Wolf Pack downs Rebels

Steve Addy

Saturday, Dec. 9, 2000 | 10:49 a.m.

RENO -- When the Rebels beefed up their basketball schedule this season, they assumed there might be some tough losses to the likes of Illinois, Oklahoma State and Cincinnati.

But they surely hadn't penciled in a loss to Nevado-Reno.

They can mark it down in ink now, because the Rebels suffered their most demoralizing defeat of the season here Saturday night, losing to rival Nevada-Reno 80-71 at the packed Lawlor Events Center.

The loss dropped UNLV to 3-4 and ended its three-game winning streak in the series. UNR climbed to 5-1.

Though the Rebels led by six at halftime, they were outplayed most of the night and didn't look like a team that had a week to get ready for the Wolf Pack. They were sloppy (21 turnovers), foul prone (25) and their offense experienced long droughts in the second half, when they were outscored 52-37.

From a team with lofty expectations for the season, the Rebels have fallen to one of the lowest points in coach Bill Bayno's six-year tenure.

"For some reason, since we came back from Maui (last month), we have lost all kinds of mental and physical energy," Bayno said. "With a six-point lead at halftime, we were just dead and flat in the locker room.

"I've been saying this all along -- we're not that talented. To a man, everybody has to accept that and understand that. We're not good enough to just show up and beat anyone. We're not."

Worse yet, it was a Las Vegas kid who led to UNLV's undoing. Power forward James Bayless, who prepped at Eldorado High, came off the UNR bench to score a career-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting.

"Bayless played great," Bayno said. "He played like a lot of kids from Vegas play against us -- like it was the last game of his life."

All in all, it was a lousy night for the Rebels, and things won't get any happier this week, as the NCAA is finally expected to rule on UNLV's infractions case. Then the Rebels have to battle Cincinnati next Saturday in the Las Vegas Showdown at the Thomas & Mack Center.

With the funk the Rebels are in, that doesn't promise to be a jovial night, either.

"This crap has got to stop," Danny Brotherson said.

But the Rebels seemed powerless to do anything to stop the Wolf Pack. After holding UNR's whole starting lineup scoreless in the first half (combined 0-of-10 shooting), UNLV gradually let the game slip away.

The key stretch was a 16-6 spurt by UNR in which the Rebels went without a basket for a span of 5:33. By then, the Wolf Pack had a 70-60 lead with three minutes to play, and the Rebels didn't get closer than six after that.

UNR's Terrance Green scored all 16 of his points in the second half. He played only two minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls, but his assertive drives to the basket kept the Rebels off-balance for the final 20 minutes.

Dalron Johnson scored 18 to lead UNLV and Jermaine Lewis had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Kaspars Kambala finished with 15 points, but was plagued by another poor start. He had four turnovers and only two points in the first half.

Like last Saturday against Oklahoma State, the Rebels suffered through a turnover-plagued first half, but they came away with a 34-28 lead behind Lewis' 12 points. They committed 13 turnovers in the half, two less than in the OSU first half, and again most of the miscues were unforced.