Box Score LAS VEGAS, N.V. – The High Point men's basketball team faced one of their toughest opponents thus far in the season on Friday night. Making the trek all the way to Las Vegas, Nevada, the Panthers came up short in a physical battle to the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV, 78-68.
Site: Thomas and Mack Center
Score: High Point 68 , UNLV 78
Records: High Point (3-1, 0-0), UNLV (4-0, 0-0)
G.G. Smith – "Obviously we are proud of our guys effort tonight, I thought we played extremely hard. I thought UNLV kinda took control in the second half, they really executed on the offensive end and I thought we didn't really shoot the ball well in the second half. I give UNLV a lot of credit, they can really defend, they're one of the better defensive teams in the country. I thought we weathered the storm in the first half and in the second half I thought that their length and their athleticism really hurt us. I'm really proud of their effort and I'm looking forward to these next couple games down here in Southern California and try to win the tournament and hopefully this tournament will help us win a the Big South tournament."
After a rocky start for the Panthers,
Jaden House got it going with a coast-to-coast drive straight to the rack to keep HPU within three.
The Runnin' Rebels advanced on their largest lead of the game with two free throws to make it 15-7.
High Point answered with seven straight points before adding a three at the top of the key from
Zack Austin to tie the game at 17 all with eight minutes left in the half.
Back-to-back threes for Austin led to HPU taking their first lead of the game at 23-22.
Abdoulaye Thiam followed in Austin's footsteps, catching fire with three straight threes.
A lay-up from
Brock Williams closed out the half with the Panthers up three, 36-33.
Justin Taylor opened the second half with a fastbreak three from a cross court pass by
Bryant Randleman.
At the fifteen-minute mark, UNLV took their first lead since the first half. The Runnin' Rebels sparked the crowd with some back-to-back shots, but Williams helped to quiet the arena with an and-one lay-up.
High Point battled to close the gap in the last five minutes of play, but with the Panthers unable to hit shots, UNLV extended their lead to 13.
A final three-pointer from Thiam finished the game, 68-78.
UNLV's sticky defense forced 20 turnovers for the Panthers while also collecting 48 rebounds to HPU's 38.
Up Next: High Point stays out west for the SoCal tournament in San Juan Capistrano, California. The tournament begins on Monday, November 21 with a matchup against Central Michigan at 5:30 PM PST (8:30 PM EST)
#GoHPU
