Rebels opt to return to basics

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Feb. 3, 2003 | 9:37 a.m.

NEXT UP

What: Colorado State at UNLV

When: Today, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Thomas & Mack Center

TV: Las Vegas ONE, Channels 1 & 39

Radio: KBAD 920-AM

Line: Rebels by 6; total is 149

How devastating was UNLV's 90-80 loss to Wyoming on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center?

Devastating enough that Rebel head coach Charlie Spoonhour spent most of Sunday's 90-minute practice preparation for tonight's game against surprising Colorado State (14-5, 3-1) getting back to basic fundamentals, something that seems to have eluded UNLV (12-6, 1-4) the last few weeks.

"We worked on getting back on defense," Spoonhour said. "We worked on ball pressure. We worked on all the basic stuff you start the year out doing.

"You just start over."

Yes, things have hit rock bottom for the Mountain West Conference's most underachieving team.

"The thing that you have to understand is ... that very few teams have magical years," Spoonhour said. "Most have years like we're having, you're up and you're down. The frustrating thing from my perspective is that we haven't made as much progress as I think we're capable of doing. That's the main thing."

And it isn't a problem that can be solved overnight according to Spoonhour.

"We didn't get into this predicament in one day and we're not going to get out of it in one day either," Spoonhour said. "We can make some progress but we're not where we ought to be. So what we have to do is fight our way back.

"We've got 10 more games. We've got 12 wins. Obviously, the magic number before you go into your conference tournament is 20. That tells us where we are right now."

Still, outside of home games against New Mexico and Air Force, the Rebels will likely be underdogs in those last 10 games, especially considering how listless and poorly they've played in recent games.

After Wyoming (16-3, 4-0) seemingly toyed with the Rebels in the second half while building a 20-point lead (67-47) and sending a crowd of 16,701 to the exits early, reality seemed to have set in for at least one senior starter.

"We've put ourselves in a position to make it very hard to win the league which I doubt we can do at this time," forward Dalron Johnson said.

"We've got to keep our heads up. We feel at this time that we're going to have to go into the Mountain West (Tournament) strong. If we can jell and put it together by that time, maybe that's what it will take for everybody to leave their heart out there on the floor. If we can win that, we're guarranteed a bid and maybe that will relieve a little pressure."

Tonight the Rebels will try to bounce back against a Colorado State squad that celebrated its first road victory of the season on Saturday night when it knocked off San Diego State, 72-69.

The Rams are led by 7-foot sophomore center Matt Nelson, who leads the conference in field goal percentage (64 percent) and connected on 9-of-10 field goal tries en route to 21 points against the Aztecs. CSU also gets plenty of production from 6-foot-8 senior forward Brian Greene and freshman point guard Michael Morris, the son of former NBA star Chris Morris, who leads the MWC in blocked shots.

"Colorado State is playing with a lot of enthusiasm," Spoonhour said. "They've got some size which hurts us."

The Rams practiced just before UNLV did on Sunday at the Thomas & Mack. And coach Dale Layer admitted he was a little surprised to be facing a Rebel team that is just 1-4 in conference play.

"I think they're extremely talented," Layer said. "I think their first five is the best first five in the league. Whatever problems they may have may be just 10 minutes from being solved. You're always very worried about them exploding on you which they are capable of doing."