Monday, Feb. 16, 2004 | 9:42 a.m.
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Dissension turned into disaster Sunday afternoon for UNLV at the Hearnes Center, where a forgettable seven-day stretch deteriorated into the worst defeat in Charlie Spoonhour's three seasons in Las Vegas.
It was a homecoming for Spoonhour, who earned Show Me State fame during stints at Southwest Missouri State and Saint Louis.
Immediately after a 94-60 loss to the Tigers, though, all he wanted to be shown were the doors to the chartered bus that would whisk him to the airport in St. Louis.
"A (butt) kicking," Spoonhour said.
Missouri (11-10) took advantage of the Rebels' lethargy, selfishness and disorganization to pump some life into its own mediocre season.
UNLV (12-9) was left with a three-game losing streak and no hints that it has begun to correct what ailed it in a 14-point loss to Utah in Salt Lake City last Monday.
That night, junior forward Odartey Blankson gave a scathing review of the Rebels' coaches, players, preparation and execution. After Sunday's game, he shrugged and didn't have to fight for words.
"You saw the game," he said. "I'm just disappointed for our fans, coaches, everyone who follows UNLV and the whole tradition. It was a sad game to watch."
Blankson repeated that he said what he said to motivate his teammates, that those exact words had all been uttered behind closed doors, in the locker room. He seemed surprised that they have had a shelf life of a week.
They might linger a lot longer.
Did Blankson believe his statements had any effect on his teammates?
"I don't think so," Blankson said. "We have to take a different route. Against a bigger team, it's tough. I'm out of position at (power forward). Romel (Beck), he's not big at (small forward). Jerel (Blassingame) isn't a big rebounder. He's small. It's tough.
"J.K. (Edwards) is 6-feet-6 and gets into foul trouble, and we start at a disadvantage at the beginning of the game. I don't know. They were a lot tougher as a team, and we have to get a lot tougher."
A few Rebels said the quick removal of Edwards, who committed two charging fouls within the first 3 1/2 minutes, as a major reason for UNLV's complete breakdown against Missouri, that he's vital to the team's ends at both ends of the court.
Edwards, though, had missed a close shot off the backboard very early. And even with him on the court, as Blankson said, the Rebels were at a distinct size disadvantage.
Missouri center Arthur Johnson, a 6-9, 255-pound senior, exploited UNLV's frail interior for a season-high 23 points. Freshman guard Thomas Gardner, in his eighth start, helped pelt the Rebel's weak perimeter defense for a career-best 20 points.
The spark that Tigers coach Quin Snyder has been seeking, however, was ignited by junior reserve guard Jason Conley. Once he got into the game, he showed he didn't want to sit by winding up with seven assists and five steals, both career highs.
Conley also went for 17 points and yanked down eight rebounds, part of an effort on the glass in which Missouri slammed UNLV, 43-28.
Conley and Gardner combined to shoot 9-for-15 from behind the 3-point arc, but what impressed Snyder most was Conley's steal of a Blankson pass early in the second half.
Near halfcourt, Conley almost tipped the pass out of bounds before controlling it with his right hand and then zipping it to a streaking Gardner -- in stride -- for an easy dunk and a 66-36 lead.
The crowd of 13,611 erupted, like it did when Nebraska's victory Sunday over Kansas was announced over the loudspeakers during the first television timeout at Hearnes. At that point, the Rebels led, 8-4.
Mizzou then scored the next 15 points, fueling an 18-3 run that gave it a 22-11 advantage. It rolled to the half, punctuating its blitzkrieg on a breakaway slam dunk by Johnson before the buzzer. The rout was on.
The Tigers mustered only 56 points in a defeat at Kansas two weeks ago, but they clicked in every way during the first 20 minutes Sunday to forge a 54-27 lead over the rudderless Rebels.
"We were shocked, just frozen," said Beck, a junior shooting guard.
"A nightmare," Spoonhour said. "I thought Missouri played great and I thought we didn't. That's a tough combination."
Spoonhour's previous worst loss as the Rebels' coach was the 98-73 pasting against Southern California 53 weeks ago at the Thomas & Mack Center. On Jan. 20, 1971, UNLV suffered the program's worst defeat in a 130-73 setback at Houston.
At least the stench of Sunday's shellacking took place far from home.
"Embarrassing," said Beck, "and on national TV."
Not exactly. ABC carried the telecast on a regional basis, and it switched its Las Vegas feed to North Carolina-Maryland as Missouri kept pulling away from UNLV in the second half.
"When we got down, we just stopped playing; not one person, but as a group," Blassingame said. "We weren't able to turn it around when things started going their way."
According to Spoonhour, early on, the Tigers pushed the Rebels around on defense, not allowing the visitors to run anything -- like the pick-and-roll. That set the tempo for the day.
"Nothing was good about it," Edwards said. "It's tough. I don't have anything else to say."
Beck, who plays as if he gets style points for his dervish dribbling and never met a 3-point attempt he didn't like, acknowledged that dumping it into Edwards is an offensive focus.
"Sometimes, (that's) frustrating when you know you can beat your man off the dribble and create your own shot," Beck said. "But we just ... I don't know. Some of the plays that were called, you know, guys forgot.
"It's been like that all year. Guys forget plays, including myself. I forgot a couple of plays. We never bounced back. Missouri's a tough team. They pounded us when we were down, and they kept doing it and doing it."
Sullen, but pointed, Beck also said he had a problem with Blankson's week-old comments, a sign that the issue might not dissolve anytime soon.
After saying that he and his teammates have to put Sunday's defeat, and Blankson's words, behind them, Beck said Blankson should have kept his thoughts to himself.
"I get frustrated, too, but I don't come out blasting my teammates," Beck said. "I kind of was (hurt), because this is a family. I mean, I respect 'O-dot' and what he has to say. We'll just move on. We just have to follow what 'Spoon' wants us to do on the court.
"We'll find out how strong this team is."
Even though his week-old words might continue to sting some, Blankson did not retreat. He did, however, want everyone to know that he is hopeful, about Tuesday's home game against San Diego State and the rest of the season.
"We still have 'tomorrow,' " he said. "Hopefully, we can turn it around. We've still got the (Mountain West Conference) tournament, and we still have guys who can play ball. If we put it together, we can do it in the end."
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