Rebels fine-tune skills in easy win

Steve Addy

Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2001 | 10:33 a.m.

Dalron Johnson tried to pretend UNLV was playing Cincinnati or Wyoming or some other good team Tuesday night.

In reality, the Rebels were having their way with Nicholls State, an eight-man team with one player taller than 6-foot-6 and a sideburned point guard who looked suspiciously like Salami from "The White Shadow."

The 6-9 Johnson could've camped in the lane all night to fatten his statistics against the tiny Colonels, but he wanted more out of the game than dunk practice.

So Johnson eschewed the inside game, drifted out to the perimeter and dominated Nicholls State from there. In only 19 minutes, he made 13-of-16 shots for a career-high 29 points in UNLV's 97-54 victory before an announced 9,306 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Using a fluid shooting motion honed in the off-season, the Rebels' lanky power forward scored 19 of his points from beyond 15 feet. In his 19-point first half, he went 3-of-3 on 3-pointers, the third giving UNLV its biggest lead of the half 40-16.

Johnson didn't attempt a free throw all night, an indication of how much he roamed outside, shooting open 17-footers that usually found their target.

"We had a huge height advantage, but I didn't want to get away from the game I know I will have to play against Wyoming and Utah," Johnson said. "I wanted some touches in the post, but I wanted to just play my usual game and shoot my regular shots."

Johnson was so relaxed, so smooth, few of his shots even grazed the rim.

"The ball was going in the goal. There was no reason to get into tricky plays," coach Charlie Spoonhour said. "Dalron was jumping up, shooting it and making it. All I did was clap."

Johnson began cleaning up under the rim in the second half, but Spoonhour yanked him and the other starters soon enough. No need to risk any injuries, and the coach wanted his whole roster to benefit from a feel-good victory in advance of Saturday's road test at Cincinnati.

That's what this game was about: building experience and confidence for real teams like the Bearcats. Spoonhour made sure all of his new players debuted -- freshmen Ernest Turner and Lou Amundson and junior Lamar Bigby -- to eliminate any jitters before Saturday.

"That first road game is usually a little goofy. I won't have a feel for it until we play it," Spoonhour said. "If we're silly enough to think we can go (to Cincinnati) and free-wheel ... you can't do that on the road against good teams. Ball possession is so important."

Armed with a big lead, the Rebels' newcomers were able to play free and easy Tuesday. Turner scored 12 points in 17 minutes, with 3-of-5 3-pointers; forward Amundson supplied eight rebounds and four points in 13 minutes; and Bigby added six points and three boards in 12 minutes.

Turner, a 6-2 guard from New Jersey, said, "It felt good to get out there. With our first away game coming up, it was a confidence booster to know I can score on the college level."

Amundson, a 6-7 forward from Colorado, said, "I was kind of nervous. But once you get out there and start running up and down, it goes away."

Swingman Lou Kelly also took it upon himself to lift center Jamal Holden's confidence. In the second half, Kelly kept passing the ball to the posted-up Holden, who made 3-of-5 shots and had six points in 10 minutes.

"We are going to need Jamal against Cincinnati," Kelly said. "I wanted to help get him going. When you feel like you're letting the team down, you need a few easy buckets."

Holden said, "I'm not playing as well as I can. But that helped a little."

The 43-point victory margin was UNLV's largest since a 47-point win over Sacred Heart in the 1998-99 opener. That score was 103-56. ...

The Rebels play only six games in the next 31 days, including two six-day breaks.