Can Rebels find their second wind?

Steve Carp

Monday, Jan. 26, 1998 | 9:11 a.m.

In the marathon race that UNLV coach Bill Bayno constantly refers to as the basketball season, two questions need to be addressed:

Have Bayno's Rebels hit the wall? And if they have, can they find a second wind in time to get back in the race?

Given the team's performance in Saturday's 67-54 loss to fourth-ranked Utah, it appears UNLV is going to have trouble completing the course. There still are several hills to climb, including this week's road trip to Colorado State and Wyoming, two of the toughest places to win in the WAC.

In assessing the grim situation of his 9-8 team that is 2-3 in the Mountain Division, Bayno believes that second wind was found during the final 15 minutes of Saturday's game.

"I was proud of the guys who battled," he said of Mark Dickel, Brian Keefe, Donovan Stewart, Issiah Epps and Keon Clark lineup that tried to make the final count respectable.

UNLV got as close as 11 after trailing by as many as 23 early in the second half.

"I think we can go back, take the positives of the second half, and build on it," Bayno said.

That building begins at 7:35 tonight at the Thomas & Mack Center against Division II Chaminade of Hawaii.

Normally, a game such as this would be considered a walkover. But given the current state of affairs, UNLV needs to play well for its own shattered self-esteem, not to mention regaining some much-needed momentum for the Front Range trip that begins Thursday in Fort Collins against Colorado State.

"We want to duplicate the (Saturday) second half on Monday," Bayno said. "It'll be tough. But that's the objective."

To do that, the Rebels are going to have to reduce the number of turnovers, increase the number of assists and understand the meaning of patience when they have the ball.

Saturday's first half was an unpleasant reminder of the season-long woes that have plagued this team. When the opponent is so solid fundamentally like Utah, and has so many ways to expose your weaknesses, the reality hits home in a hurry.

Consider UNLV's 11 first-half turnovers, including six in seven straight possessions that helped ignite the extended 36-12 run that gave Rick Majerus' team a comfortable 40-20 halftime lead. UNLV had just two assists over the first 20 minutes and shot 32 percent from the floor.

That spells selfishness, panic and disaster.

Conversely, Utah got whatever it wanted offensively. The Utes took their time, set great screens for each other, got the ball to the open man, attacked the basket from the open lanes and finished off their plays.

At times, it looked like a clinic, But the 15,488 who showed up at the Mack didn't get up early on Saturday morning to attend a clinic. Their frustration was evident as they booed the Rebels during their first-half struggles.

"It was an uphill climb all the way," said Keefe. "It's really hard to come back from 20 down.

"When you play the fourth-ranked team in the country, you know they're going to make runs. You have to be able to make a stand and be able to answer. We didn't."

Keefe, who was coming off his career-best as a Rebel with 19 points against Brigham Young, was held to just seven by Utah in 32 minutes. Credit the Utes' stifling defense for keeping Keefe and his teammates under wraps.

"We played great defense the first 10 minutes and that got us going," said Hanno Mottola, the 6-foot-10 sophomore from Finland who had 19 points and dominated UNLV's Keon Clark. "We also controlled the boards and that prevented them from running. Defense and rebounding won this game for us."

With the Utes controlling the boards, the Rebels had no semblance of a transition game. That meant playing half-court basketball. With the backcourt struggling to pass or shoot, it left it up to UNLV's big men to fend for themselves.

Clark had 15 points but was offset by Mottola's 19 as well as Michael Doleac's 19. Freshman Kas Kambala had 19 to lead the Rebels, but he was limited to just seven rebounds, which was the more telling stat. Utah held a 34-26 edge on the boards as the Rebels were outrebounded for the third straight game.

Where the hope may come from was Dickel providing some stability at the point guard spot and some inspired play from Donovan Stewart, who hustled on defense and tried to lend a hand on the boards in his 15-minute stint.

Bayno was non-committal when asked if Dickel and Keefe would start tonight in place of the struggling Greedy Daniels and Corky Ausborne.

"We'll evaluate starting Brian and Mark," Bayno said.

But Bayno said the status quo will not be the standard for which this team is held to.

"Losing is not acceptable," he said. "I didn't come here to lose, nor did the players I recruited."