LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — EJ Harkless matched his career high of 33 points and his teammates bounced back from sluggish first-half shooting effort to beat Wyoming 69-59 on Wednesday in a Mountain West clash at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming.
The Rebels shot 25% in the opening half, when they had just two 2-point baskets, both of which came in the final 1:30. Harkless, who had a season-high five 3-pointers overall, led a long-range attack that saw UNLV shoot 6-for-18 in the opening half and lead 25-24 at the break.
A 9-0 run in the opening minutes of the second half turned a 33-29 deficit into a 38-33 lead for the Rebels with about 16 minutes to go. Harkless drained a pair of 3-pointers in the spurt and Jordan McCabe one, and the Rebels led the rest of the way.
Harkless, who entered the game making 24% of his 3s, was 5-for-8 against the Cowboys and shot 8-for-12 overall. He also made 12 of 14 free throws, pulled in a team-high eight rebounds and added two assists and a steal.
“He’s a good scorer and a good player, and a lot of his shots tonight were tough shots,” Wyoming coach Jeff Linder said of Harkless. “It wasn’t like he had easy looks. He had that little stretch early in the second half that opened the game up for them a little bit.”
The victory gave the Rebels,16-8 overall, 5-7 Mountain West, a season sweep of their two games with Wyoming, 7-16 and 2-9.
Hunter Maldonado led the Cowboys with 17 points.
The Rebels shot 47.4 % after intermission and 33.3% overall (17 of 51). Their major edge came at the free-throw line where they made 22 of 25 to 14 of 18 for the Cowboys.
UNLV stays on the road to face No. 25 San Diego State, the Mountain West leader, on Saturday. (1 p.m., KVVU, Channel 5).
