Thursday, March 6, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Who says time heals old wounds?
It didn't take two seconds after Jerry Tarkanian entered the South Gym Wednesday before the wisecracks started.
"Check the ceiling!" cried Mike Toney.
"See if (Bob) Maxson and (Dennis) Finfrock are up there," chimed in Freddie Glusman.
Never mind Tark's Fresno State team was in the wrong end of the McDermott P.E. Complex. They weren't taking any chances. Even in jest.
There were no secret cameras recording the Bulldogs' 85-minute workout as they prepared for today's WAC Tournament quarterfinal game against Texas Christian. But Tarkanian and those close to him won't ever forget when UNLV officials stuck a camera in the ceiling of the North Gym in 1991 to film the Rebels' illegal preseason conditioning.
Still, Tarkanian was in a good mood. Even though he's 0-2 this year at the Thomas & Mack Center, he'll get a chance to break the streak against one of his close friends in the coaching profession, Billy Tubbs.
"We've been real good friends for a long time," Tarkanian said. "We'd do things together whenever he was in town."
There were many great battles between the two when Tark was at UNLV and Tubbs was coaching Oklahoma. There was a run in the late 1980s when the schools played each other five times, with Tubbs coming out on top in four.
"We've had some terrific games against him," Tubbs said. "And I'm expecting another one Thursday.
"It's always neat when you're playing against a good team. But at this time of the year, every game you play is special. There's a lot riding on it."
Only one 'Bow returns
When the regular season ended Saturday, Hawaii was expected to get back the three players who had been suspended in early February for violation of the student-athlete conduct code.
But when the Rainbows arrived in Las Vegas Wednesday, only Quentin Gallon was on the trip. Aaron Curry and Kelvin Anderson were not reinstated.
That means Hawaii remains shorthanded for tonight's game with New Mexico. In addition to Curry and Anderson, 7-foot-2 center Seth Sundberg is out for the season with a ruptured spleen suffered in a Feb. 8 win over Air Force. The Rainbows will suit up just nine players against the Lobos.
No explanation was given why Gallon was reinstated while Curry and Anderson weren't.
Students pay the same
It had been reported that students were being offered discounted seats to this week's WAC Tournament. However, that information proved to be erroneous. While there are student seats available, they cost the same as the general public tickets.
The difference is students have a special section downstairs.
"That's something we're going to look at for next year," said Tina Kunzer-Murphy of Las Vegas Events. "We had talked about a student discount ticket but we weren't sure what the demand will be."
For UNLV students who are used to being admitted to the games for free, it's an expensive proposition. To sit downstairs costs $25. It probably had something to do with so few of the Rojos attending Tuesday's game with Rice. That and the 12:30 p.m. starting time.
Stat leaders
There were some impressive individual performances in Tuesday's opening round, beginning with Rice's Shaun Igo, who dropped 33 points on UNLV in a losing effort. The second-best scoring barrage was also in vain as Colorado State's Jameel Mahmud's 30 wasn't enough to get the Rams past SMU.
The same was true on the boards as the top three efforts weren't enough to win. HL Coleman had 15 rebounds against TCU, but the Cowboys lost 72-61. Rice's Alex Bougaieff and Igo had 13 and 12 boards, respectively, against UNLV.
Former Western High star Prince Fowler had nine assists for TCU to lead after the first day in that category and New Mexico's Lamont Long shot 83 percent from the floor in the Lobos' 103-70 rout of San Jose State. Long hit 10 of 12 field-goal attempts.
CSU's Mahmud was the top 3-point shooter, hitting 8 of 11 (73 percent). Four players were perfect from the foul line, with SMU's Stephen Woods going 6 for 6. UNLV's Keon Clark had three blocked shots to share top honors with Rice's Bougaieff.
Attendance for the first two men's sessions was 6,103 for the afternoon games and 4,214 for the evening session for a total of 10,317.
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