UNLV Runnin' Rebels Pull Off Huge Road Upset Over Utah State Aggies

The UNLV Runnin' Rebels men's basketball forged a massive second-half comeback on Tuesday night to come away with a huge win over the 15 - 2 Utah State Aggies. This was by far the biggest win of the season for the Rebels. Utah State started the game off on a 9 - 0 run, but the game was tied 38 - 38 at the half. However, the Aggies went up by 14 points in the second half, before the Rebels went on to secure a double-digit victory by a score of 86 - 76. UNLV head coach Josh Pastner spoke following the big win.

"Utah State is a really good basketball team and they are very well coached," Pastner said. "I have been at many places - in the ACC, in the real Pac-10 back in the day, and other conferences - and this is as good of a home environment as there is in the country. So to win on the road here is almost impossible, and for us to be able to pull that off after being down 9-0 to start the game, and down 14 in the second half, was a credit to our grit and toughness."

With this win, the Rebels climb to 5 - 2 in the Mountain West Conference and 10 - 8 overall. They are currently two games back of first place in the conference. The Aggies drop to 6 - 2 in the conference and 15 - 3 overall.

The difference in this game was the three-point shooting and free-throw shooting. UNLV went 7 - 14 from beyond the arc and 21 - 25 from the line, while the Aggies went just 7 - 24 from three and 17 - 31 from the line. Also, the Rebels were able to grab nine more rebounds, out-rebounding Utah State 40 - 31.

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn led the team in scoring with 21 points. The junior guard went 8 - 12 from the field, 3 - 5 from three, and 2 - 2 from the line. He also chipped in with five rebounds and two steals.

Tyrin Jones was right behind Gibbs-Lawhorn with 20 points. He got to the line to make 10 - 12 free throws. The freshman forward also contributed four rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and one steal.

Things won't get any easier moving forward, because next up for the Rebels are the first-place San Diego State Aztecs. San Diego State is currently 7 - 0 in the Mountain West and 13 - 4 overall. These teams will face off at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday afternoon on CBS.

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