Courtesy of UNLV

PRINCETON, N.J. – Rob Whaley Jr., Keylan Boone and Justin Webster combined for 54 points on 21 of 28 shooting to lead the UNLV men’s basketball team to its first postseason win since 2008 in an 84-77 victory Wednesday night at No. 2 seed Princeton in the first round of the NIT.

Whaley Jr. scored a career-high 21 points on a perfect 8 of 8 from the field with nine rebounds to help the Runnin’ Rebels advance to the second round, while Boone contributed 18 points on 8 of 13 shooting with a game-high 11 boards for his fourth double-double of the season, Webster added 15 points on 5 of 7 from the field, including 3 of 4 on 3-pointers, and Shane Nowell added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.

UNLV’s (20-12) last win in the postseason was over Kent State in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament and this marks its first NIT victory since 2005 when it defeated Arizona State at the Thomas & Mack Center. Wednesday also marked the Runnin’ Rebels’ first appearance in the postseason in 11 years.

Princeton (24-5), who entered the contest with a 12-0 home record this season and a 37-4 mark over its previous 41 games at Jadwin Gymnasium (since 2021-22), was led by Caden Pierce’s 22 points and six rebounds. Three other Tiger players scored in double figures.

STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV shot 68.2% in the second half (15 of 22) and finished the game at 60.8% (31 of 51), including 47.1% on 3-pointers (8 of 17).

TURNING POINT: UNLV closed the first half scoring the final four points and started the second half with a 13-5 run to take a six-point lead (49-43) with 15:21 to go. The Runnin’ Rebels extended their lead to 11 points with 12 minutes left and then led by 15 with 5:30 to play. Princeton cut its deficit to just four points with 40 seconds remaining but UNLV made seven of eight free throws from there.

QUOTABLE: “Couldn’t be happier for them and prouder of them for the fight in the second half, especially. First half, I thought we did a lot of really good things and went on some really good runs, but Princeton went on some better runs. We found ourselves in a hole and I felt like we were just a half-step slow. The guys came out in the second half and had the start that we had to have. What ended up being the difference in the game was being aggressive and assertive there, and getting looks that we wanted.” – UNLV head coach Kevin Kruger.

20-WINS: With the win over Princeton, UNLV won its 20th game of the season. It marks the first time the Runnin’ Rebels have won 20 games since 2017-18, six years ago. Kruger’s first team won 18 games, his second squad won 19 and now this year’s has won 20.

OTHER NOTES:
– UNLV is 11-3 in its last 14 games.
– UNLV improved to 4-1 all-time against Princeton, including 2-1 in postseason games.
– UNLV improved its all-time record in the NIT to 9-11. This marks the Runnin’ Rebels 11th appearance in the long-running postseason event.
– UNLV shot 13 more free throws than Princeton did (19-6), outscoring the Tigers from the charity stripe 14-3.
– UNLV won the rebounding battle, 36-23.
– UNLV led in fast-break points, 14-4, and bench scoring, 15-7.
– There were five ties and three lead changes throughout the game. 
– Kalib Boone, who suffered an ankle injury in UNLV’s regular-season finale at UNR on March 9 and tried to play in the Mountain West Tournament, did not play.
– UNLV was also without Luis Rodriguez, who is attending to a family matter, and Jalen Hill, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in January.
– Princeton led 38-36 at halftime.
– Princeton shot 45.6% from the field (31 of 68) and 32.4% on 3-pointers (12 of 37).
– UNLV has made at least one 3-pointer in a NCAA-record 1,225 straight games.

NEXT FOR THE RUNNIN’ REBELS: UNLV will host Boston College in the NIT’s second round on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center. Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased by visiting the NIT page at UNLVtickets.com.