Rallies now common for Rebels

Steve Addy

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002 | 9:28 a.m.

Ask the Rebels why they've depended on comebacks so often this season. All you will get are shrugs and sheepish grins.

"I guess we like living on the edge," Marcus Banks said.

"We come out lackadaisical for some reason," Lou Kelly offered.

"I don't know why we start so slow. We just do," was Chris Richardson's best explanation.

Even coach Charlie Spoonhour is baffled: "It's really strange. We're our own worst enemy at times. But I do know this -- we don't quit."

That has been the Rebels' saving grace. No matter how poorly they start, how many bad shots they take or how many double-figure deficits they have to erase, they usually end up winning. Their new motto ought to be: "All's well that ends well."

While winning four of their last five, the Rebels trailed by at least eight points in each game, including second-half deficits of 11 and 10. Even when they lost at Wyoming 82-78, they were down by nine with 6:41 left, but rallied to get two tying chances in the final 10 seconds.

Comebacks have rescued the Rebels in their last four victories. They rallied from double-figure deficits three times and eight points behind in the other game. Here's a look at UNLV's biggest comebacks this season:

x-overtime

The Rebels' resolve has been invaluable in their last two victories, both in overtime. Last week at Colorado State, they fell behind 39-31 in the first half and still trailed 82-77 with 15 seconds left, but tied it 83-83 in regulation (with help from CSU) and won 96-91.

Saturday against San Diego State, they missed their first 10 shots, got behind 11-0 and were still down 62-54 with 3:43 left. But Banks scored 10 of his season-high 36 points in the final 97 seconds, UNLV forced OT at 68-68 and won 83-76.

"All of our games seem to go down to the wire," Banks said. "We have to change that. If we can put it all together for 40 minutes, we could be a great team."

In five of their 16 victories, the Rebels have rallied from at least 10 points behind. They were down 16 at halftime at Loyola Marymount on Dec. 15, but won 70-68. Old Dominion led them 69-59 with 6:03 remaining, but UNLV came back to win 84-76.

The Rebels' biggest turnaround came Feb. 11 against Utah. After falling behind 11-0 and still trailing 49-38 with 14:22 left, they put on a 19-2 spurt and pulled away to win 72-64.

"The thing I like about our guys is they don't give up," Spoonhour said. "After we tied San Diego (47-47) and went back down by eight, some teams would disintegrate and say, 'Well, we tried hard, but we lost.' But this bunch -- for whatever reason -- tries to come back and win."

Not every comeback has ended happily, such as the Wyoming game and a Dec. 22 loss to Texas. In the latter, UNLV fell behind by 16 with 13:46 to play, cut the deficit to 73-72 with four minutes left, but faded and lost 87-78.

In fact, while winning eight of their last 10, the Rebels have played better from behind than leading. On Jan. 26 at San Diego State, they led by 15 with 12:05 left, but SDSU methodically tied it 69-69 and forced OT before UNLV won 80-79. On Feb. 9 the Rebels led BYU 21-6, but the Cougars got even at 70-70 before Vince Booker's last-second 3-pointer gave UNLV a 73-70 victory.

The Rebels have reached 500 consecutive games with at least one 3-point basket, an NCAA record. They waited until Saturday's second half to hit one after an 0-of-8 first half. ...

Lou Kelly has a groin pull and his practice activity will be limited this week.