Rebels set to make run at NCAAs

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, March 13, 2003 | 10:09 a.m.

UNLV's top moments

Compiled by Steve Guiremand

UNLV's top conference tournament moments at the Thomas & Mack Center, listed chronologically:

When they entered the Cox Pavilion for practice on Wednesday night, UNLV players were greeted with signs which read, "Championship. Circle The Wagons. Go Rebels."

As if Charlie Spoonhour's squad didn't have enough motivation entering tonight's Mountain West tournament quarterfinal matchup with San Diego State at the Thomas & Mack Center.

All that is riding on the Rebels' performance the next couple of nights is the Holy Grail of college basketball, a trip to the NCAA tournament.

Fourth-seeded UNLV (19-9, 8-6), which brings a solid No. 44 RPI into the contest, probably needs to make it to Saturday night's championship game to have a serious shot at earning an at-large bid from the NCAA selection committee Sunday afternoon.

Most college basketball experts have the Rebels as a bubble team on the outside looking in. But one person who believes UNLV and Wyoming (20-9, 8-6) still are in the running to join conference co-champions Utah and BYU in March Madness is Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson.

Thompson served on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee for five years and chaired the committee for the 2000 tournament. And he believes there are a lot that folks who put together brackets for Internet sites or cable TV don't know when it comes to how the committee views at-large picks.

"I remember one time coming out of a meeting and Digger Phelps was on (ESPN) saying that because Villanova had defeated Notre Dame, that they had locked up a bid and were definitely in the tournament now," Thompson said. "What he didn't know is that we had already voted both of them out."

Thompson has been in steady contact with selection committee members extolling the virtues of his conference and potential at-large teams such as the Rebels and Cowboys. And he seemed confident that the MWC would have a third team picked Sunday, relative to what happens in this week's tourney.

Of course, UNLV can earn its first NCAA tournament bid since 2000 by winning three in a row to earn the MWC's automatic bid.

"We don't have any excuses," Spoonhour said. "We've worked at it and I think we have the right amount of confidence going in. I don't think we're overconfident by any stretch."

The Rebels face a 15-12 San Diego State squad that they've defeated handily twice this year, including an 83-72 victory Saturday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack. But the fifth-seeded Aztecs are the defending tournament champions and denied the Rebels an NCAA berth last year with a 78-75 victory in the championship game.

"We have great respect for (San Diego State)," Spoonhour said. "We like their guys. That's the other bad thing. We've got a pretty good relationship with those people."

The Rebels, who won four of their past five conference games, seemed like a loose bunch in practice this week. And no one seemed calmer than senior point guard Marcus Banks, a first team all-Mountain West Conference pick.

"I have to be," said Banks, a graduate of Las Vegas' Cimarron-Memorial High. "I like to come out like a coach and keep everybody settled and make sure things go right. When they don't go right, then I need to settle everybody down.

"All I want my team to do is keep us in it down the stretch, and I promise that if it comes down to it, I'll get us there."