Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2003 | 10:42 a.m.
ALBUQUERQUE -- As he slowly limped up the steep ramp to the UNLV locker room following the Rebels' 75-66 victory over New Mexico at The Pit here early Tuesday morning, junior guard Demetrius Hunter got a much needed lift from assistant coach Derek Thomas.
Yes, the tendinitis in Hunter's left Achilles' heel hurts that much.
"Like someone sticking a knife in there," Hunter said.
But with his team facing the prospect of its first 0-4 conference start, the former Cheyenne High star decided to give it another try on Big Monday. Playing on just one healthy foot, Hunter helped deliver the dagger to UNLV's three-game losing streak, finishing with a team-high 24 points, including 6 of 10 from 3-point range.
"On offense he was a monster for us tonight when we really needed it," said senior forward Dalron Johnson, who wasn't too shabby himself with 17 points and nine rebounds. "I knew he would play tonight. D. Hunter doesn't want to miss a game no matter how bad that ankle is killing him. I'm just glad he was out there tonight."
"I don't think we can do it justice, truthfully," UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour said of Hunter's willingness to play despite being in obvious pain. "He's not just playing on one foot. He's playing on one foot and also one very painful foot. And that is a heckuva lot different."
"I've just got to do it, man," Hunter said simply.
Hunter hit several long treys, including one where he was almost in Spoonhour's lap. But he saved his best one for last.
New Mexico guard Ruben Douglas, who put on another highlight reel special against the Rebels with a game-high 40 points, brought the crowd of 14,494 to its feet when he exploded through the lane and delivered a thunderous dunk to give the Lobos a 63-62 lead with 4:22 remaining.
But with the shot clock winding down to just six seconds, Hunter drained a 3-pointer from the left side of the key to put UNLV back ahead for good, 65-63, with 3:53 to go.
Douglas, who made just two of his six free throws, then missed two that would have tied the game. This time it was point guard Marcus Banks' turn to connect from 3-point range as the shot clock ran down to give the Rebels a 68-63 advantage.
New Mexico (7-10, 1-3) never got any closer than four points the rest of the way. And UNLV (12-5, 1-3) flew home to Las Vegas with a win it desperately needed to have any hope of getting back into the Mountain West Conference race.
"We won the game and it's a great feeling," said Banks, who finished with a season-high 10 assists to go along with eight points. "It's good to be back on track again."
"When you're 0-3, you start wondering how in the world you're going to win a game," Spoonhour said.
"And then when you get behind on somebody else's court, it's very difficult to find the answers."
But the light seemed to finally go on in the second half for a Rebel team that at times in recent games seemed to be playing in a haze. UNLV outscored the Lobos, 43-25, after intermission.
"We played harder on defense," Spoonhour said. "We ran the floor. We looked inside first. And when we did all those things, it made it easier for everybody. There was no great strategy. And, sorry, there was no great halftime speech.
"It's a real nice win for us. Number one, it's a road win. It's our first conference win. And I never knew when we were going to get to 12 (wins). It seemed like we were stuck on 11 forever."
The Rebels also got key bench contributions from forward Lamar Bigby and junior forward James Peters, who had four points and seven rebounds in just eight minutes. ... The Rebels return to action on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center against defending MWC champ and conference leader Wyoming (15-3, 3-0).
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