UNLV-Tulsa game breakdown

Monday, March 13, 2000 | 12:34 p.m.

South Region

At Nashville, Tenn.

Friday, noon, CBS (Channel 8)

UNLV (23-7)

NICKNAME: Rebels

CONFERENCE: Mountain West (MWC), at-large bid

COACH: Bill Bayno (91-59, 5 seasons)

LAST NCAA APPEARANCE: 1998, lost to Princeton 69-57 in the first round

STARTING LINEUP: G Mark Dickel, 6-2, Sr. (13.4 pts, 3.9 reb, 9.1 asst); G Trevor Diggs, 6-3, Jr. (15.2 pts, 3.1 asst); C Kaspars Kambala, 6-9, Jr. (18.5 pts, 9.2 reb); F Danny Brotherson, 6-4, Jr. (7.7 pts, 4.4 reb); F Dalron Johnson, 6-9, Fr. (11.1 pts, 7.0 reb)

SUPER SUB: F Donovan Stewart, 6-4, Jr. (4.7 pts, 2.3 reb)

FAST FACTS: Lost to six different teams, but each of them won at least 18 games. ... Rebels won 14 of last 17 games. ... Averaging 82.9 points to rank eighth in the nation, barely ahead of Tulsa's 81.2. ... Kambala's 13 double-doubles led all Mountain West players.

WHAT'S THE SKINNY? Rebels average a lot of points for a team that doesn't shoot very well. As much as they rely on Dickel's dribble penetration and Kambala's strength under the basket, Diggs might be the key.

TULSA (29-4)

NICKNAME: Golden Hurricane

CONFERENCE: Western Athletic (WAC), at-large bid

COACH: Bill Self (71-26 at Tulsa, 3 seasons)

LAST NCAA APPEARANCE: 1999, lost to Duke 97-56 in the second round

STARTING LINEUP: F Eric Coley, 6-5, Sr. (11.3 pts, 6.3 reb, 3.6 asst); C Brandon Kurtz, 6-10, Sr. (11.5 pts, 6.9 reb); G Marcus Hill, 6-5, Jr. (11.3 pts, 4.2 reb); G Greg Harrington, 6-2, So. (10.9 pts, 3.2 asst); G Tony Heard, 6-0, Sr. (9.6 pts, 3.3 asst)

SUPER SUB: F David Shelton, 6-6, Jr. (13.8 pts, 4.5 reb)

FAST FACTS: Lost three times to Fresno State, including Saturday's WAC tournament final. ... Only other loss was Dec. 11 at Oral Roberts (60-59). ... Tulsa has an average victory margin of 18.4 points.

WHAT'S THE SKINNY? Terrific offensive balance, with five scorers between 13.8 and 9.6 points per game, and Tulsa likes to push the tempo like UNLV. Most of its points come on the break and from the perimeter.