Big as it gets

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Jan. 12, 2004 | 9:59 a.m.

On the surface, tonight's Mountain West Conference opener between Utah (12-3) and UNLV (9-3) looks like a big game for both teams.

Make that a very big game.

A road win for Rick Majerus and company, who shared the MWC title with BYU a year ago, could provide a big springboard toward a fourth conference crown in five years.

Charlie Spoonhour's Rebels, meanwhile, would like to avoid the possibility of another 0-3 start to Mountain West play. And with three consecutive road games after tonight's nationally televised Big Monday contest, including the always tough Front Range trip to Wyoming and Colorado State, things certainly don't get any easier.

But both Majerus and Spoonhour spent time after their Sunday afternoon practices at the Thomas & Mack Center trying to downplay the importance of the contest in the overall scheme of the Mountain West Conference race.

"People laugh at me, but I place an importance on every game," Majerus said following his team's 2 1/2-hour workout. "I've coached in three national championship games and a Game 7 of the NBA playoffs. I've never placed more importance on them than any other. I obviously knew they were more important, but to me they were a great opportunity and let's play."

Spoonhour agrees.

"I think people put too much emphasis on one or two games," he said. "All these conference games are important. Every conference game has the same meaning."

Right. Enough with all the politically correct mumbo-jumbo. Tonight is a big -- no make that huge -- game for the Rebels.

A win against Utah would show that an earlier home loss to Northern Arizona was just a fluke and would be the kind of quality win that could go a long way to impressing the folks on the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee in March.

"Obviously if you can beat a Utah you'll feel like you've beaten one of the top one or two teams in our league," Spoonhour said. "But every game in this conference is going to be very difficult. I don't think anybody is going to go through this thing without getting some knots on their head."

Speaking of knots on the head, the Rebels went through an intense and physical 90-minute practice on Sunday that saw starting swingman Romel Beck sent to the sideline early after taking an elbow to the throat.

Beck, who is fifth in the MWC in scoring with a 15.2 average and is the Rebels' top outside scoring threat, missed the final hour of practice after the injury and had trouble talking afterward.

"I took an elbow to the throat," he said as he walked quickly back to the locker room afterward. "Right now I'm having trouble breathing."

Asked if he thought he might miss tonight's game, Beck replied, "I don't think so."

Starting guard Demetrius Hunter also spent a minute on the floor in pain after his feet went out from under him and he landed hard on his tailbone. Hunter finished practice, however.

There seemed to be good news on the injury front for Utah.

Starting center Tim Frost, who missed the past two games with a herniated disc in his back, made it through his third consecutive practice and is expected to try to play tonight. Frost was a second team all-Mountain West Conference choice a year ago who scored 27 points in the Utes' 86-80 overtime victory against the Rebels last year in Salt Lake City.

"I feel all right," Frost said. "If I feel good, I'll play."

"It'll be a game-time decision," Majerus said. "If the UNLV players promise me they won't push him or touch him or hit him, he can play."

Two other Utah players who have been bothered by injuries, starting forward Justin Hawkins (sprained knee) and backup forward Bryant Markson (strained calf), also are expected to play tonight.