Rebels want second chance against UTEP

Steve Carp

Thursday, Feb. 12, 1998 | 12:09 p.m.

In a season full of disappointing finishes, perhaps the darkest moment for UNLV came on a Saturday afternoon in mid-January.

The Rebels, who had been dogged in The Pit less than 48 hours before by New Mexico, expected to show up at the Don Haskins Center and make amends for the 79-61 thrashing at the hands of the Lobos. They would take a split on this Southwest road swing and head back to Las Vegas, content that their realistic objective was met.

Instead, Bill Bayno's team came out flat, played 40 minutes of selfish, uninspired basketball and allowed Texas-El Paso to shove them it over the court. The Rebels were 62-50 losers in a game that has haunted them ever since.

But the beauty of conference play is you always get a second chance, even in the unwieldy 16-team WAC. So UNLV can exorcise the demon that is UTEP Saturday when the teams meet in the rematch at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"Hopefully, we'll play differently," Bayno said. "I just think we were all out of whack. We were all going our own ways. We were trying to do things on our own instead of playing together."

The Rebels (12-10) should be a different team Saturday because the cast of characters has changed since that Jan. 17 meeting in El Paso.

Keon Clark is suspended indefinitely and won't play. Clark had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the first meeting with the Miners. Corky Ausborne, who quit the team prior to last Saturday's game with Wofford, failed to score in the first meeting with UTEP.

Bayno will stick with his eight-man rotation of Mark Dickel, Brian Keefe and Greedy Daniels in the backcourt, Donovan Stewart and Tyrone Nesby at the small forward spot and Kaspars Kambala, Issiah Epps and Kevin Simmons at the power forward and center positions.

It's an important game for both teams. UTEP is in sixth place in the WAC Mountain Division at 3-6 and plays tonight at 1-7 Air Force minus Haskins, who was suspended for one game by the WAC for derogatory comments he made after last Saturday's loss to Wyoming, and subsequent disparaging remarks he directed at supervisor of officials Bobby Dibler during a Tuesday conference call.

The Miners need to hang on to that sixth and final spot to guarantee a berth in the March 3-7 WAC tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.

As for the Rebels, a win would virtually guarantee their participation in the WAC tourney, which would make UNLV and conference officials breathe a whole lot easier. A WAC tournament in Las Vegas without UNLV would be a financial disaster.

UNLV is 3-5 in the Mountain Division and in fifth place, having a game in hand on UTEP. The Rebels also can move up in the division race and overtake Wyoming, which hosts Utah tonight in Laramie.

But Bayno is not thinking about conference scenarios. His focus is clearly on Saturday and the Miners.

"They played well against us in El Paso," he said. "(Sharif) Fajardo is one of the better big men in the WAC and we have to do a better job on him. B.J. Wade and Will Smith are also dangerous and we have to make sure we watch them closely."

In the first game, Fajardo, a 6-foot-8 junior center, had his way with the Rebels, scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Smith only had 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting and Wade scored only five, but both are are averaging in double figures.

Hoop du jour

* THE BEAR'S BACK: It has been a while since Las Vegas has seen Don Haskins doing his thing on the basketball court. The Hall of Fame coach hasn't played against UNLV here since 1980, when the Rebels were playing a WAC schedule. The Bear got the win that night, beating UNLV 85-78 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. ... Haskins was a no-show at last year's WAC tournament as UTEP failed to make it in the top six. He has passed on Media Day here the last two years. ... The series stands 5-3 in favor of UNLV.

* YOUNG VERBALLY COMMITS: Coach Bill Bayno confirmed that Korleone Young, the 6-8 forward from Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia, has verbally committed to UNLV. But keep your enthusiasm in check. Young, who supposedly announced his intentions several weeks ago, has not passed his SAT to be eligible and word has it he's leaning toward turning pro and bypassing college altogether. NCAA rules prohibit Bayno from commenting on Young's situation.