Final: Wyoming 77, UNLV 68

LARAMIE — Scratch that regular season Mountain West Conference title off the list of goals for the preseason favorite UNLV Runnin’ Rebels.

The cold-shooting Rebels (19-7, 7-5), once again playing down to the level of their competition, suffered another head-scratching Mountain West Conference loss, this time a 77-68 to Wyoming (15-10, 4-7) on Wednesday night at the Arena-Auditorium.

The latest road loss means UNLV, which fell three full games behind first place Utah (19-7, 10-2) with just four games to go, has lost on the road to three of the four lowest ranked teams in the league in TCU, the Cowboys and Colorado State.

Senior guard Brandon Ewing, held to just seven points in a 83-66 Wyoming loss to the Rebels in Las Vegas on Jan. 17, more than made up for it this time around with 29 points including 5-of-8 3-pointers.

Ewing, who is in good shape to claim his third straight MWC scoring crown, also became the second player in conference history to top the 2,000 point mark for his career joining San Diego State’s Brandon Heath.

UNLV forced 24 Wyoming turnovers in the contest but shot poorly, connecting on just 5-of-26 3-pointers (19.2 percent) and 35.5 percent overall from the floor. The Cowboys also held a huge 44-29 edge on the boards.

Wink Adams and Tre’Von Willis had 18 points each to lead the Rebels.