Rebels look for range on Range

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Jan. 23, 2004 | 10:14 a.m.

It is perhaps ironic that the UNLV Rebels (9-5, 0-2) are traveling to Wyoming on Saturday to try and break their two-game Mountain West Conference losing streak.

After all, Wyoming was a historic place in the 1800s with legandary sharpshooters Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid among its most famous citizens. And the way things have started out in MWC for the Rebels so far this season, they'd have the perfect nickname to fit in with during the old wild, wild west.

Call them The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight.

Entering Saturday afternoon's contest in Laramie against the Cowboys (8-8, 1-2), UNLV holds the rather dubous distinction of ranking dead last in the Mountain West Conference in 3-point shooting. The Rebels are connecting on just 31.4 percent of their treys (82 of 259) which puts them well behind seventh place San Diego State (119 of 349, 34.1%) and a full 10 percentage points behind conference-leader Utah (105 of 252, 41.7 percent).

Oh, where have you gone Freddie Banks, Gerald Paddio and Anderson Hunt? UNLV, which holds an ongoing NCAA record for most consecutive games with a made-3-pointer (553), last in the Mountain West in 3-point shooting?

UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour admits he is surprised his squad his had such a tough time maintaining the school's 3-point shooting tradition.

"A little bit," he said.

Only one Rebel -- freshman guard Michael Umeh (41.2 percent) -- is hitting better than 40 percent of his 3-point attempts this season and he has tried only 17. Guards Demetrius Hunter (34.2 percent), Romel Beck (32.9 percent) and Jerel Blassingame (33.3 percent) have been up-and-down all year while forward Odartey Blankson (17.2 percent) has struggled badly behind the arc.

"I've watched Jerel shoot 3's," Spoonhour said. "I've watched Romel and D. Hunter. And O-Dot (Blankson) has not hit them but I've watched him work on them all last year. I just felt that it was something he could do (but) that it hasn't come around as well as I had hoped."

The Rebels have made just 9 of their 34 3-pointers (26.5 percent) in Mountain West play, including a woeful 4 of 16 in the 72-67 home loss to Utah.

"We've hurt ourselves with the inability to hit the three," Spoonhour said. "It's not as though we're shooting all bad shots.We've had some shots that are very makeable. We just haven't made them. And it's by people I'm counting on making them before the year is over."

In that case, better sooner than later. Who knows? Maybe the 7,200-foot altitude of Laramie will help the Rebels find their outside shooting touch.

One thing is for certain: UNLV needs to garner at least a split of the Front Range trip or poor 3-point shooting will be the least of the Rebels and Spoonhour's worries.

"It's definitely a big trip," Blankson said. "We started off 0-2 and at the bottom of the conference. We're definitely looking for that first win right now."

Wyoming coach Steve McClain said he's not entirely surprised that UNLV started off 0-2.

"They had to open with Utah, which is as hard of a game you can open with -- especially when Rick (Majerus) had a week to prepare for it," McClain said. "Then they go to San Diego State and play a very good San Diego State team. They had a pretty good shot at being 0-2."

With three new starters in Blassingame, Beck and Blankson as well as some key freshmen backups, McClain said he felt the Rebel newcomers are going through normal adjustments to Mountain West Conference play.

"When you start league play they find out it is even different than what you saw for 12 games, and I think Charlie played a great schedule," McClain said. "But the intensity level goes up another 90 percent. They've had two hard games and I don't think anybody can say they've played poorly."

Played poorly? No. Shot poorly? Yes.