UNLV basketball loses to Mississippi State in Arizona Tip-Off | UNLV Basketball | sport

The UNLV men’s basketball team left Mullett Arena on Thursday suffering insults in addition to its injury.

No. 25 Mississippi State not only defeated the Rebels 80-58 in the semifinals of the Arizona Tip-Off Tournament in Tempe, Arizona.

The Bulldogs (6-0) dominated so much that broadcast commentators began talking about UNLV football getting a boost in the College Football Playoff race after Tulane lost to Memphis on Thursday night.

It was a better conversation than analyzing Mississippi State’s 28-point lead with four minutes to play.

That’s not all: The loss also led to the departure of key UNLV transfer Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry. The 1.90 meter tall striker went to the locker room five minutes into the second half and did not return. Coach Kevin Kruger said Cherry was dealing with a back injury that he tried to recover from in the first half.

With Cherry out, the Rebels (4-2) only have eight healthy players.

Overall, Kruger’s postgame comments focused on the positive.

“We have to find out. You know, there’s also a fun approach. It doesn’t have to be doom and gloom,” he said. “We played against a really good team tonight. Obviously it wasn’t the way we wanted it to be, but there’s a lot of really good things we can take from it.”

Guard Jailen Bedford led UNLV with a season-high 13 points, while forward Jalen Hill added 11.

Point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. had 10 points and six assists and shot 4 of 11 from the field and 0 of 3 on free throws.

Forward KeShawn Murphy led Mississippi State with 14 points and 13 rebounds. The Bulldogs’ leading scorer, guard Josh Hubbard, scored 11 points before leaving early in the second half with an ankle injury.

The Bulldogs play Butler (5-1) in the title game on Friday at 6:30 p.m. UNLV will face Northwestern (5-2) for third place on Friday at 4 p.m.

Here are three takeaways from the Thanksgiving loss:

1. First half

There were promising signs early, from Cherry’s two blocks and a three-pointer in the first four minutes to blocking Brooklyn Hicks’ breakaway dunk at 13:41.

But after an 8-2 run, the Rebels’ lead shrank to two points in the first four minutes and they never led again.

“We shot 56 percent in the first half. So we had a few options. “We got some good insight,” Kruger said. “We just need to have some better defensive players to keep them from getting in our way.”

2. Rebounding

A sign of strong defense is limiting your opponents’ offensive rebounds. UNLV couldn’t get it done, allowing 30 second-chance points while scoring just three.

Mississippi State grabbed 19 offensive rebounds while the Rebels only had four. The rebound total was less impressive, with the Bulldogs coming out with a 46-29 lead.

“Actually, I’m just tough with the glass. They have overtaken us. They have surpassed us. Basically, every free ball was theirs,” Hill said.

He and Kruger agreed that the defensive issues were both mental and physical, noting that UNLV needs to improve in that area.

3. Further customizations

Cherry, UNLV’s leading rebounder and shot blocker, is now part of a large group of injured Rebels.

Senior forward Rob Whaley Jr. has been sidelined since UNLV’s 80-69 home win over Omaha with a lower back injury.

Junior guards Jaden Henley and Jace Whiting are also out with foot injuries.

The initial injuries pushed guard Julian Rishwain into the starting lineup, and now things are likely to change again.

“We have to do a little bit of ‘Kumbaya’ and sit around and think, ‘How are we going to do this?'” Kruger said. “Because no one outside of our locker room cares, we have to clarify some things quickly. Nobody cares that there will be lineups we haven’t seen before and roles and responsibilities you’ve never had before.”

Kruger said the performance wasn’t because anyone had “the wrong attitude.”

“Hopefully in a few weeks we’ll look back on this game specifically and say, ‘Hey, that was a nice little eye opener for us,'” he said.

Contact Callie Fin at [email protected]. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.

Next

Who: UNLV vs. Northwestern

What: Reference to Arizona

When: Friday, 4 p.m

Where: Mullett Arena, Tempe, Arizona.

TV: CBSSN

Radio: KWWN (1100 AM, 100.9 FM)