Monday, March 3, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
No one in the UNLV locker room is thinking about it, talking about it, speculating about it or complaining about it. At least not publicly.
The NCAA Tournament "bubble talk" has ceased for the time being. The NIT? That, too, can wait.
Instead, the focus is regaining the momentum at the Thomas & Mack Center for this week's Western Athletic Conference tournament. The Rebels, who bring an impressive 19-8 record (11-5 WAC) into Tuesday's 12:30 p.m. opening-round game against Rice, hope to stay on the floor until week's end.
If they're still around come Saturday, the code of silence likely will be broken.
"It's just about Tuesday," junior forward Tyrone Nesby said in the aftermath of Saturday's bitter 59-58 defeat to Colorado State. "We just have to take it game by game and see what happens."
Senior Warren Rosegreen, hobbling with a sprained right ankle, said if the Rebels don't get the job done against the Owls, none of the speculation matters.
"We've got to bounce back and give it everything we've got," he said. "Right now, everyone's hurting. But with a day off and getting mentally tough, we can do it."
Tony Lane said: "There's no more excuses. We've got to get home, rest up and get refocused."
The process began Sunday with individual meetings with coach Bill Bayno and treatment for the walking wounded in Jerry Koloskie's training room. And to maintain the regular routine, the players will be allowed to sleep in their own beds instead of spending the week in a hotel.
Today, it's back on the court to physically prepare for a Rice team which is capable of beating just about anyone, when it's on its game.
The Owls have a win over Tulsa. They've beaten Texas Christian. They nearly beat Fresno State and they were within two points of Utah in the second half before eventually falling, 75-66.
But Rice has dropped six of its last seven. Conversely, UNLV has won seven of its last eight. On the surface, it would appear to be two trains passing each other in the night, one going uphill, the other headed down, into the tunnel.
As might be expected, Bayno isn't overlooking Willis Wilson's team. He says to forget Rice's 12-14 record and 6-10 ledger in the Mountain Division. As far as he's concerned, everyone is starting from scratch.
"It's not going to be easy by any means," Bayno said of the afternoon matchup with the Owls. "They're a lot like Colorado State. They're big up front. They want to slow it down and play a half-court game. It's going to be another war.
"But there are no secrets. We have to play our game. We just need to get our guys mentally prepared and get them as ready as we can physically to play."
The winner of the game meets Tulsa in the quarterfinals at 12:30 p.m. Thursday. The 22-8 Golden Hurricane finished second in the Mountain Division, earning the bye.
Rice has a veteran front line of 6-2 junior Bobby Crawford (who played at Michigan before transferring), 6-8 junior Jarvis Kelly Sanni (who had 22 points in a losing effort vs. Utah last week) and 6-11 senior center Shawn Igo (the team's leading scorer at 16.2 points and leading rebounder at 7.7 per contest).
"They're so much bigger than we are," Bayno said, quoting a line he has used virtually every game this season. "I hope we can score inside against them."
Rice's problem is consistency.
"We've got to put good segments together for longer stretches and we just haven't been able to do that," Wilson said.
Then there's the matter of winning on the road. Rice won only one WAC game away from Autry Court, a 62-59 victory over Brigham Young Jan. 23 in Provo. Overall, the Owls went 2-10 and Rice's average loss on the road was 11 points.
Wilson is certainly not thrilled about playing UNLV on its home floor.
"We will have had an opportunity to see them on tape enough to prepare," he said. "Now, if we can correct the road woes, that's a whole different story."
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