Emmanuel Stephen had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Kimani Hamilton made the game-winning free throw for UNLV in a come-from-behind 75-74 stunner over host Stanford on Sunday.
Hamilton and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn each posted 15 points for the Runnin’ Rebels (4-5), who ended a three-game losing skid. UNLV shot 48.3% from the field as it improved to 2-0 on the road this year.
Ebuka Okorie had 18 points, and Oskar Giltay posted a team-leading 14 rebounds with nine points for the Cardinal (7-2), who dropped their second game at home this season.
Ryan Agarwal added 13 points and Benny Gealer had 11. They each made three 3-pointers.
Jeremy Dent-Smith’s layup gave Stanford a 64-63 lead with 5:06 remaining, and his two free throws extended the lead to 70-66 with 2:58 to play. But Tyrin Jones and Gibbs-Lawhorn drew four straight shooting fouls and made 6 of 8 from the foul line to flip the lead.
Okorie’s three-point play restored Stanford’s edge at 73-72 but Hamilton scored in the paint to put UNLV back on top. Okorie was sent to the line and missed the first free throw but made the second to tie the game.
Hamilton got back to the line with two seconds and made one free throw from Hamilton, and Okorie missed a buzzer-beater to seal the Rebels’ victory.
Gealer opened up scoring for the game with a 3-point shot, and Agarwal sank his own shot from beyond the arc to give Stanford a 9-6 lead with 16:01 to play in the first half. Jones tied the game 15-15 with back-to-back layups, but Stanford regained the lead 20-15 thanks to Chisom Okpara’s 3-pointer to round out a 5-0 run for the hosts.
The Cardinal went on a 9-0 run, and Agarwal’s second 3-pointer of the game plus Okorie’s free throw extended the lead to 31-22 with 6:25 left in the half. The Rebels responded with a run to cut the margin to 37-36 with less than a minute to play before the break, and Stephen’s dunk at the buzzer brought UNLV within 39-38 at intermission.
Stephen’s jump shot to open up the second half gave UNLV its first lead of the game at 40-39. The Rebels took a 51-48 advantage with 14:06 to play.
Stanford kept the score close but ran into turnover trouble, and Al Green’s shot from beyond the arc gave UNLV a 61-60 advantage with 8:31 remaining in the half.
