Snagged in referees’ roundup, Rebels are called for 28 fouls

Steve Addy

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2000 | 10:12 a.m.

LAHAINA, Hawaii -- The Big Ten is noted for roughhouse basketball, but Illinois got hip to the referees' crackdown faster than UNLV on Monday night.

Though coach Bill Bayno was mostly complimentary of the officiating crew, his Rebels spent much of the game with upraised arms and quizzical expressions.

UNLV was called for 28 fouls -- more than any team on the first day of the Maui Invitational -- and lost four players to foul-outs in a 74-69 loss to the Illini at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Teams were warned that the NCAA has ordered referees to cut down on rough contact this season. Especially after a sharp-elbowed team like Wisconsin made the Final Four last season, the NCAA felt it was time to step in.

The Rebels fared fine in Friday's opener against Northern Arizona, committing only 18 fouls, but against the supposedly more physical Illini, foul trouble severely altered UNLV's rotation.

Sylvester Dotson, Danny Brotherson, Kaspars Kambala and Trevor Diggs all drew their fifth fouls in the final 6:18, and Dalron Johnson and Lafonte Johnson finished with three apiece. By halftime, each Rebels starter had at least two fouls and Dotson already had three off the bench.

Though Illinois was called for only 19 fouls, the Rebels didn't complain about getting shafted. They just wanted to know what the new parameters are -- what's allowed and what isn't.

"I have said before I don't like (the crackdown)," Bayno said. "In a perfect world, it would be somewhere in the middle. I especially don't like it now, because we're missing a lot of depth (without suspended Chris Richardson and injured Lou Kelly)."

Kambala was victimized by a couple of ticky-tack calls and fouled out with 2:28 to play. He was knocked to the ground on his fifth foul, and pleaded with the referee while lying on his back.

Afterward he said, "They're calling more fouls. I was thinking it would not be called so close. But at the same time, they called some fouls on Illinois that they wouldn't have called last year."

Illini coach Bill Self was also left scratching his head.

"This was our fourth game, counting exhibitions, and we have not had it called that close away from the ball," he said. "I think they've cleaned up the rough play on the perimeter in terms of hand-checking, but today we had to have 10 offensive fouls for turnovers (actually eight)."

Against Northern Arizona and Illinois, Diggs made his first three shots -- all 3-pointers -- in both games. After shooting only 35 percent last season, he's off to a strong start with 13-of-25 overall (52.0) and 8-of-16 3-pointers (50.0). He leads the Rebels with 18 points per game.

"Trevor is a senior now, and he is more sure of himself," Bayno said. "I felt it would carry over from the preseason. You play like you practice -- and he has been great in practice."

Diggs said, "I've got confidence. The shots that I have, I'm taking. If I don't have a shot, I'm not forcing it. I know I'm going to get my shots this season."