UNLV has home court advantage, momentum going into tournament

Wednesday, March 6, 2002 | 7:45 a.m.

LAS VEGAS AP) - When the season began, the last thing most Mountain West basketball coaches worried about was UNLV hosting the conference tournament.

The Runnin' Rebels were in disarray, playing for their seventh coach in the past eight years. UNLV wasn't supposed to be a factor, much less a contender for a spot in the NCAA tournament.

With the Mountain West tournament opening Thursday on UNLV's home court, though, the Rebels are worrying a group of coaches trying to get their teams into the NCAA tournament.

"For Nevada-Las Vegas, this is not a tournament, these are home games," Utah coach Rick Majerus said.

UNLV (18 (9)- has won 10 of its past 12 games under first year coach Charlie Spoonhour and now poses a threat to the chances of Utah and conference champion Wyoming getting into the NCAA tournament.

The third seed in the conference tournament, UNLV could have a lot to say about which Mountain West teams go to the NCAA tournament when it begins play Thursday against New Mexico.

"Obviously the tournament favorite would have to be UNLV because you're playing on your own court," Majerus said. "That is a tremendous advantage."

Majerus has never been fond of playing the postseason tournament in Las Vegas, and isn't a fan of conference tournaments anyway.

But he isn't alone in his thoughts about UNLV enjoying an edge at home.

"There's no question it's an advantage for Vegas to play at home," Wyoming coach Steve McClain said. "It's something we've had to deal with to get our league kicked off."

McClain, though, said the home court advantage will go only so far for UNLV, especially since some other teams have brought hundreds of fans of their own to Las Vegas.

"If Vegas wins, it won't be because of the home court," he said. "Winning three in a row is tough, no matter where it is."

That's especially true for UNLV, which has had a habit of winning on last-second shots or big comebacks. Doing that three consecutive nights might be a bit too much to ask of a team, even at home.

"The home court is not as pronounced as it is during the regular season," Spoonhour said. "I'm sure when you get in a conference tournament all those things are negated to a certain degree."

Wyoming 20-7, 11 (3)- takes on Air Force 9-18, 3 (11)- in the first game, while No. 2 seed Utah 20-7, 10 (4)- meets Colorado State 12-17, 3 (11)-. No. 3 UNLV 18-9, 9 (5)- plays New Mexico 16-12, 6 (8)- while No. 4 BYU 17-10, 7 (7)- meets San Diego State 18-11, 7 (7)-.

UNLV has another advantage in that it beat New Mexico on the same court in the final regular season game Saturday night.

Utah had been considered the class of the league and a sure NCAA tournament pick, but the Utes dropped two of three games to close the regular season.

Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said he believes both Utah and Wyoming should get picked for the NCAA tournament even if they don't win the postseason conference tournament.

So does McClain, although he has a vested interest in the outcome.

"We've got two teams for sure to be in and if we have another team win we should get three," he said. "But the only way to take all the risk out of it is for us to just win it all."