Rebels ready to take act on the road

Steve Addy

Thursday, March 14, 2002 | 10:02 a.m.

The Rebels intend to be more than short-term participants in the NIT, so they knew they'd have to hit the road sooner or later. It turned out to be sooner.

They haven't been away from the Thomas & Mack Center since Feb. 18, winning six of seven home games in that span, but the Rebels have been scheduled to visit South Carolina on Tuesday night in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.

After beating Arizona State 96-91 in its NIT opener before about 4,000 fans, UNLV bid on another home game, figuring it could draw better with more than 36 hours to promote it. Instead, the Rebels (21-10) have to play the Gamecocks (19-14) at Carolina Coliseum in Columbia, S.C.

"It would've been nice to be home and have some time to sell tickets," UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour said. "I think we would have had a good atmosphere."

They also would have had a better chance to advance. The Rebels are 17-3 at home and only 4-7 on the road. They had won 10 straight at home until losing to San Diego State in the finals of the Mountain West tournament Saturday.

UNLV also has had little success on the road outside the conference, going 1-3. After losing at Cincinnati, Washington and Alabama-Birmingham from Nov. 24 to Dec. 8, the Rebels rallied from 17 points behind to beat Loyola Marymount 70-68 on Dec. 15.

"We have played better on the road since then," Spoonhour said. "At this point, there's no difference between conference and nonconference. They're all difficult. But we've had a little success on the road, so I'm not as worried."

Having missed the NCAA Tournament, UNLV's revised goal is to sweep five games to win the NIT title, but that quest will be tested by a team that has heated up in the postseason. South Carolina upset Kentucky 70-57 last week en route to the SEC semifinals, where it lost to Alabama 65-57. The Gamecocks won at Virginia 74-67 in their NIT opener Wednesday.

"They're playing very well lately," Spoonhour said. "They looked like they were going to beat Alabama if a few things had gone their way. They're a good team with a lot of depth."

It could help the Rebels that the Gamecocks have not been unbeatable at home. They are only 10-6 at the Coliseum -- technically, it's Frank McGuire Arena -- and have lost three of five there since Feb. 5.

But coach Dave Odom, who guided Wake Forest to a 240-131 record over the past 12 seasons, has his first Gamecocks team peaking at the right time. They will have a size edge over UNLV in the frontcourt, though their leading scorers are guards Jamel Bradley (13.0 average) and Aaron Lucas (10.1).

"Our teams are similar," Spoonhour said. "Dave's teams are always solid on defense and really organized on offense. They run patterns and usually get the ball exactly where they want. Lucas is warp-speed quick and Bradley can really shoot it."

Though Spoonhour and Odom are longtime friends, they've never coached against each other.

"We scheduled Wake Forest one year when I was at Saint Louis, but the game was canceled. Thanks to an ice storm, I got out of it," Spoonhour said. "Now that we both have new jobs, we'll finally get around to playing."

Tuesday's winner advances to the quarterfinals to play LSU (19-14) or the survivor of Friday's first-rounder between Ball State (21-11) and St. Joseph's (19-11).