Utah invades Mack tonight

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Jan. 20, 2003 | 9:34 a.m.

NEXT UP

What: Utah at UNLV

When: Today, 9 p.m.

Where: Thomas & Mack Center

TV: ESPN, Cox Ch. 30

Radio: KBAD 920-AM

Line: UNLV by 1 1/2

Ernest Turner makes his first college start tonight for UNLV. And the sophomore shooting guard from Magnolia, N.J., probably couldn't have asked for a much bigger stage for it.

"Big Monday, against Utah, on national TV," the 6-foot-2 Turner said. "Everything will be great ... if we can get a big win."

And that's a mighty big "if."

The Rebels (11-3, 0-1) host a physical and talented Utah (12-4, 0-1) squad that, like UNLV, will be trying desperately to avoid an 0-2 start in Mountain West Conference play.

The Utes, who three weeks ago upset then-No. 1 ranked Alabama, 51-49, opened conference action with a tough 58-56 loss at San Diego State on Saturday afternoon. Utah had a chance to win it at the end, but junior guard Nick Jacobson's 3-pointer dipped down into the basket and then came back out.

Turner, filling in for injured starter Demetrius Hunter (strained Achilles' tendon), will be matched up against Jacobson, the 2001 Mountain West Freshman of the Year and one of the top shooters in college basketball.

Despite a rare 0-for-8 outing from 3-point range against the Aztecs, Jacobson is still connecting on an excellent 41.7 percent of his treys and had made 12 of his previous 18 3-point attempts.

"He's a great shooter," Turner said. "They try and set a lot of screens for him. I've just got to work hard and help my team."

Turner came off the bench to score five points to go along with two assists and a steal in UNLV's MWC opening 85-77 loss at BYU on Thursday night. He is looking forward to his starting assignment.

"Oh yeah, I'm ready for it," he said after the Rebels' 90-minute workout at Cox Pavilion Sunday afternoon. "This is what I went to college for ... to play basketball against big-time players and big-time schools on TV."

"Ernest doesn't need any more pressure," Rebel point guard Marcus Banks said. "He just has to go out and play like he does in practice. That's all we need Ernest to do."

Besides, Utah is hardly a one-man team.

The Utes have the reigning Mountain West Conference player of the year in 6-foot-10 senior forward Britton Johnsen (12.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg), who is playing despite having a pin inserted into his right (shooting) thumb last month during surgery to repair a torn ligament. That injury, protected by a small splint, might explain Johnsen's woeful 3-point shooting (8 of 35, 22.9 percent) and Shaq-like free throw percentage (29 of 55, 52.5 percent) this season.

"He's done a good job," Utah coach Rick Majerus said. "I don't like to talk about (the injury) much and I don't think he does either. And we're not going to use that as an excuse. I applaud his effort and willingness to play."

And 6-foot-10 junior center Tim Frost, a transfer from Portland University who was a first team all-West Coast Conference pick as a sophomore, is the team's second-leading scorer (12.5 ppg) and could cause headaches for UNLV center J.K. Edwards with his 3-point shooting touch (41.4 percent).

The Utes also have improved their athleticism with the infusion of three talented true freshmen -- starting point guard Tim Drisdom (5.5 ppg, 3.6 apg), swingman Richard Chaney (6.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg) and forward Bryant Markson (4.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg) -- who have earned the nickname "Run DMC" from Utah fans.

"Jacobson is a great, great shooter, but they've got other guys, too," UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour said.

Neither team wants to dig itself into an 0-2 hole to start conference play, so expect both teams to play aggressively and with a sense or urgency tonight.

"We're already 0-1 in league," Rebel forward Dalron Johnson said. "Even though our overall record is 11-3, it still looks bad to look up and see that we're under .500 (in MWC play)."

Majerus, whose team could be looking at an 0-3 conference start with a loss tonight -- the Utes play at bitter in-state rival BYU on Saturday -- wouldn't go as far as to call it a make-it-or-break-it game for the two teams.

"If you were 2-0, would you say the winner is on the way to the championship?" Majerus asked. "I don't think you can play those kinds of games. There's a reason you play 14 games.

"Last year I think we started out 5-0. The last thing I recall is we lost the championship on the last night to Wyoming at Wyoming in the last 30 seconds. You've just got to keep playing every game on your schedule."

Former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian stopped by Cox Pavilion to chat with Majerus after the Utes' practice on Sunday. ... Majerus closed his team's three-hour workout to the media, but a number of people from the wheelchair section at Sunday's Disney On Ice Show at the Thomas & Mack Center next door got to take a sneak peak as they where rolled by the practice court to a nearby elevator.