Live coverage: UNLV upsets Colorado State behind Bryce Hamilton’s 45 points

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Steve Marcus

UNLV Rebels, including UNLV Rebels forward Victor Iwuakor, center, warm up before a NCAA basketball game against the San Diego State Aztecs at Thomas & Mack Center Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022.

Published Fri, Jan 28, 2022 (2 a.m.)

Updated Fri, Jan 28, 2022 (8:14 p.m.)

UNLV finished it off. Behind Bryce Hamilton's career-high 45 points, the Scarlet and Gray recorded their best win of the season, 88-74 at Colorado State.

UNLV shot the lights out as a team, making 28-of-55 from the field (50.9%), and the lead got as high as 22 points in the second half. Colorado State made a run in the final 10 minutes but never got within single digits.

Hamilton played a big part in staking UNLV to that lead, as he started hot and poured in 21 points in the first half. He finished 13-of-22 from the field and 8-of-14 from 3-point range. He also knocked down 11-of-14 free throws. It's Hamilton's third 30-point performance in the last four games and his first career 40-point effort.

On defense, UNLV used size to disrupt CSU leading scorer David Roddy. Royce Hamm, Victor Iwuakor and David Muoka took turns defending the burly guard and held him to 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting, with much of that production coming in garbage time. CSU shot 43.1% as a team; Isaiah Stevens led the Rams with 35 points.

UNLV is now 12-9 on the season and 4-4 in Mountain West play. They'll come back to Las Vegas riding a wave of momentum to host UNR on Tuesday.

Upset-minded UNLV leads late at Colorado State, 72-59

Colorado State is making this very interesting. The Rams have turned up the defensive pressure, and UNLV's lead is down to 72-59 with 3:45 remaining.

CSU went to a backcourt trap with about eight minutes left and forced turnovers on four of UNLV's next six possessions. David Muoka scored a big putback during that stretch, and UNLV just beat the press with a Bryce Hamilton layup to calm things down.

Isaiah Stevens is doing the heavy lifting for Colorado State during the comeback attempt, as the junior guard has 28 points.

Hamilton is up to 35 points, tying his career high.

UNLV protecting big second-half lead at Colorado State

UNLV has pushed its lead to 66-46 with 8:51 to play, but this game is far from over.

Victor Iwuakor just picked up his fourth personal foul, joining Royce Hamm, who also has four. That is going to make it tough for UNLV on the defensive end, as those two have been responsible for holding CSU leading scorer David Roddy to six points on four shots tonight.

UNLV already has eight team fouls, so Colorado State will be shooting free throws the rest of the way.

UNLV leads Colorado State, 51-35

Colorado State came out of halftime hot, scoring on its first four possessions, but 3-pointers from Bryce Hamilton and Mike Nuga have helped keep the Rams at bay. With 15:54 remaining, UNLV has a 51-35 lead.

Hamilton just got fouled on a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired, so he'll be shooting three free throws after the timeout. He is already up to 24 points tonight on 9-of-14 shooting (6-of-8 3FGs).

UNLV continues to dominate the glass. The Scarlet and Gray have two offensive rebounds since halftime, giving them seven for the game; UNLV has a 10-0 advantage in second-chance points.

Hamilton has UNLV up at halftime, 43-25

UNLV just played its best half of the season, and they've taken a 43-25 lead into the locker room at Colorado State.

Bryce Hamilton was the headliner, as he caught fire and poured in 24 points in his 18 minutes. He's 9-of-14 from the field and 6-of-8 from 3-point range, with several of his 3's coming on isolation plays.

While Hamilton made difficult shots at one end, UNLV backed it up by playing tremendous defense at the other. The forward combo of Victor Iwuakor and Royce Hamm held CSU leading scorer David Roddy to three points on 0-of-3 shooting in the half, and the Rams only shot 32.1% as a team.

Can UNLV keep this up for another 20 minutes? Colorado State is 16-1 overall on the season and 6-1 in Mountain West play, so if UNLV can hold on it will constitute their most impressive win of the season.

Hamilton heating up, UNLV leads at CSU

Bryce Hamilton is having himself a game. The senior guard just went on a scoring spree over the last three minutes to push UNLV's lead to 26-15 with 7:05 left in the first half.

First Hamilton knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner. On the next possession he squared up from the left wing and hit another bomb. He then probed the paint and found David Muoka for an alley-oop, then stepped back and hit another 3, drawing a foul in the process (he missed the free throw). Finally Hamilton drove the lane and connected on a floater.

Whew.

After all that, Hamilton is now up to 15 points and three assists on the night, and UNLV has a surprising lead at one of the toughest road venues in the Mountain West.

UNLV takes early lead at Colorado State

It's been a low-scoring start here in Fort Collins, and with 12:00 left in the first half UNLV has scratched out an 11-8 lead.

Neither team scored in the first three minutes until Royce Hamm knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Colorado State missed its first six shots from the field, while UNLV is 5-of-12 so far.

Keshon Gilbert just made a nice play, as the freshman checked in and found Hamm under the basket for a power dunk. Hamm has seven points and two rebounds.

Victor Iwuakor drew the initial defensive assignment on Colorado State leading scorer David Roddy, and so far UNLV has done a nice job on Roddy; the powerful junior guard is scoreless in six minutes.

Royce Hamm active for UNLV at Colorado State

Royce Hamm is suited up and in the starting lineup tonight at Colorado State

Hamm missed Wednesday's practice due to illness, but has apparently recovered enough to give it a go tonight. And UNLV is going to need him, considering other absences throughout the rotation.

As expected, starting swingman Donovan Williams and starting guard Josh Baker are both inactive. Reserve guard Marvin Coleman also didn't make the trip, so the Scarlet and Gray will be fairly shorthanded again tonight.

Head coach Kevin Kruger is going with a starting lineup of Jordan McCabe, Mike Nuga, Bryce Hamilton, Victor Iwuakor and Hamm.

Wounded UNLV basketball heading to Colorado State

While the UNLV basketball team practiced on Wednesday, junior swingman Donovan William remained at the far corner of the Mendenhall Center, observing while riding an exercise bicycle.

Junior guard Josh Baker participated in some non-contact drills, but mostly watched from the sidelines.

Senior center Royce Hamm was absent entirely.

Those players represent 60% of UNLV’s starting lineup.

That’s the state of the Scarlet and Gray as they prepare for a matchup at Colorado State on Friday — a game that is looking more and more like an impossible task as the injuries continue to mount for Kevin Kruger’s squad.

Williams has emerged as a valuable scoring threat this season, but a knee injury forced him to miss Fridays win over San Jose State. He tried to return on Monday at San Diego State, but exited after nine laborious minutes. Baker suffered a concussion on Jan. 17 at San Jose State and hasn’t played since, missing three straight games. Hamm was so ill from a non-Covid illness that he was unable to suit up for practice.

Even at full strength, UNLV would face an uphill battle at Colorado State; the Rams are 16-1 on the season, 6-1 in Mountain West play and clearly have their sights set on a conference title. If Kruger brings a wounded team to Fort Collins, it’s going to take something special to compete.

It’s been a theme for UNLV for most of the season, as they’ve rarely had a full complement of players available at the same time.

“It’s nothing new for these guys,” Kruger said. “We had nine active players today. We’ve had a different lineup every few weeks in terms of our overall roster, but they came in today and had one of their most spirited practices. So I think at this point, unfortunately, they’re used to it.”

The coach did not say whether he expected any of his injured contributors to play at CSU, but it sounds like Williams will be out for the foreseeable future. And based on their practice status, it doesn’t appear likely that Baker or Hamm will be available on Friday, either.

A thin rotation without Williams in the No. 2 scorer’s role would once again shift most of the offensive burden to Bryce Hamilton. The senior guard has stepped up in the last two games, averaging 26.5 points on 50.0% shooting largely without Williams by his side.

It worked against an inferior San Jose State team, as UNLV was able to ride Hamilton’s hot hand to a 70-62 victory. But the formula failed spectacularly against the stout defense of San Diego State; Hamilton made 8-of-17 from the field (47.1%) while the rest of the team made just 11-of-43 (25.6%).

Though Colorado State is likely to focus all of its defensive attention on Hamilton, Kruger sees few other options.

“If Donovan isn’t able to go, it’s kind of hard at that point to tell Bryce not to do anything,” Kruger said. “Because everything is going to have to go through Bryce, so he is going to have to shoot when he feels like it’s a good shot and he’s going to have to pass when he feels like it’s time to pass. Even more of the scoring responsibility will be put on his shoulders.”

While Williams’ absence will be felt on the offensive end, UNLV will have to work to patch things together on the defensive end without Hamm and Baker. And Colorado State is the wrong opponent to face when the defense is duct-taped together, as backcourt duo of juniors David Roddy and Isaiah Stevens present myriad mismatches.

Stevens is 15.1 points and 5.2 assists while shooting 35.8% from 3-point range. And Roddy is putting together an All-American type season, averaging 18.6 points and 3.0 assists while making an absurd 57.5% of his shots and 45.8% of his 3’s. Together they’ve got the Rams’ offense at No. 19 in the KenPom efficiency ratings.

When asked what makes Colorado State so difficult to defend, Kruger laid it all out.

“Oh man. How much time do you have?” Kruger said, chuckling. “They understand each other, they’ve been playing together for a while. They’ve got a bunch of shot makers. They read and react off each other really well. And at the end of the day, they’ve still got a guy like Roddy.”

Kruger said junior forward Victor Iwuakor could be in line for an increased role on Friday, as his size (6-foot-7, 225 pounds) and agility could give him a chance to keep up with the uniquely-built Roddy (6-foot-6, 255 pounds).

Iwaukor said he’s not going to put added pressure on himself if Hamm can’t go, but he knows UNLV is going to rely on him to be the backbone of the defense.

“My approach stays the same,” Iwuakor said. “I just know I’ve got to do more.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.

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