Rebels defenseless in loss

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2005 | 8:58 a.m.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- It doesn't get much uglier than this.

The UNLV men's basketball team was not only beaten by defending Mountain West Conference champion Air Force (14-7, 5-1) here on Monday night, it was ... well, let senior forward Odartey Blankson tell you.

"I'm just embarrassed right now," an angry Blankson said following a 64-48 loss to the Falcons that was even more one-sided than the final score indicated.

But Blankson was just warming up.

"I just feel sorry for our fans and anybody who ever wore a UNLV jersey," he added before stomping off to the team bus.

Yes, it was that bad.

The Rebels (9-9, 2-4), the preseason favorites to win the conference back in October, trailed by as many as 21 points, 39-18, late in the first half and were behind by 24 points, 58-34, with 8:11 remaining before Air Force head coach Chris Mooney mercifully sent in his second- and third-teamers to finish up the carnage.

It was the 24th consecutive win at Clune Arena for the Falcons, which ranks as the second-longest home winning streak in the nation behind only Oklahoma State (25). And it's doubtful any of those victories were more convincing than this one.

The Falcons ripped apart UNLV's attempts to play both zone and man-to-man defense by connecting on 8 of their first 12 3-pointers. The Rebels, meanwhile, went more than 11 1/2 minutes without a basket near the end of first half while Air Force went on a 28-7 run to blow the game open.

Air Force, which connected on 15 of its 23 first-half field goal attempts (65.2 percent), shot the ball so well outside that it didn't even score on one of its patented backdoor layups until Matt McCraw sliced in with five seconds left in the first half to make it 41-21.

And the Falcons, the worst rebounding team in the conference, still managed to outrebound the Rebels, 26-24.

"They just outplayed us, man," Rebels point guard Jerel Blassingame said. "That's all. We didn't execute the way we needed to. Give credit to them. They made shots. That's what it boils down to. And they defended."

"I thought it was going to be more of a struggle," Air Force guard Tim Keller said. "We looked a little slow in practice yesterday. ... We came out and hit our first shot and from there it just kind of snowballed."

Actually, it was more like an avalanche.

"I think they got us on our heels a little bit and we just didn't respond to that, which you have to do," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "We didn't handle that very well. Air Force controlled about everything from start to finish. They did it with making shots and they did it with their effort and commitment defensively."

Kruger was asked if he was worried about losing his team after such a devastating loss.

"We've been up and down all year," he said. "We're down right now. We've got to regroup and bounce back. And the guys who want to play and want to compete will do that. I think they all will."

"What can you do now?" Blassingame added. "It's over with now. We've got to move on."