Loss to Orangeman has Rebels red-faced

Steve Carp

Monday, Dec. 22, 1997 | 11:51 a.m.

It wasn't as if there was a secret weapon that UNLV had to contend with. All the Rebels had to do was execute and Syracuse was ripe for the taking.

But it came down to making shots and taking care of the ball. The 25th-ranked Orangemen did those things and the Rebels didn't. It was that simple in Syracuse's 71-64 win at the Thomas & Mack Center during Saturday's Las Vegas Shootout.

When Jim Boeheim's team needed a big bucket, it got it. When the Rebels needed to respond, they couldn't, much to the disappointment of the 13,146 who showed up to watch the doubleheader which had Massachusetts defeating Colorado 79-68 in the opener.

"We gave up too many offensive rebounds in the first half and turned it over too much in transition," said UNLV coach Bill Bayno.

It was a frustrating night for UNLV, which dropped to 4-4.

The Rebels shot 57 percent from the floor in the first half and held Syracuse to just 36 percent shooting during the first 20 minutes and 42 percent for the game. Kaspars Kambala had his best game as a Rebel, scoring 23 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. And Tyrone Nesby bounced back with one of his best efforts of the year -- 20 points and eight boards.

So what went wrong? How did UNLV lose a game it dominated in several key areas?

Give Syracuse credit for showing great tenacity under adverse conditions. The Orangemen had played Thursday night at home, spent all day Friday flying to Las Vegas, then were forced to play at midnight by their body clocks.

"It was a very, very good effort," Boeheim said of the win which kept his team undefeated at 9-0. "We won shooting the ball as bad as we can. But this team fits well together and to win here, I'm very thrilled."

Syracuse received balanced scoring with five players in double figures. But it was the play of Elvir Ovcina that proved to be the difference.

Ovcina, a 6-foot-11 junior center from Bosnia, hit a pair of 3-pointers midway through the second half to give Syracuse a 53-51 lead. He also forced Kambala to play him at the top of the key, leaving the basket unprotected. And when Kambala came out on him, Ovcina found open teammates underneath.

On the other end of the court the Rebels had trouble against Syracuse's zone defense.

"It seemed like an awkward game," said junior Brian Keefe, who was blanked offensively, getting just two shots in 18 minutes, but played a strong defensive game. "It's a simple defense, but they do a great job with it."

Actually, Boeheim thought his team's man-to-man defense was better than the zone.

"Our zone didn't work in the first half," he said. "Our man kept us in it. But we did a better job with the zone in the second half. It's hard to break us down when we're playing our zone well."

Syracuse played it well enough as the Rebels were a horrid 2 of 14 from long distance, just 1 of 11 in the second half.

"It's a frustrating loss," Bayno said. "But every loss is frustrating. They all hurt.

"But I think a lot of positives came out of it. I thought Kas and Tyrone were tremendous. Greedy (Daniels) did a great job on Jason (Hart, the Syracuse point guard). We shot the ball great in the first half and we rebounded better in the second half.

"It's just a matter of putting it all together. This is a tough team. We're hanging in there and we'll move forward from this."

Hoop du jour

* CORKY PLAYS: His right thumb was heavily bandaged, but Corky Ausborne played Saturday. Ausborne, who is nursing torn ligaments, played 25 minutes and hit both of UNLV's 3-point field goals. ... The Rebels are relatively healthy for Tuesday's game with UC Irvine.

* RADIO SHOW TONIGHT: Because of games Tuesday against UC Irvine and Dec. 30 vs. Nevada-Reno, The Bill Bayno Show will air at 7 tonight and next Monday on KXNT 840-AM. ... Because of the holidays, there will be no Rebel Athletic Club luncheon Tuesday or Dec. 30. The next luncheon will be Jan. 6 at the Si Redd Room.