Kambala to miss rest of season

Steve Carp

Thursday, Feb. 18, 1999 | 11:20 a.m.

Whatever UNLV accomplishes the rest of the season, it will be without Kaspars Kambala.

The 6-foot-9 sophomore center's 1998-99 campaign ended Wednesday after he underwent a 45-minute procedure to fix the medial meniscus cartilage in his right knee. Kambala will not return to the basketball court for at least six weeks and his full recovery is expected to take three months. Kambala will begin his rehab assignment in approximately a week to 10 days.

Kambala injured his knee in the opening minutes of Monday's 54-53 win over Tulsa. He was trying to defend against Tulsa's Brandon Kurtz when Kambala said he felt something snap. He left the court just three minutes into the game and never returned.

He was averaging 12.8 points and 6.5 rebounds a game while averaging 25 minutes a night. Those minutes will likely be divided between Issiah Epps, Donovan Stewart and whomever coach Bill Bayno uses in his three-guard set when he decides to go with a quicker and smaller lineup.

"The tear was pretty extensive," trainer Dave Tomchek said of the severity of Kambala's injury. "But the decision was made to repair the cartilage instead of remove it. It's a very good surgery for Kas and he was very comfortable with the way things went."

Team physician Dr. Gerald Higgins performed the surgery.

"Kas was disappointed that his season's over, but he understood that this is for the best long-term," Tomchek said. "We expect him to make a full recovery."

Bayno said: "I didn't expect this. I thought it was just a scope procedure and he'd be back with us in a couple of weeks. But the good thing is he'll have a complete recovery.

"There must have been something seriously wrong with his knee because he didn't have his legs the last two weeks."

For the Rebels, it means an opportunity for someone like Epps and Stewart to get a shot at making a substantial contribution. And while Bayno expects the entire team to pick up the slack in Kambala's absence, all he's asking of Epps and Stewart is that they give their best effort.

"Issiah is excited about the opportunity, which is good," he said of the 6-10 Epps, who averages less than nine minutes a game. "He can't guarantee he'll score a certain number of points or grab a certain number of rebounds, but he can guarantee he'll play hard and that's all I'm asking him and Donovan to do -- play hard at both ends of the floor. They do that, they'll help the team."

Stewart said he'll do whatever is asked of him.

"I don't know what to expect," he said. "All I can say is I feel good and I'm ready."

And while Kambala was getting his knee fixed, the Rebels had other medical problems to deal with. Mark Dickel, Greedy Daniels and Desmond Herod were held out of practice after the trio complained of an upset stomach. The problem was apparently triggered by some fast food they had eaten while in Houston Tuesday, waiting for their connecting flight home to Las Vegas from Tulsa.

Tomchek had the three players on medication and expected them to be well enough to participate in today's practice.

Hoop du jour The win over Tulsa Monday did give UNLV a boost in the RPI rankings. When Wednesday's poll came out the Rebels had jumped up from 64 to 53, though Tulsa is still ahead of UNLV at No. 45 despite losing twice to the Rebels this year. TCU owns the WAC's top RPI number as the Horned Frogs are rated No. 29. ... UNLV has gotten the OK to add a 28th game to its 1999-2000 schedule. Associate athletic director Jerry Koloskie said Wednesday he is talking to Missouri-Kansas City about coming to Las Vegas in late January to fill a gap in the team's Mountain West Conference schedule. UNLV has a single game scheduled against San Diego State that week.