Rebels hope to avoid English lesson

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, March 19, 2003 | 9:37 a.m.

NEXT UP

What: Hawaii at UNLV

When: Today, 9 p.m.

Where: Thomas & Mack

TV: ESPN2, Ch. 31

Radio: KBAD 920-AM

Line: Rebels by 8 points

For the UNLV Rebels, tonight's NIT opener with Hawaii at the Thomas & Mack Center is a chance to ease the pain of coming up about six seconds short of an NCAA tournament bid.

For Rebels senior guard Jermaine Lewis, however, it's a chance to feel more pain.

The pain of bouncing off countless screens. The pain that goes with chasing around the top offensive player from an oppposing team for another 40 minutes.

Lewis, a quiet 6-foot-4 senior from Houston who has shadowed the likes of NCAA scoring champion Ruben Douglas, Utah sharpshooter Nick Jacobson and BYU's Travis Hansen, now gets to try to slow down a player some NBA scouts rate even higher than Douglas, Hawaii guard Carl English.

English, a 6-foot-5 junior who was a first team all-Western Athletic Conference pick this year after averaging 19.6 points, is considered a late first-round pick by some NBA scouts.

"He can shoot," Lewis said after Tuesday afternoon's practice at the Thomas & Mack Center. "They set a lot of plays for him. I'll just try and play him the same way I did against Ruben and also just go out and play hard."

Lewis has been something of an unsung hero for the Rebels the final month of the season. Besides helping limit Douglas to 21 points on 5-of-21 shooting in UNLV's 74-69 victory over the Lobos on Feb. 22, he held Jacobson to 11 points in UNLV's 64-41 Mountain West tournament semifinal win against Utah and limited San Diego State guard Tony Bland to 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting a night earlier.

"It's a role that I accept," Lewis said. "I've been doing it all year. I'll do whatever it takes to win."

Coming into the season, Lewis was noted more for his scoring. And he has done well in that area too lately, connecting on 54 percent (28-of-52) of his 3-point tries in the past 11 games.

"Too many times people gauge how important someone is simply by point totals," UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour said. "There's really a whole lot more to being a good basketball player than that. I think J-Lew personifies that.

"He's the consumate team player," Spoonhour said. "He's a great kid. And he works. Every day you get his best. You can count on him. In this day and time, that's a wonderful thing."

Lewis was asked if he took a liking to playing tough defense before arriving at UNLV.

"Nah," he said with a chuckle. "It was always offense on the playground. But once you get in college there are things you just have to start doing and sacrifices you have to make for the good of the team. Playing defense is one of them. It is physically draining. You just hope guys help you out when you're out there."

Lewis will likely need some assistance in trying to guard English, who is coming off a 33-point outing against Tulsa in a 66-56 loss in the semifinals of the WAC tournament last week. English needs four 3-pointers to eclipse the school single-season record of 86 set by Trevor Ruffin in the 1993-94 season.

"I don't know (is he's better than Douglas)," Spoonhour said. "I do know that he's 6-foot-5. He handles it well. He's really unselfish. He uses screens well and doesn't try to force it. He's a very good player."

English has said he will put in his name in the NBA draft after the season but will not hire an agent in case he decides to return for his senior year.

"He's on their list, on their watch," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "When it's time for him to go, he needs to go. That's what I've told him. If he's a first round pick, go. If not, stay and play here and work on your game some more."

Lewis hopes having played against talented players like Douglas will have him prepared to defend English.

"I think it does help playing against guys like Ruben because you learn that you can't take a second off," Lewis said. "Once you slack off, that's when guys will hit you. And once those kind of players get going, it's hard to stop them."