Rebels use balanced scoring attack to down DePaul

Steve Addy

Monday, Feb. 4, 2002 | 10:40 a.m.

WHAT: UNLV (11-7, 3-3) at New Mexico (13-7, 3-3)

WHEN: Tuesday, 6 p.m.

WHERE: The Pit, Albuquerque

TV: Las Vegas ONE (Ch. 1 and 39)

RADIO: KBAD 920-AM

Ten minutes into Sunday's UNLV-DePaul game, it actually began to look like a fair fight.

Downtrodden DePaul had come to town without two suspended starters -- its No. 2 scorer and point guard -- but the Rebels were quickly missing their top two scorers -- Dalron Johnson and Marcus Banks -- because of foul trouble.

If the game was played in November, UNLV probably stumbles and loses, so total was its dependency on that twosome. But Sunday their temporary absence only delayed a predictable outcome, the Rebels' 90-75 victory before an announced 9,538 at the Thomas & Mack Center and an ABC regional audience.

With six scorers in double-figures for UNLV's most balanced scoring attack since the Tarkanian era, the Rebels posted their third straight win and improved to 11-7 overall, 8-4 nonconference. They return to Mountain West play on Tuesday with a winnable game at New Mexico, the second of seven games in 16 days, the busiest stretch of their disjointed schedule.

In fact, the Rebels could reasonably blame a seven-day layoff (and a TV-mandated 11 a.m. tipoff) for an uneven first half in which their 10-point lead evaporated to 39-37 at the break.

Johnson (16.9 ppg) and Banks (14.8) were notably sluggish. Banks had two fouls in the first 4:50 and sat out the rest of the half, while Johnson exited with his third foul 9:37 before halftime. Rebels turnovers and rushed shots also helped DePaul get back in it, at least until UNLV was whole again in the second half.

Until Sunday against DePaul, the Rebels hadn't had six double-figure scorers in a game since 1991 at Utah State, 330 games ago. Earlier that season, they placed seven players in double-figures at Nevada-Reno. Here's a look at the three games:

-- Steve Addy

"When you don't have Dalron and Marcus out there, you're not going to look very good," coach Charlie Spoonhour said. "We are not deep enough, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, as a (football) coach would say."

Actually, the Rebels had all the scoring depth they needed, because Lou Amundson and Jevon Banks continued their excellent bench play. Amundson scored 13 points, a career high, and Banks added 12 in 17 minutes.

Their contributions helped UNLV place six players in double-figures for the first time since Jan. 28, 1991, when Jerry Tarkanian's penultimate Rebels team was rolling to a 34-0 start. Since that 126-83 victory at Utah State -- spanning 330 games -- the Rebels had five double-figure scorers 47 times, but never six.

Lou Kelly led UNLV with 19 points (plus seven assists), Chris Richardson supplied a career-high 16, Marcus Banks had 13 and Johnson finished with 10 in 17 minutes before fouling out with 3:48 left. It was his second straight foul-out and the Rebels won both, having beaten San Diego State in overtime Jan. 26.

"The refs were calling it a little close today," Johnson said. "I felt some of the fouls weren't really fouls, but that's the way it goes. I just had to play through it."

"Dalron is very well-rested," Spoonhour cracked. "We got enough in transition (16-2 scoring edge) to make up for the fact that we didn't have Dalron to run our offense through.

"Obviously we would prefer to have him in there, but we have found we have other guys who can make some plays. Maybe that was the bright side of (the foul trouble) -- it gave Amundson and other guys a chance to play."

A week after hitting the winning free throw at San Diego, Amundson's development has grown even more intriguing. In 19 minutes, the 6-7 freshman's 13 points were seven more than his previous high and he also had five rebounds and two steals.

Amundson gave up height to 6-9 DePaul center Andre Brown (16 points, 10 boards) and 6-9, 260 forward Lance Williams (15 points, 10 boards), but he wasn't bashful around the rim. He made strong offensive moves under control (shooting 4 of 6) and battled hard for defensive position.

"Amundson has found ways to score, get some rebounds and -- for a freshman -- do a really outstanding job on defense," Spoonhour said.

DePaul, without head coach Pat Kennedy (back problems) for a fourth straight game, sagged to 8-12.