UNLV looks to bounce back vs. Huskies

Steve Addy

Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2001 | 10:44 a.m.

WHAT: UNLV (2-1) at Washington (3-1)

WHEN: 7:05 tonight

WHERE: Bank of America Arena, Seattle

TV: KFBT Gold 33/Cable 6

RADIO: KBAD 920-AM

LINE: Washington minus 6

SEATTLE -- The Rebels insist they'll play with renewed aggression tonight against Washington.

Though there's nothing wrong with that noble intention, they might want to preface their exertion with a deep, relaxing exhale.

For the Rebels (2-1) to beat the Huskies (3-1), they'll probably need to soothe the nerves that plagued their first road effort Saturday. In a 74-61 loss at Cincinnati, UNLV's inability to ease up on the gas pedal proved costly.

It was no surprise that point guard Marcus Banks and center Omari Pearson were keyed up. It was Banks' first Division I road game, and his four turnovers and two missed layups seemed due to overeagerness more than sloppiness.

Same for the sophomore Pearson, whose first road start was abbreviated by foul trouble, largely because of grabby defense.

But they weren't the only ones. Though forward Chris Richardson is a senior, he was making only his second road start. And once UNLV started falling behind, even junior forward Dalron Johnson began to press, finishing with four baskets on 19 shots, many of them forced.

With all of that going on, it's no wonder the frazzled Rebels were down by 20 before the coaches emptied their benches for the final five minutes.

Many Rebels chalked up the game as a learning experience, and the chance to apply those lessons comes against a Washington team that's solid, but not as talented as Cincinnati.

"I think the young guys saw that you can't get mentally rattled if you give up a few points," senior swingman Lou Kelly said. "It was the first road game for some of them. They played hard and they gave good effort, they just didn't put up numbers. I'm sure they'll relax."

Senior guard Vince Booker said, "It was a team learning experience as much as individually. We got ourselves broken in. Everyone learned what the road atmosphere is like. We don't have the crowd on our side. On the road, we're our own crowd. We've only got each other.

"We all realize now that we can't afford to come out lackadaisical on the road. I think we will apply all of those factors from now on."

Coach Charlie Spoonhour is looking for the right mixture of aggression, calmness and precision, though he's not certain such a balance can be achieved so early in the season.

"We can't just say that we're done with Cincinnati and now it gets easier. Washington doesn't look any easier to me," he said.

"We need to be fundamentally better at some things. Too many times, guys think that we've been to spring training and now let's just play the games. But you better keep working on being better fundamentally.

"The problem is all of us want to get there too fast. But you're not going to cure everything with two aspirin."

Particularly on defense, Spoonhour is seeking a better effort. The Cincinnati game film showed too little ball pressure and sloppy box-outs.

"I can show you 20 (Cincinnati) points that shouldn't have happened," he said. "That doesn't mean they wouldn't have found another way to score, but they should've had to do it in a harder fashion."

Washington is led by sophomore forward Doug Wrenn, a transfer from UConn who averages 17 points and 6.3 rebounds. Three others are scoring in double-figures, led by 6-foot-7 freshman guard Erroll Knight at 12.8.

The Huskies have beaten Alaska-Fairbanks (82-70), Bowling Green (81-74) and Santa Clara (69-49) and lost to Butler (67-64).

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