SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Kalib Boone scored 16 points and Justin Webster added 11, but the UNLV men’s basketball team had its season come to an end with a 91-68 NIT quarterfinal loss to Seton Hall Wednesday night at Walsh Gymnasium.
It was UNLV’s second trip to New Jersey in less than a week, as it played a first-round game at Princeton last Wednesday before defeating Boston College at home on Sunday.
The Runnin’ Rebels (21-13) finished the season with 21 wins, which are the most for the program since the 2012-13 season. The NIT also marked UNLV’s first postseason appearance in 11 years and it recorded its first postseason win in 16 years.
Keylan Boone, Brooklyn Hicks and Rob Whaley Jr. all added nine points for UNLV against the Pirates, with Whaley Jr. recording a game-high-tying seven rebounds, Keylan adding six and Kalib five. Kalib was 8 of 10 from the field and Keylan added three steals.
Seton Hall (23-12), which advanced to the NIT semifinals in Indianapolis with the victory, had all five starters score in double figures, led by Al-Amir Dawes’ 21 points on 8 of 16 from the field. Kadary Richmond shot 7 of 9, scoring 16 points with 10 assists, no turnovers and five steals.
STAT OF THE GAME: Seton Hall shot 56.5% from the field (35 of 62) and 44.0% on 3-pointers (11 of 25).
COSTLY RUN: Seton Hall used a 7-0 run to end the first half and made three 3-pointers to start the second half, extending a 37-26 lead to its largest of the game at 53-26 with 18 minutes to go.
QUOTABLE: “We got in a hole in the first half, which was tough to dig out of against a really good team like that. Our guys kept fighting and trying to claw back. There was a lot of positivity in the huddles and a belief that we could make a quick run. We had good offensive possessions, but we couldn’t quite do it on the other end where we could get a string of stops together. But it wasn’t for a lack of care or anything like that, we just dug ourselves too big of a hole at the beginning of each half which proved to be the difference.” – UNLV head coach Kevin Kruger.
OTHER NOTES:
– UNLV finished the season winning 12 of its final 16 games.
– UNLV went 0-9 on 3-pointers in the first half, but made 5 of 12 over the final 20 minutes (41.7%).
– The Runnin’ Rebels made 54.8% of their shots in the second half (17 of 31), finishing the game at 44.4% (28 of 63).
– Seton Hall made 8 of 14 3-pointers in the second half (57.1%).
– UNLV led in rebounding, 32-31.
– UNLV’s bench outscored Seton Hall’s 33-17.
– Seton Hall led at halftime, 44-26.
– UNLV was again without Luis Rodriguez, who is attending to a family matter, and Jalen Hill, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in January.
– UNLV has made at least one 3-pointer in a NCAA-record 1,227 straight games.
