UNLV drops opener against Boise State

For about 10 minutes Thursday, UNLV did everything it needed to pull off a road upset against Boise State.

The Rebels were the more physical team, controlled the boards and ran their offense deep into the shot clock to get quality looks. As soon as they got away from that, the Broncos pounced.

Boise State went on a 12-0 run midway through the first half to turn a six-point deficit into a six-point lead, and never trailed again in a 78-66 win at ExtraMile Arena in Boise, Idaho.

“It continues to be a pattern that we don’t sustain it for 40 minutes,” UNLV coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “We need our older guys to bring better leadership. We need everybody to do their job and the care factor to be at an all-time high.

”Hopefully we can learn that lesson and not continue to put ourselves in this spot.”

The Broncos (13-4, 11-3 Mountain West) shot 50 percent from the floor, and Emmanuel Akot was 7-of-10 to lead them with 16 points. Boise State moved to 8-0 in home conference games, while UNLV (8-10, 5-6) fell to 0-5 on the road in the Mountain West.

Bryce Hamilton scored 24 of his 26 points in the second half for the Rebels. Caleb Grill had UNLV’s first eight points and finished with 14. David Jenkins added 12.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

1. Boise State’s balanced attack

Boise State entered the game with the conference’s top offense, thanks to eight players who average seven points or more.

They had six players score eight or more Thursday. Abu Kijab had 14 points and six rebounds, and Mladen Armus 13 points and eight rebounds. Armus had two big assists off kickouts after he grabbed offensive rebounds, getting the better of the matchup with UNLV center Mbacke Diong.

“(Armus) made a big difference. He was physical, he was on the offensive boards, he scored around the rim,” Otzelberger said. “He kept Mbacke where he wasn’t as much of a factor offensively, and that’s something we’re going to need to be better for us to have success Saturday.”

The balance helped the Broncos overcome a quiet performance from leading scorer Derrick Alston, who was 2-of-6 for nine points.

2. Hamilton comes on late

Hamilton got off to a slow start with two points on 1-of-6 shooting, two fouls and two turnovers in the first half, but he got it going late.

The Rebels’ leading scorer, who entered averaging 18.2 per game, had UNLV’s last 16 points after Diong’s putback with 8:49 to go.

“I just tried to find holes in their defense where I could get my shot off and create,” Hamilton said. “I feel pretty good confidence-wise for the next game, but we have to do better as a team to get the win.”

Otzelberger was pleased to see the late surge from Hamilton, but he said the Rebels need more early in the game.

“I hate to say it this way, but we need Bryce to be that effective offensively when we have a chance to win the game, in the first half and early in the second,” Otzelberger said. “We need him to play at his highest level and with energy from the start.”

3. Free-throw disparity

Boise State dominated from the free-throw line, making 18 of its 22 attempts to UNLV’s 4-of-9.

The Broncos had 13 free throw attempts before UNLV received its first two with 2:02 left in the first half.

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.