Banks realizes importance of UNLV’s road trip

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Jan. 24, 2003 | 10:18 a.m.

What: UNLV at Air Force

When: Saturday, 1 p.m.

Where: Clune Arena, Colorado Springs, Colo.

TV: None

Radio: KBAD 920-AM

Marcus Banks didn't mince words.

"These are some must-win games for us," Banks said of the Rebels' contests Saturday at Air Force and Monday night at New Mexico.

UNLV (11-4, 0-2), expected to challenge BYU, Utah and Wyoming for the Mountain West title this season, finds itself playing the only other winless teams in the conference in the Falcons (9-7, 0-3) and Lobos (6-9, 0-2). Still, both games won't be easy, as defending MWC champ Wyoming can attest.

The Cowboys had to rally from a 10-point deficit in the final four minutes to force overtime before eventually knocking off the Lobos, 85-81, in Laramie last Saturday. A couple of nights later, Air Force guard Tim Keller, a 48 percent 3-point shooter, missed a wide open trey in the final seconds as Wyoming held on for a 46-44 win over the Falcons.

Joe Scott's veteran squad plays a patient Princeton-style of offense that relies on backdoor baskets and 3-point shooting. The Falcons, who lead the nation in scoring defense (53 ppg ) in part because of their deliberate style of play, also lost a two-pointer at MWC co-leader Colorado State, 51-49, last week.

"We can't sit around and play with this team because if we do, we're going to put ourselves in a situation at the end of the game that we don't need to be in," Banks said. "We just have to go in there and take care of the ball and get good shots and run."

Air Force set a school record with nine non-conference wins and has been particularly tough at Clune Arena, compiling a 6-1 mark.

"Now we've got to start doing better in league play," Scott said.

The Falcons don't beat themselves -- they committed just five turnovers in a game twice this season and turned the ball over only six times at Colorado State. Air Force shoots 42 percent from 3-point range and averages 10 treys per contest.

"We have been struggling a little shooting the ball the last five games," Scott said. "I'm not concerned about that. We've run our offense well."

Unlike Banks, Scott isn't about to throw out the term "must-win" for his squad going into Saturday afternoon's game.

"We are 0-3 and UNLV is 0-2," he said. "But I think it's too early to say any game is a must-win. I mean, nobody ever got to the NCAA Tournament with a 4-0 record at the start of conference. There's still a lot of games to be played."

UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour agreed.

"I told our team we can't go into this weekend saying we're going to win these two," Spoonhour said. "We have to go in playing Air Force. Hopefully you can get that one out of the way and then go on to the next one. It's a very singular affair."