UNLV men’s basketball returns home Tuesday night for its final exhibition before the 2025-26 season officially begins. The Rebels host Lincoln University (CA) at 7 p.m. inside the Thomas & Mack Center, marking the Las Vegas debut of head coach Josh Pastner and a first look at this new-era roster under the lights.
Getting Better, One Step at a Time
Pastner isn’t treating this like a warm-up. It’s a measuring stick.
“My excitement is I want to see us get better as we move from one game to the next,” Pastner said. “This is really about a dry run with the lights on here. I don’t even know which bench we’ll be on yet. I just don’t want that first-time feeling when we play a countable game next week.”
UNLV dropped its first exhibition at Washington 77–62, playing with just seven scholarship players. Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn led the team with 14 points, while Naas Cunningham added 11. Tyrin Jones is expected to make his debut on limited minutes on Tuesday, with Emmanuel Stephen, Laji Dembele, Mason Abittan, Myles Che, and Issac Williamson still sidelined.
“We’ll have eight scholarship guys tomorrow with Tyrin being on restricted minutes,” Pastner said. “We just need to keep building.”
A Coach Who Preaches “Competitive Excellence”
The message has been constant since the first workout: energy, accountability, and detail.
“We take nobody for granted, but that’s our standard of competitive excellence,” Pastner said. “If you don’t produce the way we need you to, the best motivation is the bench.”
That approach has shown up in practice quite literally. Each team gets five turnover balloons per session. When one pops, it’s time to run. “It’s a visual effect,” Pastner said. “It’s about valuing the basketball.”
He’s also added a “rebounding bubble,” a no-scoring drill that forces players to win possessions on the glass.
“It’s about mentality. Offensively, defensively; we want to rebound with a purpose,” Pastner said. “You don’t always have a man; you have an area responsibility. You have to put on that hard hat.”
The Voices in the Locker Room
Even through injuries, the energy inside the locker room has stayed upbeat.
Al Green said the team’s mindset is simple: “Keep the main thing the main thing.”
“The guys who can play are doing what Coach wants,” Green said. “The ones out are locked in so they can jump right back in when they’re cleared. Whether it’s Washington or Lincoln, we treat it the same.”
Kimani Hamilton echoed that.
“We’ve got a bunch of killers,” he said. “Coach Pass is always preaching ‘don’t break.’ We just compete no matter what. Once we’re healthy, people will see what we’re about.”
Both pointed to Gibbs-Lawhorn as the team’s vocal leader, with Hamilton describing him as “the guy who gets everyone together when things slip.”
Scouting Lincoln
Lincoln University, based in Oakland, California, is led by head coach William Middlebrooks and is coming off a regular-season title in the South Western States Intercollegiate Conference. The Oaklanders feature a veteran-heavy lineup with Johan-Arthur Biwole, Knowledge Ruben, Joshua Russ, and T.J. Corbin II, and they play fast, a good test for UNLV’s transition defense and glass control.
Pastner said Washington allowed the Rebels to grab offensive boards on 35% of their missed shots, a number he wants to replicate Tuesday.
“How are we attacking the rim? Are we playing off two feet? Is the ball moving and not sticking? Are we valuing possessions?” Pastner said. “Those are the things we can take away from a game like this.”
Keys to the Game
Stay healthy.
The top priority is to get through this one without setbacks. The rotation will expand soon, but depth is still thin.
Find a flow together.
With 13 new faces, this is another step toward building rhythm on both ends of the floor.
Thrive in “competitive excellence.”
Every rep, every possession matters. The expectation doesn’t change with the opponent.
No let-up.
Lincoln may not be a name-brand team, but focus and energy can’t dip. The standard must remain the same wire-to-wire.
