LAS VEGAS — The Wyoming Cowboys erased a 16-point first-half deficit and briefly took the lead in the second half, but a final shot attempt came up short in a 73-70 loss to the eighth-seeded UNLV Runnin’ Rebels on Wednesday in the first round of the 2026 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Wyoming struggled early but mounted a strong second-half comeback before falling in the closing seconds.
“We had two shots at the end of the game that were both good looks. I’m not going to sit up here talking about would’ve, should’ve, could’ve… I’m going to tip my cap to UNLV. They came out with hair on fire in the first half, and that really kind of put us on our heels. We had a big hole to dig out of, which is a testament to our guys who have been resilient all year long,” Wyoming head coach Sundance Wicks said.
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“They played an unbelievable second half to put us in position to go make the plays. We did that with a sophomore in Damarion Dennis and two freshmen in Gavin and Naz and a heck of a senior leader in Leland Walker.”
“We’re not going to shed any tears up here right now, because we’re going to try to keep playing postseason basketball. That’s our No. 1 goal is to try to play with this team for as long as we can,” Wicks said. “… I just want this experience to go on. There’s some teams where you just know they love playing, and these guys love playing the game of basketball.”
Wyoming shot 37 percent from the field and made just three 3-pointers, while UNLV shot 44 percent and connected on 15 of 26 shots in the first half. The Cowboys dominated the boards with a 43-21 rebounding advantage and grabbed 21 offensive rebounds.
Forward Gavin Gores led Wyoming with 15 points and five rebounds, scoring 11 of his points in the second half. Damarion Dennis added 13 points and a team-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double, while Nasir (Naz) Meyer finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Leland Walker recorded eight points, eight rebounds and six assists.
UNLV built momentum midway through the first half, using a 10-0 run to take a 30-15 lead and later extending the advantage to 37-21 before heading into halftime ahead 44-31.
Wyoming responded with a strong start to the second half, opening on a 17-5 run highlighted by a dunk from Gores and a 3-pointer from Dennis to cut the deficit to one at 49-48 with 13:31 remaining. The Cowboys later took a 58-55 lead during a 10-0 run, but the Runnin’ Rebels answered to regain control late.
The teams traded the lead in the final minutes, including a putback dunk from Gores that tied the game at 68-68. Gores then gave Wyoming a 70-68 lead before UNLV’s Kimani Hamilton converted an and-one play with 19 seconds left to put the Rebels ahead 71-70. Wyoming had a chance to win in the closing seconds, but the shot fell short.
Hamilton led UNLV with 23 points and six rebounds, while Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn scored 15 points, all in the first half. Walter Brown grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.
Wyoming finished the season 18-14 overall after winning five of its final seven games.
