UNLV forced to win out or return to NIT

Steve Addy

Friday, Feb. 25, 2000 | 10:53 a.m.

The Rebels would rather not make a habit of coming back from 40-point losses, but they have no choice if they want to make something out of their season.

They have already done it once, winning eight of 10 games from Jan. 4-Feb. 12 to wash away the stench of their 106-66 loss at Cincinnati on Jan. 2.

But this time, it's different. Having been pounded by 44 points on Monday at Utah, UNLV has no margin for error. One more loss, either in the regular season or the Mountain West tournament, and the Rebels' NCAA Tournament aspirations will almost certainly be dashed.

In other words, no more mulligans, or the Rebels will be holding a first-round NIT game at the Thomas & Mack Center. And no one wants that.

"It's every team's dream to get to the NCAA Tournament. The NIT, that's for teams that aren't good enough to make it, and nobody wants to take any pride in winning that," freshman forward Dalron Johnson said. "We know what we have to do. We have to win every game from now on."

That was the Rebels' predicament after last Saturday's loss at BYU. Then they got blown out at Utah, removing their last bit of cushion. Now they have to win their last three regular-season games, starting Saturday when Air Force visits, and sweep through the Mountain West tournament March 9-11 just to sniff an NCAA bid.

Not much gray area there.

"Even before the last two (losses), we knew we didn't have any room for error," Rebels point guard Mark Dickel said. "Now we have to play every game like it's our last one. That's all we can do. We have to play as hard as we can, because we know what can happen if we don't."

"We can't play like we are guaranteed another game," Johnson said. "But I think we play our best with our backs against the wall. After the Cincinnati game, we had to refocus. If we can come back from that game, we can come back from anything. Now we just have to do it."

Not everything is working against the Rebels (17-7, 7-4 MWC). Their schedule is favorable. Air Force (8-16, 4-7) is a weak road team, then UNLV gets to visit cellar-dwelling San Diego State (0-11, 5-19) next Thursday. Those are two very winnable games before the regular-season-ending clash against New Mexico (15-11, 7-4) on March 4 at the Mack.

Dickel hopes having a clear mission and an easy-to-chew schedule will help the Rebels relax.

"Sometimes I feel like we're playing not to lose, rather than playing to win," he said. "We are not relaxing enough. When you play tense, it is not going to be an enjoyable experience."

* REBEL NOTES: Guard Kenny Dye practiced with the team Thursday for the first time since early December, but is unlikely to play again this season. Dye has been out with a sprained shoulder for the last 19 games and the Rebels intend to petition the NCAA for a medical redshirt. ...

After BYU's 68-54 loss at Colorado State on Thursday, the Cougars are 43rd in the RPI rankings and UNLV is 54th. ...

The Rebels have been recruiting point guard Mo Baker from Dixie College, but Oklahoma State is strongly pursuing him to replace NCAA assist leader Doug Gottlieb next season.