Rebels finish with a fizzle

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, March 20, 2003 | 10:04 a.m.

It was perhaps the fitting end.

UNLV (21-11), which came within six seconds of earning an automatic NCAA tournament bid in Saturday night's 62-61 Mountain West Conference tournament championship loss to Colorado State, went out with a whimper in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament on Wednesday night, losing to Hawaii, 85-68, before a crowd of 2,697 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Rebels, no doubt feeling a big hangover after getting passed over by the NCAA Selection Committee for an at-large berth on Sunday, came out flat and trailed by as many as 17 points (43-26) in the first half to the Warriors (19-11), who shot a sizzling 70 percent (21 of 30) from the floor, including 6 of 10 from 3-point range.

UNLV closed to within five points, 48-43, with a 10-0 spurt to start the second half. But the Warriors, behind the shooting of forward Michael Kuebler (21 points) and all-WAC guard Carl English (20 points), went on a 21-7 run over the next seven minutes to lead, 69-50, and cruised to the easy victory.

"They shot the ball well, but anybody can shoot the ball well when we don't have pressure on them," senior forward Dalron Johnson said as he sat dejectedly in front of his locker for the last time in a UNLV uniform.

"There was no sense of urgency to come out and put them away."

"We just came out flat and with no intensity and we got out tails kicked," junior center J.K. Edwards, who took three stitches to close a cut just above his left eye, said. "Hawaii never let up. They won and they played harder. Congrats to them."

Considering the devastating weekend the Rebels encountered, first with the tough Colorado State loss and then getting passed over by the NCAA Selection Committee on Sunday, it probably shouldn't have been a big surprise that they didn't show up Wednesday night fired up about playing a NIT game in front of a puny crowd.

"When you lose a dream like that, it's pretty tough," UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour said.

"I think when you spend a whole year planning for something and then you've got it right in front of you ... I know we all thought we had it won. We all thought we should win. But Colorado State just did more good things at the end and beat us. And that's very difficult to give up on."

When asked if it was a bitter way to end his UNLV career, Johnson, who finished with 18 points, replied: "It was already bitter when you don't get into the field of 64."

UNLV had been expected to contend for the Mountain West title this year thanks to a veteran team led by point guard Marcus Banks and Johnson. But key injuries to Georgetown transfer Demetrius Hunter, the preseason MWC newcomer of the year, and potential starting forward Louis Amundson hurt the team's firepower and depth. The Rebels ended up finishing in a tie for third place with preseason favorite Wyoming.

The Rebels finished the season on a roll and appeared poised for an NCAA tournament pick when they led Colorado State by as many as 10 points in the final eight minutes of the game. But Brian Greene's short jumper with 5.7 seconds remaining gave the Rams the victory and the automatic NCAA bid.

"Tonight was one bad day in an otherwise pretty good dog-gone year," Spoonhour said. "I'm disappointed in this game. It bothers me that we didn't come out and play better than that."

Spoonhour, 63, seemed near tears at times as he described the contributions of his seniors, including Banks, Johnson, guard Jermaine Lewis, forward Lamar Bigby and walk-on point guard Jon Knoche.

"Dalron and J-Lew came back and played hard," he said. "(Banks) has been great for this program. He didn't have to come here after Coach (Bill) Bayno and Max (Good) left. I appreciate that ... and I hope the fans understand what he did for us."

As for his own future at UNLV, Spoonhour, who has two years remaining on his contract, said he would take a few days off to relax and think things out.

"I'll probably head someplace warm," he said. "Don't call because the phone won't be on. .. It's been a long season."