UNLV players tuned in to No. 1 Bearcats

Victoria Sun

Friday, Dec. 10, 1999 | 9:17 a.m.

The next game for the UNLV men's basketball team is Wednesday against Austin Peay at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Accordingly, head coach Bill Bayno has started preparing the team to play its next opponent.

But that hasn't stopped the Rebels (5-1) from watching a team that it will play on Jan. 2. Nor should it.

After all, Austin Peay hasn't been on TV this season and the Rebels' first opponent in the new year happens to be top-ranked Cincinnati.

So you'd be hard-pressed to find a Rebel who wasn't watching the Bearcats beat No. 7 North Carolina 77-68 in the Great Eight in Chicago on Wednesday night.

"You can't help but watch them," UNLV guard Trevor Diggs said Thursday afternoon. "I'm not overlooking Austin Peay or Oklahoma State (who the Rebels play on Dec. 18) at all.

"Cincy is on our schedule. When you gotta play Cincy at Cincy, you know you're not gonna get any calls so you have to be prepared for them."

It was the first time in seven tries that the Bearcats (6-0) beat North Carolina, the same team that handed UNLV a 102-78 loss in the finals of the Food Lion MVP Classic Saturday.

On national television, the Bearcats served notice that they are indeed the best college basketball team in the country at the moment.

"If you don't come ready to play against Cincy, it's gonna be a long night," Diggs said. "A long night.

"They've got so much depth and they play so strong. Plus, now they've got guys who can shoot."

For Bayno, there are only two teams he is concerned with -- his own and Austin Peay.

Although playing the No. 1 team in the country a few weeks from now should be enough to motivate any team to better itself or risk being embarrassed, Bayno has a different philosophy that focuses on the present, not the future.

"One game has nothing to do with the other," Bayno said of Cincinnati's victory. "Our only motivating factor right now is we gotta get better and prepare for Austin Peay.

"Every day, we're picking two or three things to work on. Defensively we need to work on transition defense, running our half-court offense and being patient."

Before giving up 102 points to North Carolina, the Rebels had held opponents to an average of 71 points.

After taking Monday off, the Rebels started practicing again on Tuesday.

"We're just working on what we didn't do well against a very good (North Carolina) team," UNLV point guard Mark Dickel said. "Our defense wasn't anywhere near what it had been in previous games.

"We didn't play defense well at all so we've been working on every one guarding their guy and taking pride in what we do."

Although Dickel's eyes lit up at the mention of the Cincinnati-North Carolina game, he did not want to talk about it and give Austin Peay any more motivation to beat the Rebels.

Others who watched the game, such as forward Chris Richardson, thought they had a good feel for what it will take to control the Bearcats.

"We gotta come out strong," he said. "They're a good team, alright. We just gotta contain Kenyon Martin."

Before that, the Rebels will have to contain Austin Peay swingman Trenton Hassell and the Govs.