Columnist Dean Juipe: Ho, ho, ho — Rebels thankful for victory

Dean Juipe

Monday, Dec. 22, 2003 | 9:51 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

It was a game with one too many f-words: fouls.

And one too few: flow.

But despite its disjointed tendencies and staccato beat, UNLV's 82-69 victory against Auburn late Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center provided just what the Rebels needed: redemption, and, it could be said, an early Christmas present.

Auburn came into the game as one of 18 remaining undefeated Division I teams and played Santa for a couple of hours before a small crowd -- easily less than half of the officially announced 11,817 -- and national television audience. But unlike the satisfaction the Jolly Man and his elves may get from distributing gifts, the Tigers left Las Vegas feeling betrayed if not perplexed.

Where was their vaunted inside game? Their supposed rebounding tenacity? Their ability to handle the ball? Or shoot from outside?

Gone, all of it was gone, as was their perfect record. Like a child who thought he saw the reindeer and sled gliding on to the roof, it vanished upon closer inspection.

Credit UNLV with playing hard and taking advantage of what was being offered. The Rebels bounced back from an unexpected -- and some would say unforgivable -- loss to Northern Arizona two nights earlier and claimed a victory on a night when some were calling it an almost "must win" situation.

"Must win" seemed a little premature, but it was an important win nonetheless. Particularly if Auburn rights itself and fares well in the Southeastern Conference this season, UNLV -- however vague these things are -- will have gained ratings points that could help it land a berth in the NCAA tournament.

But we're getting way ahead of ourselves.

The Rebels are an interesting team, flawed for sure yet scrappy and athletic enough to overcome some of their weaknesses. And with J.K. Edwards and James Peters back in the mix (after early season suspensions), there are times when the team doesn't look quite as soft down low as it once did.

Edwards, Peters and fellow front courters Louis Amundson and Odartey Blankson will run into tandems and teams that can physically overpower them, but Auburn was not one of them. As a group they led UNLV to a 41-27 rebounding advantage, with Blankson overcoming a slow start and foul trouble to finish with a game-high 13.

UNLV also had more assists, fewer turnovers and no more fouls (23 apiece) than the orange-clad Tigers, who had to have veteran head coach Cliff Ellis seeing red at times even if it appeared as if he was about to laugh at his team's repeated failings.

The fouls were no joking matter and 46 for a game is a little high no matter how spirited the play or how tight the officials want to call it. (Something around 40 is closer to normal, although there were 52 fouls in one Saturday game of note -- Wake Forest vs. North Carolina -- while another -- Gonzaga vs. Stanford -- was predictably foul free with only 33 called.)

At times the game degenerated into a series of turnovers and fouls, with more whistles than a construction site near a strip club.

But the Rebels were comfortably ahead much of the night and bolstered by Auburn's self-destructive tendencies on those rare occasions when the game got close. For instance, after scoring eight consecutive points to pull within six, at 72-66, with around three minutes to play, the Tigers slipped pillows under their jerseys and reverted to their Santa roles with a couple of major mistakes that quashed their momentum.

In one, they missed an uncontested layup and in another they launched an air ball on a free throw. "Thanks," the Rebels may as well have said in unison, their season at least temporarily salvaged on a night when many who follow the team thought the cold shoulder of Scrooge was all they expected.