Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2001 | 10:24 a.m.
Before Jermaine Lewis headed up the stairs of the Thomas & Mack Center to go home Monday night, he stopped to give New Mexico coach Fran Fraschilla a hug.
As the two embraced, Fraschilla questioned Lewis in a congratulatory tone, "Why did you have to do that to us?"
What Lewis did was help UNLV to a much-needed 80-72 victory over the Lobos by scoring a season-high 24 points.
What he did was extinguish New Mexico's fire with six rebounds (five defensive), three steals and four assists.
What he did was make 9-of-12 shots, some of which seemed impossible or improbable given the way Lewis had been playing his last seven games.
After he drilled his first 3-pointer to put the Rebels up 9-3, New Mexico couldn't contain him from long range. He followed the first one with an off-balance fadeaway trey to make it 14-6, then connected for a catch-and- shoot 3-pointer to give UNLV an early nine-point lead.
By halftime Lewis had scored 13 of the team's 36 points.
"All week during practice, coach (Max Good) was telling me to be more aggressive," Lewis said. "So I just tried to come out and be aggressive."
Lewis had extra incentive to perform.
Lewis started his third game of the season because Good benched his top two scorers and regular starters, shooting guard Trevor Diggs and center Kaspars Kambala, for the entire first half and part of the second. Kambala was disciplined for his unsportsmanlike behavior during the team's 91-63 loss at BYU on national television. Diggs was disciplined for criticizing Kambala publicly.
"Tonight I came out to be more aggressive because Trevor and Kas didn't start the first half," Lewis said. "I tried to give us an offensive boost to get to the second half until they could play."
Lewis insisted it wasn't his new hairdo, an uncombed Afro instead of his corn rows, that had him playing like the Lobos had insulted his mother's honor. Several times when the Lobos got close, Lewis punished them with a 3-pointer, a steal or a crucial rebound.
With UNLV up 45-41, Diggs fed Lewis for a layup and after New Mexico missed a shot the next trip down the floor, Lewis netted a pull-up jumper over Eric Chatfield to increase the lead to nine.
Perhaps his most timely shot came with six minutes left in the game. Coming out of a timeout, UNLV led 64-58 and Lewis weaved into the lane and threw up an awkward-looking two-handed shot over two defenders that floated into the basket.
Clearly, Lewis was not the same player who had made 14-of-45 field goals his last seven games including a 3-for-10 outing against Loyola Marymount and 0-for-5 disappearing act against Air Force.
Lewis, Fraschilla and Good were not surprised by Lewis' big game.
"While I'm disappointed he did it against us, I'm happy for him because I know what kind of kid he is," said Fraschilla, who once recruited Lewis. "The thing about J-Lew is that I've watched on film a lot and he's not just a good open shooter.
"He makes tough shots. He hits like pro shots. You know, you've got good shooters and guys that can take it to the basket, but there are very few guys that make tough shots."
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