UNLV cannot afford to stumble at home

Steve Addy

Monday, Jan. 21, 2002 | 9:51 a.m.

WHAT: Colorado State (8-8) at UNLV (8-7)

WHEN: Today, 7:35 p.m.

WHERE: Thomas & Mack Center

TV: None

RADIO: KBAD 920-AM

In their rather dire predicament, the Rebels have no business overlooking any opponent, even one of the Mountain West's traditional lesser lights.

As tempting as it is to breathe easier with shorthanded Colorado State coming to town tonight, UNLV (8-7) doesn't have that luxury after losing three of its first four MWC games, regardless that CSU is also struggling (8-8, 0-2).

Additionally, if playing on their home floor for the first time in 17 days isn't enough to fan the Rebels' competitive fire, perhaps they will remember their unhappy series with the Rams last season. Two of CSU's six league wins were over UNLV, including a 25-point blowout.

If all of that doesn't work, the players ought not depend on coach Charlie Spoonhour for any wacky motivation. From an inspirational standpoint, he admits his techniques are strictly old school.

"Anything contrived like that never works," Spoonhour said.

But he has experimented. At Southwest Missouri State, he once tried to teach his players "visualization" concepts, like other coaches in the 1980s. The idea was to imagine yourself making the shot or winning the game, then fulfilling the visualization.

"They looked at me like I was insane," Spoonhour said. "They were saying, 'What does that mean?' It was hilarious.

"But we won the game anyway because we were the better team."

Nowadays, Spoonhour relies on tried-and-true motivational methods.

"He just yells a lot," assistant/son Jay Spoonhour said.

Guard Vince Booker said, "He gets after us. He challenges us every day to get better. That's the biggest motivation. He hasn't (resorted to) anything out of the ordinary."

Unusual tactics are probably less necessary at home, anyway. The Rebels have won six out of eight at the Thomas & Mack, though they haven't played there since a Jan. 5 loss to Wyoming in the conference opener.

After tonight, UNLV doesn't play at home again until Feb. 3 against DePaul, ending a span of 28 days with one home game. The Rebels couldn't even practice on their court Sunday because the arena was hosting Disney on Ice.

With such an unappealing schedule, the Rebels can't afford to waste any home games, especially against beatable clubs. CSU lost its MWC opener by 23 at Wyoming and suffered an 81-69 defeat Saturday at San Diego State.

The Rebels have been idle since Tuesday's 60-47 loss at BYU.

"This will really be a test for ourselves," Booker said. "We've yet to play a complete game -- first half and second half. We need to prove we can do that."

The Rebels also need to work out some kinks on offense, as their poor execution against BYU showed. They're unable to get good shots when opponents turn up the defensive heat, and two of their top scorers are struggling. Marcus Banks has shot 9 of 33 against MWC teams, Lou Kelly 6 of 33.

CSU is led by junior forward Brian Greene with 15.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, while junior guard Andy Birley averages 12 points.

The Rams will be without starting guard Joe Macklin tonight. He didn't play at San Diego State because of an indefinite team suspension. Also, starting swingman Ronnie Clark broke a thumb last week and is sidelined.