Rebels falter against Rams

THE NUMBERS: Colorado State, which improved to 16-3 (4-2 in the WAC Mountain Division), has never been at this plateau at this stage of the season. And the Rams did it despite making just eight fi

Friday, Jan. 30, 1998 | 12:02 p.m.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- What got UNLV in trouble in the first place came back and killed the Rebels in the end.

That was an inability to make shots consistently. It was the reason UNLV fell behind 15-2 to Colorado State on Thursday at the start of a key WAC Mountain Division contest and it was why the Rebels eventually lost 60-57 at Moby Arena.

One field goal over the final 11 minutes simply isn't enough to ensure victory, no matter how well you play defensively.

UNLV made just five field goals the entire second half, three on 3-pointers courtesy of Tyrone Nesby, who was sensational off the bench with 25 points. When Colorado State took advantage of key UNLV turnovers to make a 14-3 run and erase a 10-point deficit, it made the loss for the 10-9 Rebels even tougher to accept.

"It's very frustrating," said Nesby of the defeat which dropped UNLV to 2-4 in the WAC Mountain Division and makes Saturday's game at Wyoming a virtual must-win. "It starts you thinking about last year here when it came down to the last shot."

Nesby had a chance to win last year's game, but he was hit on the arm as he shot and no foul was called. Tony Lane got the rebound and went back up. He too, was fouled, but no call was made as CSU escaped with a 59-58 win.

This year, it was Keon Clark's chance to be the hero.

Clark, who had been receiving extra attention from the Rams all night, had the ball on UNLV's final two possessions. But the 6-foot-11 senior came away empty both times.

The first time, Clark dribbled the ball off his leg with 14.6 seconds to go.

Bryan Christiansen, who had hit a huge shot from deep in the left corner seconds before, was fouled by Nesby and knocked down both free throws to put CSU up three. With 13.6 seconds left and no timeouts, UNLV pushed it up the floor.

Clark tried a 20-footer, but missed.

"It's a tough one to swallow," Rebels coach Bill Bayno said. "But we have to swallow it and move on."

It was especially tough given what the Rebels had overcome.

UNLV was flat at the start and fell behind 15-2. But instead of going for the knockout, CSU coach Stew Morrill decided to change things up. And Bayno, who had been running guys in and out in a desperate attempt to get something going, took advantage of the situation.

Nesby hit a couple of big shots. Kaspars Kambala came back and got going inside. Daniels was pressuring the ball and Clark was controlling the boards. The defensive intensity started to pick up.

UNLV suddenly caught fire, outscoring Colorado State 24-7 over a 7:25 span to lead 33-27 at halftime.

Nesby stayed hot as he scored UNLV's first 11 points of the second half and tied a career high with five 3-pointers.

An 8-2 run had UNLV up 52-42 with 8:53 to play. Within that run came a 3-pointer from Daniels, who had 12 points off the bench. But that field goal, which came with 11:16 to play, would be the last shot UNLV would make for almost 10 minutes.

"They went zone and put (Milt) Palacio on Tyrone," Bayno said. "We had trouble making shots and it came down to them making big shots and us not being able to."

With the Rebels suddenly out of rhythm, the Rams came all the way back to lead 56-55 with 2:47 to go.

"We got tentative at times," said Morrill. "But this is as gutsy a win as ever by any team I've ever coached. We were on the ropes down 10 and we found a way to win."

Despite their struggles, the Rebels actually did lead late as Clark put an end to the nearly 10- minute field goal drought by connecting from the left side with 1:22 to go. But Christiansen beat the shot clock with his long jumper over Clark with 46 ticks left to put CSU back on top to stay, 58-57.

Hoop du jour

* BENCH COMES THROUGH: UNLV's depth was a key in the comeback as the Rebels' bench outscored Colorado State's 37-4. Tyrone Nesby had one of his best shooting nights of the year, hitting 7 of 11 shots and 5 of 8 from 3-point land. Greedy Daniels also shot the ball well, hitting 4 of 6 from the floor. And though he didn't score, Issiah Epps had a strong defensive game and grabbed four rebounds and blocked two shots in his 17-minute stint.