LAS VEGAS — The Colorado State men’s basketball team’s road to the Big Dance just got bumpier.
A second straight narrow loss away from Fort Collins, this time 66-60 at UNLV on Saturday night, dropped the 22nd-ranked Rams into seventh place in the Mountain West Conference standings.
With just three more games left to play in the regular season, including two at home this upcoming week, CSU has seen its margin for error for automatic entry into the NCAA Tournament shrink.
Colorado State (20-8, 8-7 Mountain West) has lost three of four and dropped to 3-7 on the road.
The Rams went into halftime up 26-24 and stayed within striking distance throughout the second half. But Keylan Boone’s 3-pointer with 5:01 to go put the Rebels (16-10, 9-5) ahead for good, as CSU went scoreless for nearly three minutes, 46 seconds and could never quite recover.
Senior guard Isaiah Stevens had 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting, with his 3-pointer with 26 seconds left pulling CSU within three at 62-59. But UNLV was a perfect 4 for 4 from the free-throw line after that to ice the game.
Dedan Thomas Jr. scored 23 points to lead UNLV, giving the surging Rebels seven wins in their past eight games. Luis Rodriguez added 14 points for the Rebels and Boone had 11.
Joel Scott scored 13 and Nique Clifford finished with 10 for CSU.
Neither team shot well, each making less than 30%, but the Rebels were better from distance. They made 35.3% of their 3-pointers compared to Colorado State’s 25%.
UNLV also forced Colorado State into many one-and-outs, outrebounding the Rams 37-28, including 28-20 on the defensive end.
The Rebels, however, lost a key player early in the second half when forward Rob Whaley Jr. went to the floor holding his left knee. Whaley, who scored in double figures in each of the preceding four games, wasn’t able to put pressure on that leg as he was helped to the locker room.
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Colorado State: Hosts Nevada on Tuesday.
UNLV: At Wyoming on Tuesday.