Utah State visits the Mack.
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
