The UC Irvine Men’s Basketball (23-12, 15-5) team fell to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels (18-16, 11-9) 75-72 in the first round of the televised National Invitation Tournament (NIT) game at the Bren Events Center on March 17.
UCI entered the game off of a 71-64 loss to the University of Hawai’i at Manoa in the Big West Championship game. Last season, the Anteaters advanced to the NIT championship and fell to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Mocs in overtime.
The UNLV Rebels came into the game off of a 80-60 loss in the Mountain West quarterfinals to RV Utah State University. UNLV last took part in the NIT in 2024, where they fell in the quarterfinals to Seton Hall University, 91-68.
Action began 30 seconds into the game, with a pair of made freethrows by redshirt junior forward Akiva McBirney-Griffin putting the Anteaters up 2-0.
UNLV quickly took their first lead of the game on the other end of the floor, as senior forward Kimani Hamilton made a three-pointer to put the Runnin’ Rebels up 3-2.
At the first timeout of the game, the Runnin’ Rebels had extended their lead to 12-5. Hamilton got out to a hot start scoring in the early moments of the game, as he had five of his team’s first 12 points.
A little more than eight minutes into the game, UNLV’s lead expanded to 19-7. By 12 minutes into the game, the Runnin’ Rebels’ lead ballooned to 29-11.
With a little more than three minutes remaining in the first half, the Anteaters cut the lead to 32-19. The lead stayed at 13 as the first half came to an end with UNLV ahead 37-24.
In the first half, the Runnin’ Rebels shot 51.9% from the field on 27 shots, while the Anteaters shot 24.2% from the field on 33 shots. UNLV also fared much better when it came to three-pointers, as they made six of their 14 attempts, while UCI could not make a single three-pointer out of their five attempts. UNLV junior guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn led the scoring in the game with 12 points in the first half. The Anteaters had double the free throw attempts in the first half with 12 compared to the Runnin’ Rebels’ six.
At the 13:41 mark in the second half, Irvine redshirt sophomore guard Derin Saran hit a three-pointer to cut the UNLV lead to 48-37.
With 11:26 remaining in the game, a double technical was assessed on UC Irvine’s freshman forward Nes Emeneke and UNLV’s Hamilton. At this point, the Anteaters cut the Runnin’ Rebels’ lead to 53-46.
At the 10:39 mark in the second half, UNLV called their first timeout of the game as the ‘Eaters had cut the lead to 53-50.
With 8:13 remaining in the game, UCI redshirt freshman guard Jovan Jester Jr. was called for a flagrant foul as the Runnin’ Rebels extended their lead to 57-52.
Minutes later at the final media timeout, UNLV extended their lead by two points leading 70-63.
With 28.1 seconds remaining in the game, UNLV head coach Josh Pastner called the Runnin’ Rebels’ second timeout of the game with possession of the ball and a 73-70 lead. With 4.1 seconds in the game, Anteater head coach Russell Turner called the Anteaters’ second timeout of the game still down three but with possession of the ball. Before the ball could be inbounded UNLV called their final timeout.
Following foul action with two made freethrows for each team, the Anteaters eventually fell 75-72 to the Runnin’ Rebels.
“We’ve won a lot of really good road games, this is another road win, a true road win,” Pastner said during the postgame press conference. “They’re the number three team in the nation in terms of field goal percentage defence and we shot today 54% from the field [and] 46 from three.”
Saran led the Anteaters in the effort with 18 points, three rebounds, six assists and three steals.
“It is difficult to turn around after the disappointment of the Big West Championship and then have to compete,” Turner said during the postgame press conference. “If your team does not quite have everything they have to have emotionally and mentally, it’s hard to play at your best level.”
Turner also noted that McBirney-Griffin had another season of eligibility but concerns relating to previous injuries may keep him from returning. Senior forward Kyle Evans, the nation’s block leader, also was shared to have at least one more year of eligibility remaining, but concerns around other schools securing his talents were noted as affecting his return to UC Irvine for the upcoming season.
The Anteaters will return to action in November as they look to kick off their 2026-27 season.
Jack Fedor is the 2025-2026 Sports Editor. He can be reached at jfedor@uci.edu.
Edited by Benjamin Flores and Tracy Sandoval
