Columnist Dean Juipe: Loss seemingly difference between night and day

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2004 | 10:37 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Right to the wire, the game appeared to be there for the taking for UNLV. It was winnable, all the way to the end.

The Rebels had Utah at home and the Utes didn't look to be their usual imposing selves. They were sloppy, they were prone to panic-induced mistakes against the press, they were committing tons of fouls and their array of typically big men looked a bit stiff by their team's high standards.

Yet when push almost literally came to shove, Utah won a game whose importance cannot be overstated. It handed the Rebels a demoralizing 72-67 defeat late Monday night before a national television audience and a spirited crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Given the results elsewhere on the opening night of Mountain West Conference play, the winner of the game in Las Vegas was in position to fancy itself as the league's No. 1 team. With the only two teams in the league who were receiving any votes in the nation's two major polls -- BYU and Colorado State -- both losing, the door was open for the Utes or Rebels to ascend to the top of the MWC standings.

But it was Utah that took advantage, exploiting its height supremacy and capitalizing as the Rebels went cold in the game's final minute with the outcome on the line.

Ouch, this one hurt.

UNLV not only had Utah in its own building and at the tail end of what has been a month-long, six-game homestand, it had the Utes feeling a bit weary and shorthanded. Three Utah players who had been listed as questionable for the game did, indeed, play, and they came in handy as foul upon foul was called on the visitors.

In the end, the Rebels shot 20 more free throws than the Utes (37-17) and most days that right there will spell the difference in a game.

But this time it didn't. This time the team that committed the most fouls, the team that had the most trouble handling the ball, the team that didn't appear to be the aggressor came out ahead.

Utah is 13-3 now, in large part because it has the second-ranked scoring defense in the nation. While the Rebels may have exceeded the total number of points the Utes usually allow (by 15), they still became the 111th consecutive opponent to fail to break 80 against the big boys from Salt Lake City.

UNLV, 0-1 in the conference and 9-4 overall, might find this loss the equivalent of the difference of night and day. Had the Rebels won, an upcoming road swing through San Diego State (Saturday), Wyoming and Colorado State may not have seemed so imposing.

Now it looks critical, in large part just to make amends for losing their conference opener at home.

I was telling anyone who would listen throughout the game that the Rebels were going to pull it out, even though they trailed most of the night. Utah just didn't seem that impressive and the fouls were adding up and the home court had to be worth something.

But, it turns out, that was idle speculation. For all of their good intentions and unmistakable effort, the Rebels failed to emerge with a win after being tied (at 65-65) with two minutes to play and they wound up losing a game that has haunting possibilities.

Well, it is early in the league season and the MWC does, of course, have a postseason tournament, so the big picture remains unclear. Whether your team is 1-0 or 0-1, there is a long way to go.

But the shame of it from UNLV's perspective is that it was so close, so deliciously near a win that would have left the team and the city excited for days.

Instead, this fairly inexperienced team and group of young men remain unsure of themselves.

As do we about them.