Bayno hot in wake of Rebels’ near loss

Steve Carp

Monday, Nov. 25, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

If Bill Bayno had thought about it, he might have had equipment manager Erik Schwarz provide two large buckets of ice water for his postgame use.

One would've been used in the UNLV locker room, the other to be placed in the media interview area.

But Bayno probably didn't need any water to douse the flames of the press, which had anointed the Rebels tournament-worthy off two exhibition wins. Nor did he need the water to wake his team from its lethargy. In either case, the videotape of Saturday's nail-biting 61-59 win over Cal State Northridge would more than suffice for the second-year coach to get his point across.

Actually, the water would have been best-suited for himself. Bayno needed nearly a half-hour to calm down in the wake of the Rebels' narrow season-opening victory over a scrappy Northridge team. The Matadors got off the deck of an early 11-2 first-half knockdown to scare the bejeezus out of UNLV and 13,066 fans at the Thomas & Mack Center.

And when Bayno was finally ready to speak, the words were still smoldering as they left his lips.

"Now maybe everyone understands what I've been talking about," he said, not entertaining questions as to what happened. "We came out and played two exhibition teams that did not prepare for us; they just tried to play us.

"Now I know my team understands. We're going to make some adjustments and make some changes. You can't win games with offense."

There's not much time to make the necessary adjustments. Jacksonville visits Tuesday and UNLV will likely be without center Keon Clark, who sprained his right knee early in the second half and is expected to miss at least a week.

"They played harder than we did," Bayno said. "We hold them to 36 percent from the floor, but they get 22 offensive rebounds. They got every loose ball.

"We've got to get back to work. We've got a long, long way to go."

After scoring 91 and 99 points in the two exhibition games, the Rebels figured they could just fire up jumpers and the Matadors would turn tail and run. Instead, Northridge battled, scrapped and took UNLV's best shots. Bobby Braswell's team was still standing at the end and it took some big plays from Mark Dickel and Tony Lane down the stretch to save the Rebels from an embarrassing beginning to the 1996-97 season.

Dickel, the freshman point guard from New Zealand, grabbed a key rebound with 2:22 to play, got fouled, then sank the two free throws to put UNLV up 60-55. Then he drew an offensive foul with 46 seconds to go, giving UNLV possession. Finally, he picked off Brad Mertes' in-bounds pass with 2.6 seconds left at mid-court to preserve the victory after Lane sank one of two free throws with 3.9 to play.

Lane, who led UNLV with 14 points off the bench, had four key free throws down the stretch, including the game-winner. Sunshine Smith also gave the Rebels a lift off the bench with 11 points.

"It has nothing to do with talent," Bayno said. "That's why we won 10 games with that team last year because we played hard. And if we don't continue to play hard ...

"This is what I mean when I say it takes time to build a program. You don't just implement this attitude with new kids and with chemistry overnight."

UNLV struggled with its offensive continuity and chemistry all night. After establishing the inside game early with Clark dominating at both ends, things began to stagnate. Shots from the outside didn't drop. The inside game bogged down as the Matadors outworked the Rebels' big men for position.

And with his team unable to maintain its early intensity, Bayno knew he was in for a long night. He tried different combinations, but nothing worked over an extended period.

"At 11-2 when I saw us get tired and saw our intensity stop and where their intensity was, I knew we were in for a 40-minute battle," he said.

"Sure enough, it's 11-11 and we get tired and we stand. The only positive thing was that we found a way to win and we made some foul shots."

Bayno said the Rebels may need to scale things back offensively Tuesday against the 0-1 Dolphins in order to be more efficient.

"We've got to make it simpler," he said. "We're trying to do too much on offense."

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