Rebels gain national attention by beating Utes

Steve Addy

Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2000 | 10:02 a.m.

By finally beating a ranked team, UNLV took a giant step toward becoming one.

Fresh off their Saturday victory over Utah, the Rebels got a good bounce in the top 25 polls. They received 15 votes Monday in the Associated Press top 25 poll, leaving them with a No. 31 "ranking" -- three slots of ahead of North Carolina.

UNLV also got three votes in the USA Today-ESPN poll.

If they can beat Colorado State and Wyoming at home this week, the Rebels would climb to 16-5 overall and 7-2 in the Mountain West, which might be enough to lift them into the top 25. The Rebels were 0-3 against ranked teams until beating Utah 72-66 at home.

"We've got to build on this," coach Bill Bayno said.

In other Rebel news, Lou Kelly's broken right foot will remain in a cast for two more weeks. An examination on Monday showed that the foot is healing on schedule.

"We hope that Lou can get back for the last game or two of the regular season," Bayno said. "We also hope that he can start practicing with us again. His unselfishness helped us."

Chris Richardson was back at practice Monday after missing the Utah game with an ankle sprain, but Issiah Epps sat out with a sore jaw. He got clanged with an elbow last Friday and the jaw swelled.

And point guard prospect Brandon Brooks of Portland, Ore., made his official recruiting visit over the weekend. The 6-footer is also planning to visit Oklahoma and Arizona State. Portland Jefferson is 18-0 and ranked fourth nationally by USA Today.

MWC notebook

* UTAH (17-4, 6-1): The past four days have not been kind to the Utes. They fell from 19th in both polls to 20th in USA Today-ESPN, 21st in AP. They also learned Monday that power forward Hanno Mottola, their top scorer (17.5), is shelved indefinitely due to a sore elbow and thumb sprain. He is not expected to need surgery, which would likely put him out for the year. Utes coach Rick Majerus still does not regard his club a lock for the NCAA Tournament. "We've got seven very difficult games left," he said, fooling no one.

* BYU (15-5, 4-3): The Cougars have the MWC's strangest schedule. They haven't played at home since Jan. 22 and will not return to the Marriott Center until playing New Mexico Feb. 17. On their extended trip, they've lost at Air Force and New Mexico, won at San Diego State and now visit Utah on Saturday. To make matters worse, the team is fighting the flu. "We all got flu shots, but it doesn't seem to work," coach Steve Cleveland said.

* NEW MEXICO (12-10, 4-3): The Lobos are hanging in there, and their schedule gets easier the rest of the way. Their Front Range trip is already in the rearview mirror (they split), as is their visit to Utah (a loss). New Mexico hammered San Diego State 78-57 Saturday behind guard Lamont Long's 23 points and five steals. He's averaging 23.5 points over his last five games.

* COLORADO STATE (13-9, 3-4): The puzzling Rams have lost twice at home in the MWC, and their confidence took another hit Monday night when Creighton trashed them 78-67 at Moby Arena. Now they start their second three-game Mountain West road trip (UNLV, San Diego State, Air Force). "I think we're making progress and still growing," coach Ritchie McKay said. "If not for a couple of stumbles at home, I feel we would still be in competition for the postseason."

* WYOMING (13-9, 3-4): After a 1-3 start in the conference, the Cowboys have rallied, but the triple-OT loss at Air Force was a big setback. They missed 5 of 6 free throws in the last two minutes. "That stuff gets magnified when you're on the road," coach Steve McClain said. His team can be great at home, though, as it showed in last Monday's rout of UNLV. "That's how I would like to play every game in this program someday," he said.

* AIR FORCE (7-12, 3-4): The Falcons are the conference's surprise team, likely saving Reggie Minton's job as coach. They went 2-12 in the WAC last season, but have home wins over BYU and Wyoming and went to the final seconds before losing to Utah. "We are probably the dark horse nobody counted on," Minton said. "We are probably screwing up the equation -- we love it." Lawrence Yazzie made 6-of-8 3-pointers and scored 22 off the bench in Saturday's victory over Wyoming, ending the Falcons' 18-game losing streak to the Cowboys.

* SAN DIEGO STATE (5-15, 0-7): Nothing is going right for the Aztecs. Steve Fisher's team has lost nine straight since Jan. 2. Sophomore forward Myron Epps has played well, averaging 14.8 points, but he was held to three points in 32 minutes in last week's loss to BYU. "We've had difficulty stopping people," Fisher conceded. "We need to be near-perfect and our opponents have to be less than perfect."