Rebels hope to build momentum

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Jan. 24, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.

Whew!!!

After finally breaking through in the win column in Mountain West Conference play with an 86-77 victory against Colorado State on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, UNLV players said it was nice to put the pressure that came along with an unexpected 0-2 start in league play behind them.

"We all went back to the locker room and took deep breaths," senior point guard Jerel Blassingame said. "It was a sigh of relief for us to finally get a win and to be able to move on."

The Rebels (8-7, 1-2) can get back in the thick of the young MWC race with another victory tonight when they play host to Wyoming (10-7, 2-2) at the Thomas & Mack at 7 p.m.

With Utah (16-3, 4-0) up against defending MWC champ Air Force (12-6, 3-0) in Salt Lake City, there will be only one unbeaten team remaining in conference play after tonight's games.

"It would be great to leave here 2-2 after starting 0-2," senior forward Odartey Blankson said, alluding to this weekend's road swing to New Mexico and Air Force. "Then we could take it from there.

"Right now it's still early to be looking at the conference standings. We've just got to focus on our next game. We can't worry about what's going on with the other teams in our conference. We just have to take it one game at a time and focus on what we need to do."

Blankson finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead a well-balanced Rebels attack against Colorado State (9-8, 1-3) in what coach Lon Kruger called his team's best performance of the season.

"It was our best 40 minutes without question," Kruger said. "I thought defensively it was our best effort. Louis (Amundson) did a great job establishing a little bit more physical presence inside. Obviously, (CSU freshman guard Sean Morris, who had 31 points) stepped up and hit some big 3s. But it was still our best job defensively of the year."

Offensively, the Rebels finished with 20 assists on their 30 baskets and showed rare poise and patience on offense while connecting on 53.6 percent of their shots. Senior guard Romel Beck, the object of Colorado State's defensive efforts, attempted just three shots and finished with just two points but dished off five assists.

"To get a win, especially the first one in conference, can hopefully turn us around and motivate us a little more," Beck said. "When you're winning everybody is having fun. We moved the ball around and got some good shots. We made a lot of defensive stops when we needed to. And we just generally played well as a team."

Before his team's two-hour practice on Sunday afternoon, Kruger praised his squad for its unselfishness and told them he had received a number of compliments for their team-oriented style of play.

"We've got to back it up with another good effort again (tonight) or we don't gain any ground," Kruger said. "We've got to protect our home court."

It doesn't figure to be easy. Wyoming comes into tonight's game confident after upsetting San Diego State, 88-81, in overtime on Saturday night on the road.

The Cowboys, like Colorado State, will enjoy a distinct height advantage inside thanks to 7-foot senior center Alex Dunn and 6-foot-10 shot-blocking whiz Justin Williams, and have one of the hottest backcourts in the conference with seniors Jay Straight and Dion Sherrell.

"I think Wyoming has a lot of talent and they're playing real good right now," said Beck, who took a recruiting trip to Laramie with Sherrell. "They just got a big win in San Diego. So it's going to be another tough test for us."