Rebel notebook: Good might start six seniors Saturday vs. Wyoming

Steve Addy

Friday, March 2, 2001 | 11:36 a.m.

Rebels coach Max Good has a math problem.

He has only five starting spots, but six seniors who would like to start their final game at UNLV on Saturday night against Wyoming.

What to do? Well, if you're thinking what Good is thinking, you're thinking correctly. He wants to start all six against the Cowboys, costing the Rebels a technical foul and possibly two points.

"I'm thinking about it," Good said. "I think I owe it to the seniors."

If Good goes ahead, UNLV would take the opening tipoff with Kaspars Kambala, Trevor Diggs, Danny Brotherson, Sylvester Dotson, Donovan Stewart and Chris Popoola on the court. One player would exit after the technical.

Good's only misgiving would be angering Wyoming or other clubs fighting for seeding in next week's Mountain West tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.

He doesn't want to skew any results, especially with the Rebels banned from participating.

There is precedent for six UNLV starters on Senior Night. Jerry Tarkanian did it on Feb. 23, 1991 against UC-Irvine, starting Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony, Stacey Augmon, George Ackles, Dave Rice and Bryan Emerzian. The Rebels won 114-86, lifting their record to 25-0.

"Since it's a partial tear, it should heal on its own," trainer Dave Tomchek said. "We'll treat it like a complete tear in terms of the rehab."

Lewis has been suffering from sore knees for the last month, then tore the ligament in practice Monday with an awkward landing.

"I was trying to play through the pain, but I can barely walk after this one," the junior swingman said.

There's no question that Lewis' sore knees have hindered his performance. He averaged 11.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and shot 42.5 percent in his first 13 games. In his final 13, those numbers dipped to 7.2, 1.3 and 38.8, respectively.

No. 6 San Diego State and No. 7 Air Force are waiting for the top three teams -- Wyoming (10-3), Utah (9-4) and BYU (9-4) -- to sort themselves out. The No. 1 seed gets a first-round bye because of UNLV's absence.