Columnist Ron Kantowski: Rebels were roped calves vs. Cowboys, but they should make hay in MWC

Monday, Dec. 20, 2004 | 9:16 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

If this Las Vegas Showdown game against No. 4 Oklahoma State was supposed to be a measuring stick for UNLV, then the Cowboys rapped the Rebels over the knuckles with it.

For a half, anyway.

UNLV outscored Oklahoma State 41-39 in the second half of a 79-67 defeat Saturday, which, if nothing else, proved the Rebels can play with one of the nation's premier teams when it is on cruise control. There were times in the second half when Eddie Sutton went with a lineup comprised of the gifted Graham twins (Joey and Stephen) point guard John Lucas (who is nearly as good as his daddy with the same name) and two guys named Otto Pilot.

These Cowboys, who may even be better than the ones from the National Finals Rodeo who had dibs on the Thomas & Mack Center during early December, led by 12 points at halftime and by as many as 19 in the second half before they called "winners" of the second game pitting No. 3 Georgia Tech against Cinderella's twin sister, Gonzaga.

But when Oklahoma State pretty much became disinterested with padding its RPI, at least UNLV hung in well enough to improve its power rating.

"The first half, we found out some things," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "We've got to be more physical, be a little stronger and communicate a little better."

Or schedule a lot more Gardner-Webbs, Florida Atlantics and Texas-Pan Americans and a lot fewer Oklahoma States. After playing a decent early schedule, the Rebels are into the part now when the play a bunch of opponents with hyphens in their names. So, yes, it was interesting to see how they measure up against one of the nation's elite.

It is apparent they are not at that level and won't get there this year. But in that this is not shaping up as a banner year in the Mountain West -- maybe the MWC should just do the honorable thing and give its usual two or three NCAA tournament bids to the more deserving West Coast Conference -- UNLV should be fine when the conference games start.

But you probably already knew that.

What you may not have known is that the Rebels seem to treat Oklahoma State as it would one of its MWC brethren. There were few/no concessions made to the Cowboys' significant edges in size, speed, power and talent. Rather than work the shot clock, UNLV gave it the night off with its one pass, 1-on-1 half-court tactics or crazy lob passes in transition that resulted in many of UNLV's 21 turnovers.

That style of play might work against somebody like BYU. But on Saturday, there was only one BYU player (guard Daniel Bobek, who started his career as a Cougar) on the court and four others who were so much better.

Aagain, it also was obvious that these new guys UNLV recruited are little more than role players. The bench combined for a grand total of three points in 51 minutes on 1-of-7 shooting and none of the subs looked comfortable in his environment.

Now for the starters.

Jerel Blassingame had 19 points but made only 6-of-16 shots and turned the ball over five times because his revolutions per minute are still off. He wants to play at 78 RPM while Kruger prefers 33. The key is how to get him at 45 and still have him reprise the form he showed during the second half of last year, when I thought he was the best point guard in the Mountain West.

And this experiment with letting Odartey Blankson play while facing the basket so he can improve his NBA stock probably needs to end as soon as possible. On Saturday, he couldn't get off a jump shot over the Graham twins and when he did, it usually bounced high off the rim and then over the backboard. Blankson made just 3 of 8 field-goal attempts on a night when his best move was an offensive foul.

He's a much better player when he's scoring on put-backs and an occasional outside shot rather than cranking up 3-pointers because the NBA scouts think he needs to work on his "J."

The NBA scout sitting next to me Saturday said rather matter of factly that Blankson won't be drafted, because he's "got no position." As a 'tweener, too small to play inside and not possessing enough range on his jumper to play out, the scout told me that unless Blankson becomes the next Shawn Marion between now and draft day, he'll be a good minor league player.

As for Romel Beck, he's pretty much become a one-dimension player, as his stat line against Oklahoma State showed: 25 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist. But his one dimension is pretty darn impressive.

Some of my colleagues were griping about this pattern UNLV has developed, where it falls behind early and then rallies late, or extended scoring droughts, such as 15-0 and 12-0 cold spells in the first half, that force it to play catch-up. True, these habits might be a concern against equal or lesser competition, but from where I was sitting, Oklahoma State had something to do with the 15 and 12 points it scored during those runs as well as the zero the Rebels got.

"O-State's a very good basketball team -- very strong and very quick," said Kruger with his usual lack of expression that never lets on how he is really feeling. "And we couldn't quite overcome that."

He went on to say something about Tuesday night's game against Gardner-Webb, saying the ... (wait a minute, I have to look it up in the media guide) ... the Runnin' Bulldogs are not an opponent to be taken lightly.

If a 30-point blowout of East Carolina counts for anything, that might even be the case. But after being cracked with the measuring stick before a huge crowd, at least the Rebels will be the ones wielding it before a not-so-large crowd.