LAS VEGAS, NV - The flu bug didn’t stop the Rebels from making a statement to open 2026. The Runnin’ Rebels turned the game into a grind, held Air Force under 40 points, and dominated the glass in a 67-39 win at the Thomas & Mack Center, extending their win streak to three and putting an early stamp on the identity Josh Pastner has been pushing.
“I don’t care who you play, you hold a team under 40 points, that’s not easy to do,” Pastner said. “That means you’re a good defensive team.”
Air Force shot 27.8% from the field and 3 of 19 from 3-point range, repeatedly running into contested looks and second efforts that never materialized. UNLV’s length and ball pressure kept the Falcons from generating clean possessions, and the Rebels turned misses into control and eventually separation.
“I thought defensively we really guarded at a high level,” Pastner said. “I thought we executed the game plan.”
Tyrin Jones led UNLV with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting and added six rebounds. Howie Fleming Jr. posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Dre Gibbs-Lawhorn scored 12 points and Isaac Williamson finished with 10.
Lucas Hobin paced Air Force with 11 points. Caleb Walker added 10 points and seven rebounds.
UNLV took command early and never let Air Force gain traction. The Rebels led 35-20 at halftime after limiting the Falcons to 20 points and 7-of-32 shooting in the opening period. Any hope of a reset out of the break disappeared quickly — UNLV opened the second half with a burst that pushed the margin to 22 and forced Air Force into an early timeout.
From there, the Rebels simply kept squeezing.
The defining numbers were on the glass. UNLV finished with a 49-32 rebounding edge, including 15 offensive rebounds. The extra possessions fed UNLV’s paint scoring and kept Air Force stuck defending multiple actions on the same trip, a recipe that snowballed as the game wore on.
“We had fifteen offensive rebounds, which is a great thing for us,” Pastner said. “We want to get 40 percent of our missed shots [back] on the offensive glass… we did that today.”
UNLV also found a cleaner version of itself after halftime. The Rebels had 11 turnovers for the game, but only two in the second half, giving Air Force fewer chances to hang around with easy runouts.
“I thought in the second half we only had two turnovers, which was a good step,” Pastner said.
The box score didn’t scream offensive efficiency: UNLV shot 43.3% and went 4-for-17 from 3, but it never needed to. The Rebels scored 40 points in the paint, created 16 second-chance points, and piled up six blocks, repeatedly walling off Air Force at the rim and finishing possessions with rebounds.
Fleming, who has become the team’s steady two-way presence through the early-season turbulence, said the commitment to the dirty work has been the separator, especially with the roster shorthanded and illness moving through the group.
“Some days it may be scoring, some days it may be getting tendencies, some days it may just be doing the little stuff,” Fleming said. “Today it just so happened that we get the rebounds.”
Williamson’s line reflected both halves: he was 4-of-14 from the field and 1-of-5 from 3, but he stayed involved, defended, and helped UNLV win the possession battle. Afterward, he leaned into the process rather than the makes and misses.
“Just keep shooting,” Williamson said. “I’m never going to change my game based off of that performance.”
Pastner echoed that, emphasizing growth and continuity as conference play begins.
“Isaac’s going to continue to get better,” Pastner said. “He’s a really good shooter… he’s got to keep shooting… hopefully that gets him going. Isaac’s a big part of our success.”
The win also came after a disruptive week for UNLV, with players battling illness and practice time chopped up. Pastner credited the staff for keeping the group pointed in the same direction, and he made a point to highlight the behind-the-scenes work that got the Rebels through the day.
“It wasn’t an easy week because we were sort of in and out… but we found a way to really execute,” Pastner said. “Our trainer, Kalani, just had a baby and deserves maybe the MVP for this game… he was able to get our guys back and help them for this game with us going through the flu.”
Air Force never led and rarely even threatened. The Falcons’ best run was a 7-0 push late, but by then UNLV’s advantage had already grown to nearly 30. For long stretches, Air Force’s offense was stuck operating late in the clock, and UNLV’s size, particularly around the rim, turned layup attempts into contested floaters and blocked shots.
The Falcons finished with 13 turnovers and converted only 6 of 13 free throws, a combination that left them with too few points to survive a night this inefficient from the field.
UNLV’s rebounding depth also showed up beyond Fleming and Jones. Jacob Bannarbie grabbed 10 rebounds to go with five points, and Emmanuel Stephen added eight points and seven boards in 18 minutes. The Rebels consistently turned misses into more chances, forcing Air Force to defend again and again without relief.
“Jacob.. ten rebounds… tough, hard-nosed rebounds,” Pastner said. “I just thought everybody executed the game plan.”
The performance sets the tone for the road tests ahead, with Pastner pointing to the week in front of them as the standard rises in the Mountain West.
“We know we’ve got tough road trips next week at Wyoming and Colorado State,” he said. “We’ll enjoy the win tonight, dive in the film, and then get back to work tomorrow.”
Fleming framed the bigger picture the way the locker room has: conference play is the point, and the path will include nights that look nothing like a highlight reel.
“Winning this conference, going to the NCAA tournament, we know the battles between that,” Fleming said. “There’s going to be a whole bunch of highs and lows. … All having a common goal is what keeps us together.”
UNLV played like a team that knows exactly what kind of game it wants to play in January: pressure, rebounding, and control. Saturday’s margin came without a barrage of 3s, without a pristine offensive night, and without a perfect script.
It came from the parts that tend to travel.
“I don’t care who you play, you hold a team under 40 points, that’s not easy to do,” Pastner said. “That means you’re a good defensive team.
