UNLV heads to Boise State for 2 games

UNLV’s young Rebels earned some education in closing out games down the stretch in two wins over Air Force on Saturday and Monday.

Both games hung in the balance late, but the Rebels took control for 68-58 and 69-54 wins.

UNLV will see if those lessons carry over when it goes on the road to meet Boise State on Thursday and Saturday. Both games tip off at 7 p.m. at ExtraMile Arena.

“I think it’s huge for our confidence,” UNLV coach T.J. Otzelberger said of the Air Force wins. “We were able to separate in both games after the last media timeout. Late in games, you have to manage longer possessions, and those things are helpful. Usually you learn that kind of stuff in practice, but we’re having to do it in games.”

The Rebels (8-9, 5-5 Mountain West) still are looking for their first conference road win. They are 0-4, suffering two-game sweeps against Colorado State and UNR.

UNLV leading scorer Bryce Hamilton returned from an ankle injury that kept him out of the UNR series. Otzelberger said Hamilton wasn’t as explosive as usual and the ankle is still a little tender, but he battled through it and he’s “good to go” for this weekend.

That’s good news for the Rebels, since they’ll need as much scoring punch as they can get against the Broncos.

Boise State (14-4, 10-3) has dropped three of its past four, splitting its series with Colorado State before being swept by UNR on Friday and Sunday.

The Broncos are the Mountain West’s top offensive team, averaging 78.4 points per game. Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year Derrick Alston leads that charge with 16.9 points per game, but Boise State has three players who average in double figures and eight who score at least seven per game.

“They’re a very high-powered offensive team. They’ve got a lot of veteran, older guys who can score in a variety of ways,” Otzelberger said. “They’re headlined by Alston, who is a big wing who can shoot it and post up and score, but what’s challenging is their entire eight-man rotation can score.”

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