Gamecocked

Steve Addy

Wednesday, March 20, 2002 | 9:58 a.m.

Here are the final season stat leaders for the Rebels:

Points -- Dalron Johnson 558

Scoring avg. -- Johnson 17.4

Rebounds -- Johnson 224

Rebound avg. -- Johnson 7.0

Assists -- Marcus Banks 94

Steals -- Banks 67

FG% -- Chris Richardson .565

3P% -- Vince Booker .397

FT% -- Johnson .858

Minutes -- Johnson 1,009

Minutes avg. -- Banks 32.5.

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- November mistakes revisited the Rebels on Tuesday night, resulting in a March meltdown. But if the lessons sink in next season, maybe their one-night regression was worth it.

When the Rebels turn in their equipment this week, having suffered a 75-65 loss to South Carolina in the second round of the NIT, they'll be a little lighter on swagger, but perhaps heavier on savvy for 2003.

"This isn't fun right now, but getting to the second round of the tournament will help us next year," coach Charlie Spoonhour said, quickly spotting the bright side of a dim night.

"We'll remember this if we get to the NCAA Tournament, and hopefully we'll be able to avoid this next time. But getting here can't help but benefit us."

UNLV opened the tournament last Thursday by beating Arizona State 96-91 in Las Vegas.

"These games gave us an idea of where we stand against some teams outside the conference," said Dalron Johnson, whose 17 points supplemented Lou Kelly's game-high 28. "This showed us some things we have to improve, and I think we'll be even better next year."

Optimistic sentiments, indeed, and they might be right, but next season doesn't start until November. Until then, Tuesday's outcome will likely linger in the Rebels' minds, and that might not be a bad thing.

Their season ended with a stern reminder that some lessons must be relearned. A bundle of old habits came back before a hostile crowd of 10,048 at Carolina Coliseum, sending UNLV home with a 21-11 record in its first season under Spoonhour.

That's a better mark than most predicted for a team tabbed fifth in the Mountain West preseason poll. But after winning 13 of 16 games before Tuesday, the Rebels had permitted themselves to dream bigger -- of a trip to the NIT semifinals next week in New York.

Had they beaten South Carolina, that would have been a realistic goal. UNLV was all set to host Ball State in the third round on Friday night, with the winner headed for New York. With a 17-3 record at home, the Rebels would have been favored to advance.

But in their first road game since Feb. 18, those aspirations were buried under an avalanche of mistakes that had dwindled during their late-season surge.

They were impatient against South Carolina's 2-3 zone, rushing 17-footers early in the shot clock. Their defense was grabby, and they were called for a season-high 28 fouls. They were sloppy with the ball, committing 20 turnovers, their second-most all season, topped only by their 24 against Georgia Southern on Dec. 1.

Also, Marcus Banks struggled like he rarely has since November (five points on 1 of 12 field goals) and the Rebels' bench looked as thin as it did in the opening month. It was as if somebody had declared Turn Back the Clock Night without notifying UNLV until it was too late.

"We weren't very smart at times," Spoonhour said. "We shot it too quick. We were shooting after one pass or no pass. We got in too big a hurry and that caused us some problems."

"We only played the way we're capable of playing for six or seven minutes," Johnson said.

It must be noted that not all of UNLV's woes were self-inflicted. Though South Carolina (20-14) is a midpack Southeastern Conference team, the Gamecocks had a size edge in the middle and were able to neutralize Banks in the backcourt, though his sprained knee made it easier for them.

UNLV trailed almost the whole way, last leading 5-4. South Carolina pushed ahead 49-36 after three straight 3-pointers by guard Jamel Bradley and led by 16 with 9:17 to play. The Rebels made a couple of mini-spurts to get within 68-62 with 1:46 left, but a missed jumper and two turnovers doomed them.

"They left the door open for us, but we couldn't push through it," Spoonhour said. "We didn't do enough things right."

That's one of few times he's had to say that in the last two months. The Rebels have been so resilient, so full of comebacks, that they probably figured they had an endless supply. But this time, they lived too dangerously for too long.