Banks lifts Rebels to another OT escape

Steve Addy

Monday, Feb. 25, 2002 | 9:21 a.m.

In Marcus Banks' humble estimation, the Rebels keep passing around the hero's wreath and this was merely his turn to wear it.

After all, he noted, it was Vince Booker who won the BYU game on Feb. 9 with a 3-pointer at the buzzer and Lou Kelly who dominated the latter stages of last Monday's overtime win at Colorado State.

True enough, but Banks' gold-medal performance in Saturday's 83-76 OT victory over San Diego State greatly differed from those examples. This wasn't a case of one amazing play or five sublime minutes. It was sustained excellence -- 36 points' worth -- on a night when no one else was going to rescue UNLV.

Yes, Banks had incendiary moments, as when the 6-foot-1 point guard scored nine points in a 33-second span (the final 25 seconds of regulation and first eight of overtime). And he made a time-capsule shot, a step-back 3-pointer from the right side to send the game into overtime at 68-68.

But Banks had become the Rebels' savior long before that. He scored 23 of their final 30 points in regulation, including their final 10 in 97 seconds. After they trailed 62-54 with 3:43 left in regulation, Banks seemingly refused to let them lose.

After scoring only two in the first half, when two fouls in the opening 2:28 limited him to nine minutes, Banks scored 30 points in the second half and four in overtime, setting the Rebels' season high. It was UNLV's highest total since Trevor Diggs had 49 in last season's finale.

"I played more aggressive in the second half," said Banks, whose previous high was 31 against Old Dominion. "Tonight it was contagious and I caught it. One night it could be me, the next night it could be Dalron (Johnson) and then it could be Lou Kelly. Tonight was just my night."

Banks' modest assessment doesn't do him justice. Despite his own slow start, the Rebels needed him to take command. They were behind 27-19 at halftime, and their other offensive leaders, Johnson and Kelly, had both shot 2 of 10.

"We were struggling," coach Charlie Spoonhour said. "So we told Marcus to take it and go with it. He did a great job."

Exploiting his matchup against SDSU point guard Deandre Moore, Banks began knifing into the lane for layups and jumpers, and the Aztecs couldn't stop him without fouling. When Banks wasn't darting around Moore, he was driving end-to-end with controlled recklessness. He usually converted, shooting 11 of 16 from the field and 11 of 12 at the foul line.

"When Marcus has the ball in the open court, he's amazing to watch," said Chris Richardson, who scored 13. "Sometimes I stand there and watch him, and I forget I'm on the court, too."

The Aztecs defended Banks like they were barely there. Moore was overmatched and fellow guards Tony Bland and Al Faux also failed to impede him. Banks' tying 3-pointer was over Bland with 4.2 seconds left in regulation.

"Banks was awfully good," SDSU coach Steve Fisher said. "He got his confidence by going to the rim for easy baskets, and then his jump shot came around. He looked like Michael Jordan (on his tying 3-pointer). He got a little push-off, stepped back and hit a big shot."

The living-on-the-edge Rebels needed every bit of Banks' domination. As in last Monday's 96-91 OT escape at Colorado State, they had a happy ending after a slow start, coming back from an 11-0 deficit with help from the Aztecs. SDSU hit only 1 of 10 free throws in the first half and wound up 11 of 24 at the line, also missing three in the final 3:04 of regulation.