Rebels’ shooting eye has been a black eye so far

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.

UNLV players have been busy taking their final exams this week.

They'd better hope none was in "3-point shooting 101," because they'd probably fail.

Going into Saturday night's game against fourth-ranked Oklahoma State (7-0) at the Thomas & Mack Center, the Rebels are shooting a dismal 29.3 percent (34 of 116) from behind the arc.

Only one starter, senior guard Romel Beck (14 of 34, 41.2 percent) is even shooting better than 40 percent on 3-point attempts. Meanwhile, three players who were expected to be among the team's better shooters -- senior forward Odartey Blankson, senior point guard Jerel Blassingame and backup shooting guard Michaal Umeh -- are a combined 12 of 60 (20.0 percent) on their 3s.

Blassingame, in fact, has made just 4 of 25 3-pointers (16.0 percent), a mark that would have been even worse if he hadn't made his last two attempts in Sunday's 91-87 overtime victory at Auburn. Blankson (5 of 20, 25.0 percent), who is trying to convince NBA scouts he can play small forward at the next level, and Umeh (3 of 15, 20.0 percent) aren't much better.

"It happens," said Blassingame, who sank 40.2 percent (43 of 107) of his 3-point attempts a year ago. "We're all human. You go through streaks and you've just got to play through them. You just have to find a way through them.

"I'm always confident in my shot no matter if I'm making them or not. When I'm making my shots I'm a much better player. But my main thing is getting the other guys the ball."

Blassingame is trying his best to get out of the slump, frequently staying after practice for extra shooting.

"That's all you can do," he said. "I've just stayed with it. It's not a mental thing. It's something I think is correctable."

UNLV coach Lon Kruger agrees.

"We're better shooters than that," Kruger said. "We've got to shoot more. We've got to spend more time on it. We've got to get better shots and get in a better rhythm."

Oklahoma State doesn't figure to be the team for UNLV to get over its shooting woes against.

Eddie Sutton's Cowboys are perennially one of the nation's top defensive clubs and are allowing opponents to make only 31.3 percent (36 of 115) of their 3-pointers this year and 38.1 percent from the floor overall. The Cowboys held Washington State to just 29 points --- for the entire game --- in a 81-29 blowout two weeks ago.

So what gives?

"It's in my head," said Amundson, who is connecting on a sparkling 65.2 percent of his field goals. "I just need to get more comfortable, but it's something that I think will come around."

"There's no shortcut to it," Kruger said. "You've just got to keep working on it."

Amundson can take some solace from the fact he isn't the only player in the Mountain West Conference struggling at the line.

Air Force senior guard Tim Keller, named the top shooter in the conference in some preseason publications, is shooting just 47.6 percent from the line so far this season. What makes that stat even more startling is that Keller has never shot worse than 80.2 percent from the line in three previous seasons as a starter for the Falcons.