Rebels look to knock Utes off pedestal

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Feb. 17, 2003 | 10:18 a.m.

NEXT UP

What: UNLV at Utah

When: Today, 6 p.m.

Where: Huntsman Center

TV: KFBT, Ch. 6

Radio: KBAD 920-AM

Line: Utah by 8 1/2

SALT LAKE CITY -- February has brought a lot of reasons to celebrate for Utah coach Rick Majerus.

First, the Utes presented him with his 300th victory as Utah coach with a 71-66 victory at Colorado State on Feb. 8. Two nights later Majerus picked up his 400th win as a college coach, 69-56 at Wyoming.

That rare Front Range sweep, combined with UNLV's 61-54 victory over BYU on Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, moved the Utes (19-4, 7-1) into sole possession of first place in the Mountain West Conference.

And tonight Majerus hopes to celebrate another milestone, his 55th birthday, when Utah hosts UNLV (15-7, 4-4) at the Huntsman Center.

Charlie Spoonhour's Rebels would love nothing better to crash this party, however.

UNLV has won three straight MWC contests to move back up into fourth place in the conference. And a win tonight would put the Rebels back into serious contention for an NCAA Tournament berth.

By virtue of Friday night's 61-55 victory over BYU, UNLV's all-important RPI rating jumped all the way back up to 42. A win over Utah, which is expected to crack the Top 25 ratings today, would probably boost the Rebels into the mid-30s.

With home games against New Mexico and Air Force next on the schedule, the Rebels could be looking at 18 victories very quickly before heading off on a suddenly not-so-formidable Front Range trip to Colorado State and Wyoming. The Rebels conclude conference play a week later at home against San Diego State.

First things first, however.

It would go down as a big upset and perhaps Spoonhour's biggest UNLV win ever if the Rebels were to leave here with a victory. Utah is 12-0 at home and has lost just 12 times in 185 games at the Huntsman Center under Majerus.

"Utah beat us by three (at the Thomas & Mack Center)," Rebel point guard Marcus Banks said. "That just means that we have to come back that much harder."

"Some of our best games this year have been on the road," Spoonhour said. "To beat Utah we're going to have to play a little smarter, particularly at the end of the game, and play hard."

They'll also have to find a way to slow down Ute point guard Marc Jackson, who came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points in the first meeting between the schools, a 66-63 Utah victory. Jackson, who had seen limited minutes before MWC play because of an ankle injury, got Banks into foul trouble with his explosive drives to the basket.

The 6-foot-1 Jackson leads the Utes in scoring in league play with a 16.4 average and is shooting a remarkable 60-percent on his 3-pointers.

"Jackson, I thought, was the difference in the game," Spoonhour said of the first UNLV-Utah matchup.

The Rebels played strictly man-to-man defense that night. Their recent turnaround has been sparked by a switch to a 2-3 zone defense which has kept key players such as Banks and senior forward Dalron Johnson out of early foul trouble.