The No. 6 seed UNLV Runnin' Rebels men's basketball team saw their run in the Mountain West Conference Tournament come to an end on Thursday night when the No. 3 seed Utah State Aggies knocked them out of the tournament.

The Mountain West basketball championship is up for grabs after a competitive regular season. Five teams earned records with at least a 70 percent win rate, and a sixth team is above .500 in conference play.

Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun referred to his team’s performance against UNLV Thursday night as “a bit of a trainwreck.” “You know, it’s hard, especially when we think we’re keeping our hands up,

Much of the Rebels' most recent success came under Lon Kruger, who was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022. He went 161-71 while coaching UNLV from 2004-11, taking the Rebels to the NCAA Tournament four times in his final five years.

UNLV fires basketball coach Kevin Kruger after four seasons due to the team's failure to reach the NCAA Tournament.

In a statement, UNLV athletic director Erick Harper thanked Kruger for his "commitment, and dedication" to the program, while lamenting the program's failure to meet expectations