Rebel goal: Stick around

Steve Addy

Thursday, March 16, 2000 | 10:58 a.m.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The last time the Rebels participated in an NCAA Tournament, they hardly had time to buy a postcard before they were on the plane home.

When they met Princeton in 1998 in the first round of the East Regional at Hartford, Conn., the Rebels had barely caught their breath after romping to the WAC championship on their own court.

They won the WAC on a Saturday, learned their opponent and venue Sunday, flew out Tuesday, lost Thursday and flew home Friday. It was over that quickly.

But despite the brevity of the first NCAA appearance, four UNLV upperclassmen hope to use that experience to their advantage Friday when the 10th-seeded Rebels (23-7) play No. 7 Tulsa (29-4) in the first round of the South Regional at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. Tipoff is set for about noon.

Only seniors Mark Dickel and Issiah Epps and juniors Kaspars Kambala and Donovan Stewart remain from the team that was excused by Princeton 69-57. Their comfort level this weekend should come in handy because their nine teammates have never been anywhere near an NCAA Tournament game. It will be up to the veterans to be the Rebels' emotional rudder.

In other words, if the older guys look nervous, what right will the young guys have to feel relaxed?

"It will be a new experience for the rest of our team, so there will be some nerves, but we've got nothing to be nervous about as long as we play hard," Rebels coach Bill Bayno said.

"We have all dreamed of playing in the tournament, but most of us don't know how it's going to feel," Trevor Diggs said. "Our seniors have been here once before and that should help me and the younger guys relax. Hopefully, we can all settle down fast and play our best game."

The Rebels had similar plans in 1998. Making UNLV's first NCAA appearance since 1991, they were hoping to ride the momentum of their WAC title into a long tournament run. But they were unable to handle Princeton's deliberate offense and got bogged down in a walk-the-ball game. Just like that, their season was over.

Two years later, memories of the loss are a blur, but the enormity of the event is ingrained in the minds of Dickel and Stewart.

"I just remember there being a lot of people everywhere we went," Dickel said. "There were a lot of media and fans. Everything about it is bigger than a regular-season game.

"I don't know if we had time to get caught up in the excitement. But it was such a strange new experience that it was hard to concentrate on preparing to actually play a game."

Stewart said, "It was over so quickly that we didn't get a chance to enjoy it. Before you knew it, we were back home. I hope it's different my second time around. I want to go farther.

"We have a chance to do something really special. I personally feel like we have a good chance against Tulsa. They probably have more talent than when we played them last year, but we're not bad either. And I think we're starting to jell as a team."

Both teams feel they have something extra to prove Friday. Having tied for the most wins in the nation, Tulsa thinks it should have been seeded higher than seventh. The Golden Hurricane has a high-powered offense (81.2 points per game) and terrific balance, with six scorers between 13.8 and 9.8 points per game. They play a three-guard offense.

"They like to play our style, and that's OK by me because you always have a chance to get back in the game," Dickel said. "It could be a high-scoring game, kind of like us vs. Wyoming."

The Rebels, meanwhile, were stung when ESPN's Dick Vitale criticized their at-large bid.

"There will be a lot of excitement, but the main thing is to win," Diggs said. "I don't want to play one game and have to leave. There are people saying we don't deserve to be there, so we have to prove that we do."

Tulsa coach Bill Self is leery of playing a hot team with extra motivation.

"They are playing very well right now," he said. "They have size and great speed. There is a toughness about them and they have a good low-post presence. From that standpoint, they're very balanced. I don't mean in scoring like our team, but in terms of having a lot of the pieces you need to have a good team."

Like his players, Bayno has been pushing a businesslike approach this week. He's trying to keep the routine the same. Rather than rush his players back into practice Monday, Bayno held a team meeting, the players lifted weights like usual and that was about it.

Today, hoping to get some real work done, he'll bus the Rebels to a Nashville high school for a separate practice before UNLV's scheduled public workout at the arena.

"You don't want to show anything in the public (workout)," Bayno said. "That's just going to be a shootaround anyway."