Tuesday, March 2, 2004 | 9:46 a.m.
ALBUQUERQUE -- The press release naming him the Mountain West Conference player of the week was just a few hours old when UNLV point guard Jerel Blassingame took the court for Monday night's game against New Mexico at The Pit.
Then Blassingame, a 5-foot-10 junior from Brooklyn, N.Y., went out and played one of his poorest halves of the season, scoring just two points and turning the ball over four times.
The second half was quite a different story, however.
Blassingame bounced back to score 14 points and tie his career-high with 13 assists. But it was his long 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:22 remaining as the shot clock ticked down that proved to be the difference in UNLV's 78-75 comeback victory against New Mexico.
The win assured the Rebels (16-10, 7-6) of no worse than a No. 4 seed in next week's Mountain West Conference tournament in Denver.
"It's the way you finish, not the way you start," Blassingame said. "I had a bad first half but Coach (Jay Spoonhour) stuck with me and told me to just go out and play. And I was able to go back out there and make some plays."
None was bigger than the 25-footer from the top of the key as the shot clock ticked down and increased UNLV's lead to 76-70. It came just one possession after Blassingame had nailed a 12-foot pull-up jumper to give UNLV a 73-70 edge.
"It was a big shot," Blassingame said of the trey. "The clock was running down. I knew all along what I was going to do. I took the shot and I was just fortunate that it went in."
Fortunate was a word that certainly could be used more than once to describe the win by the Rebels, who watched as New Mexico missed three potential game-tying 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds to hold on.
UNLV, which also won despite the fact starting center J.K. Edwards played just 17 minutes before fouling out with only four points and five rebounds, saw the Lobos (14-12, 5-8) close to within one point, 76-75, on a 3-pointer by Lobo point guard Javin Tindall with 18.7 seconds remaining.
Senior guard Demetrius Hunter was then fouled on the inbounds pass. And with most of the crowd of 14,785 on its feet screaming, Hunter calmly swished boths ends of a pressure-packed one-and-one to put the Rebels back up by three, 78-75, with 17.9 seconds left.
"I knew he was going to make them," Blassingame said. "We didn't say anything to him. We knew he was going to go out and knock them down. And he did."
"It just feels good to contribute," Hunter, who didn't start for the second consecutive game because of foot problems, said. "It's been a struggle for me the whole time, so it's good to go out and contribute."
The free throws proved crucial because New Mexico coach Ritchie McKay, who was out of timeouts, elected to try and get a game-tying 3-pointer at the end instead of driving for a quick two and fouling the Rebels again.
The Lobos had three good attempts from behind the arc. The first was by junior Troy DeVries, a 46 percent shooter from 3-point range, with 10 seconds left. Then Tindall, who had four 3-pointers on Monday night after connecting on 9-of-11 treys against UNLV at the Thomas & Mack earlier this season, tried another that went in-and-out with six seconds remaining. Lobos forward Danny Granger rebounded the miss, then dribbled out to the left of the key and let loose with another trey that missed at the buzzer.
"It was hold your breath each time they shot," Blassingame admitted. "We were trying to make sure they didn't get any 3's. Then we'd try and run in and get a rebound after a miss and have to turn around and go back out and guard again. It was a little chaotic. We were fortunate that they didn't make any of those shots."
"It just seemed like the time ticked off very slowly," Hunter added. "I'm just happy we won, man. It's a good feeling."
The Rebels also got a huge game from junior forward Odartey Blankson who finished with a career-high 28 points, including 12 in a row during one late stretch as the Lobos cenetered their attention on trying to stop Blassingame's penetration. That left Blankson consistently open to take jump shots and he delivered.
"O-dot was big for us," Blassingame said. "He carried us for a big stretch of the game. He just hit shot after shot."
"A lot of teams dare me to beat them from the outside," Blankson said. "Tonight it was just there for me."
Blankson, who was 11-of-17 from the field, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range, also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for his Mountain West Conference-leading 17th double-double of the season.
The win snapped a five-game road losing streak for the Rebels who host BYU in their conference finale on Saturday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Interim head coach Jay Spoonhour, who improved ro 4-1 since replacing his father, Charlie, as head coach on Feb. 17, was asked if Monday night's win gives his team some extra momentum heading into next week's conference tournament.
"What's the saying that momentum only lasts as long as your next days' pitcher," Spoonhour said. "You've got to come back and play well on Saturday and then maybe you have some momentum."
Still, considering the circumstances, Monday wasn't a bad start in that regard.
"It's a huge win," Spoonhour admitted.
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