LAS VEGAS -- The Thunderbird men's basketball team squared off against the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV on Friday night inside the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, and ultimately fell 76-71 in tightly played contest.  

The Thunderbirds moved to 3-1 on the season after the loss, following the best start in school history.

The T-Birds started hot, including two shots behind the three-point line, and held a 10-4 lead at the first media timeout. The Runnin' Rebels didn't take long to heat up after that, and the score was knotted at 14-14 with 11:43 to play in the opening half.

As the half wore on UNLV continued to have control, but were never able to pull away from the Thunderbirds. At the break SUU trailed UNLV 36-28.

After the Rebels jumped out to a hot start in the second half, the Thunderbirds quickly used a 14-3 run to pull winin one with 12:46 to play in the contest. Shortly after Jacob Calloway tied up the contest with a triple, and the two teams sat at 49-49.

"That was when we were able to rebound," SUU head coach Todd Simon said. "Obviously that was a big difference in the game, that we weren't able to secure rebounds, and I think getting guys in foul trouble that are some of our key rebounders really hurt us. We were able to get them to miss, but that doesn't do us any good if we can't secure the ball."

After a quick 5-0 run from UNLV, Andre Adams broke the trend  and pulled the Thunderbirds back within three.

After the under-eight media timeout Jason Richardson hit a triple for the T-Birds, which tied the contest back up at 55-55. Unfortunately for the T-Birds, the Rebels responded with a 9-0 run to regain the momentum of the contest. That run was eventually broken by a Calloway triple, which pulled SUU back within six.

Despite a solid push from the T-Birds in the final minutes, it ultimately wasn't enough as the Rebels closed out the contest and took the victory 76-71.

Calloway led the T-Birds in scoring with 14 points on three-of-four shooting from behind the three-point line.

"Jacob is a guy that can stretch a defense and is a high IQ guy," Simon said. "We tried to get him the ball and make them make adjustments. He did a really good job and that's what we've come to expect from him."

Dwayne Morgan finished with 12 for SUU, and Richardson had 10.  

Adams was the team's leading rebounder with eight, also finishing with nine points.

The Thunderbirds will be at home next as they'll host San Diego Christian on November 29.

Follow the Thunderbirds all season @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook.

Read all about the Thunderbirds on www.suutbirds.com.

Season tickets and individual game tickets for the 2018-19 Season are available at www.tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.