Matchup at point will have Rebels on guard

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Dec. 11, 2003 | 10:06 a.m.

Jerel Blassingame so far has more than lived up to the hype that surrounded his arrival at UNLV after helping lead Los Angeles City College to the California state junior college championship last year.

A 5-foot-10, 170-pound junior from Brooklyn, N.Y., Blassingame hit a crucial jumper with three seconds remaining to force overtime of an eventual 92-83 upset of USC. He is also averaging a steady 10.2 points and 6.2 assists since replacing Marcus Banks at the point for the Rebels.

But Saturday Blassingame, like his Rebels teammates, faces his biggest test yet when UNLV (5-1) travels to Palo Alto, Calif., to meet 13th-ranked Stanford (4-0).

Mike Montgomery's Cardinal, perennially one of the nation's best coached squads, is coming off a 64-58 upset of then-No. 1 rated Kansas at the Wooden Classic in Anaheim on Saturday. And the spark plug for Stanford is hard-nosed 6-foot-2 sophomore point guard Chris Hernandez.

Hernandez didn't play in Stanford's 77-66 victory last season against UNLV at the Thomas & Mack Center because he was redshirting after breaking his left foot twice in less than three months. But any doubts about any potential lingering effects from the injury were erased two weeks ago when Hernandez won Pac-10 player of the week honors after scoring 39 points in two games, including a career-high 22 in a 72-59 victory at UC Irvine. He was 8-of-10 from 3-point range in the wins against the Anteaters and Rice as well as a perfect 7-for-7 at the free throw line.

"He's a really good player," UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour said. "I'm very impressed. He's what you like in a player. He's very competitive and tough and he can shoot his free throws. He's just a good solid player. And he can run a ballclub which is what you want at that position."

Hernandez was named the California state Division I player of the year his junior year after leading Clovis West High School in Fresno to the California state championship game. He helped lead Clovis to 134 wins during his career and a No. 12 national ranking as a senior.

"He's really, really a tough kid," Montgomery said. "Anything he can't do he will almost will himself to do it. I've watched him defend some really good players and they don't get around him."

Blassingame gives up at least 4 inches and about 40 pounds to Hernandez, who bench presses about 300 pounds and would probably make a pretty good strong safety on Buddy Teevens' struggling football squad. He knows he has his work cut out for him Saturday afternoon on The Farm.

"I've seen him play," Blassingame said. "I can see that he's tough. He's also a heady guard. That's the kind of competition I need."