UNLV Beats Air Force 77-58 For 3rd Straight Win, Move to 2-0 in Mountain West

The Runnin' Rebels went on the road to Colorado Springs and had four players score in double digits.

Doug Vazquez | Dec 31, 2024

UNLV Rebels head coach Kevin Kruger / Candice Ward-Imagn Images

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UNLV Runnin' Rebels

The UNLV Runnin' Rebels need to have a strong showing in Mountain West play to have any chance of making postseason play, and they are off to a good start after beating Air Force on the road on New Year's Eve to improve to 2-0 in the conference.

Jaden Henley led the Rebels in scoring with 14 points, Bear Cherry chipped in 13 and Jailen Bedford had 11 points with 10 coming in the first half. Jalen Hill had a season-high-tying 9 rebounds.

Kevin Kruger's squad put in an all around dominant performance from tip-off to buzzer. The five leading scorers for the Rebels combined to shoot 60% from the field, led by Rishwain. For the second straight game they outrebounded their opponent with 37 to Air Force's 32. They shot lights out from 3 point range at a 56.3 % clip (9-16), extending their NCAA-record with a three in 1,240 consecutive games.

When asked about his team's performance of late Kevin Kruger said, "We are sticking together, doing what each other expects to do. In the six halves that we have played since we got back from Dayton, we have had five pretty good ones. We are continuing to learn each other and play for each other. I thought today, minus a little stretch where they hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second half, we were about as disciplined and had the most conviction in terms of what we wanted to do and what we wanted to be like from the scouting report in practice to the game and that's why we were able to have a steady offense and defense throughout today."

Next up for the men's squad, they will return home to host San Jose State on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 3 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center.

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