Rebel notebook: Kelly misses out on 2nd half

Steve Addy

Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2001 | 10 a.m.

Fans have their favorite players, and there's nothing wrong with that, but the object is to win.

So UNLV did exactly what it was supposed to Monday night, beating Air Force 65-54 in its Mountain West opener.

But backup swingman Lou Kelly did not play at all in the second half, causing him (and some vocal fans) to wonder if he had done something to cause his benching. He entered with a 9.3 scoring average, having scored 13 or more in three of the last five games.

"Your guess is as good as mine," he said of his 11-minute stint, in which he had five points.

But Kelly shot only 2-of-6 and was 1-of-4 on 3-pointers. Because the Rebels shot 1-of-12 on 3-pointers, it was Kelly's triple with 9:10 left in the first half that preserved UNLV's NCAA-record streak of 456 games with a 3-point basket.

Coach Max Good said he didn't intend for Kelly to miss the entire half. It just worked out that way.

"I almost started Lou," he said. "To be honest, I almost put him in late in the second half, around the six-minute mark, but I thought he had sat for so long, it almost wouldn't be fair. I thought Trevor (Diggs) was playing well, and Jermaine Lewis is a good defensive player.

"Lou is a very talented player, and I think he'll play a great deal more from now on."

Diggs said Kelly was wondering when he would get back in, but was not disruptive.

"He was cheering us on," Diggs said. "Lou will get a lot more chances."

Bayno didn't return a call seeking comment, but senior associate AD Jerry Koloskie, to whom Bayno reports, said the ex-coach's first day went well.

"No problems at all," Koloskie said.

Attorneys for Bayno and UNLV are negotiating a settlement of the final 2 1/2 years of his contract, but progress has been slow.

"Jermaine got here early before the game and took a lot of attempts," Good said. "He works very hard in shooting drills. Maybe he needs to cut back a little on that. But the less said, the better. I think he'll snap out of it."

"Mountain West refs stink!" he yelled on the sideline late in the game.