Don’t expect a classic vs. little-known foe

Steve Addy

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2002 | 9:23 a.m.

WHAT: Florida International (10-16) at UNLV (13-8)

WHEN: Today, 7:35 p.m.

WHERE: Thomas & Mack Center

TV: None

RADIO: KBAD 920-AM

The Rebels can't count on their opponent to provide inspiration or excitement tonight. They'll have to muster that all on their own.

Coming off buoyant home victories over BYU and Utah, there's no familiar foe awaiting the Rebels' attention. Instead, right in the middle of their busy Mountain West schedule, they have to host little-known Florida International, a 10-16 club from the Sun Belt Conference with a lowly RPI of 230.

Florida International has lost four in a row and is 2-10 on the road. It owns wins over the likes of Coppin State (3-22), Long Island (3-19), St. Peter's (4-19) and South Alabama (6-17). UNLV has never played FIU.

A classic is unlikely to spring from tonight's matchup, but UNLV (13-8) would happily accept a routine victory to continue the momentum gathered from its last two games. With their final road trip coming up -- Saturday at Wyoming, Monday at Colorado State -- the Rebels don't want any unexpected hiccups.

"We can definitely build on these wins. We want to keep it going," Dalron Johnson said. "I think guys are figuring out their roles and we're playing pretty well. We're finding out that we can win with defense."

Coach Charlie Spoonhour said, "By beating BYU and Utah, we've done something that we can feel good about. It's not like we've discovered the wheel, but we did what you're supposed to do -- we're at home in February acting like a basketball team.

"But I want our guys to understand that we can get a lot better. There are so many things we can do better, and there is a sense of urgency to improve at this point of the season."

Tonight marks the Rebels' last nonconference game and the last quirk in their odd schedule. They also had to host DePaul during the MWC schedule (Feb. 3) when most other teams had already completed nonconference play.

UNLV will be playing the third of five games over a 10-day span. Because the NCAA mandates at least one day off per week, the Rebels took Tuesday off, but Spoonhour would have preferred to practice.

"The fact that we're not practicing doesn't mean we're looking past (Florida International)," he said. "I think they're pretty good."

FIU is led by 6-foot-9 freshman forward Taurance Johnson with 15.2 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. Forward Rodrigo Viegas from Brazil averages 13.1 points and point guard Carlos Morban from Puerto Rico is coming off a school-record eight steals against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Dalron Johnson is second in the MWC in scoring at 17.2 points a game, trailing San Diego State's Randy Holcomb (17.6). Johnson leads in blocks (1.7), is second in steals (2.0) and seventh in rebounds (7.0). Banks leads in steals (2.3) and is ninth in scoring (14.8). ...

The Rebels are 7-0 when shooting at least 50 percent, 8-0 when outrebounding their opponent and 10-1 when leading at halftime.