Kambala hurts knee in victory

Steve Carp

Tuesday, Feb. 16, 1999 | 10:49 a.m.

TULSA, Okla. -- Once again, UNLV didn't get a whole lot out of center Kaspars Kambala. But this time, he had a legitimate excuse.

The 6-foot-9 sophomore from Latvia sprained his right knee three minutes into Monday's 54-53 win over Tulsa and never returned. He will be examined this afternoon when the team returns to Las Vegas and his status for Saturday's game with Southern Methodist at the Thomas & Mack Center is up in the air.

Kambala was already playing hurt after suffering a strained right quadricep. He struggled in the 59-55 loss to Rice last Saturday, failing to take a shot while saddled with foul trouble, though he refused to use that injury as an excuse.

Monday, he made his only attempt, a lean-in banker in the key 2:37 into the game. It appeared he hurt himself making a move to the basket as he came away limping. But Kambala said he had already hurt the knee before his lone bucket.

"I was moving on defense and I felt my knee snap," Kambala said. "I was able to score, but I knew I was in trouble."

He tried to get back up the floor, but he was struggling. And when Kevin Simmons was whistled for a foul, Kambala went to the bench, where he was examined by team trainer Dave Tomchek. A couple of minutes later, the two went to the UNLV dressing room and when they returned, Kambala had the knee wrapped in ice.

"They think I tore my cartilage," Kambala said. "We'll have to see what the doctor says."

The injury forced coach Bill Bayno to choose one of two options. At first, he used 6-10 junior Ike Epps in the middle to try to contain 6-10 Brandon Kurtz. But the Rebels were sluggish offensively as Tulsa kept playing a 2-3 zone and packing it in to take away any attempts to go inside to Simmons or Shawn Marion.

The Rebels went more with option No. 2, the smaller three-guard lineup with Greedy Daniels and Desmond Herod teaming with Mark Dickel. With the quicker group, UNLV battled back to tie the game at 19-19 with 4:34 to go in the first half and trailed only 25-23 at halftime.

But as was the case at Rice, the Rebels lose something on the defensive glass when they go small. And Tulsa had a decided edge on the boards throughout as the numbers finished 44-30 in the Golden Hurricane's favor.

"The shame of it was Kas was ready to go," Bayno said. "But Issiah did a great job of competing and Greedy and Des were unbelievable.

"I don't think the players realized that Kas was out. They just sucked it up and kept playing hard. That's what won it for us."

Oh, the players realized it all right.

"With Kas out, we had to pull together," Daniels said. "Kevin and Shawn did a great job battling on the boards and our defensive pressure got us back in it and gave us a chance."

Epps, who averages less than eight minutes a game, grabbed three rebounds, scored on a bull-in-the-china shop layup and was aggressive defensively during his 18-minute stint. He was an unsung hero in what was a very big win.

"I was staying ready as always," Epps said. "I just want to play hard. That's my job.

"You've got to give Coach Bayno credit. He made sure I was ready and if we're without Kas, I'll be ready for however long they need me."

Hoop du jour The new RPI rankings are out and UNLV had dropped to No. 64 from 54 prior to Monday's game. Two weeks ago, the Rebels were as high as 47 in the RPI. Look for that to change significantly with the win over Tulsa, which was ranked 41 going into the game. ... A reminder the final Rebel Athletic Club luncheon of the season will be at noon Wednesday at the Si Redd Room. Coach Bill Bayno will be there and it is open to the public. Cost is $10 per person. ...

The team will take today off and begin preparations for Saturday's game with Southern Methodist on Wednesday. The SMU game tips at 1 p.m. and will be aired nationally on ESPN2. ... The latest WAC stats show Kambala still leading the league in field goal percentage at .643 and Marion fourth at .537. Marion is also fourth in blocked shots with 43. Dickel is second in assists at 6.9 and Daniels is second in steals with 58.