Friday, March 7, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
LET A SCRAPPY team stick around and it'll throw a scare into a good one every time.
But it won't always win.
The scrappy team in this instance, UNLV, deserves high marks for its performance Thursday in the Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Rebels met the challenge of playing their best game of the season, even if the final outcome didn't go their way.
It should have been a blowout.
Tulsa, the Rebels' second-round opponent, had advantages in size, speed and depth, and early on it appeared as if the Golden Hurricane would win with ease. Ten points up at the half, Tulsa looked to be a team en route to a dominant win.
But the game turned around after the break, probably for a couple of reasons.
On one hand, Tulsa coach Steve Robinson had his guards ease off the trapping pressure they had been applying just inside midcourt, and he allowed his game plan to undergo a radical shift. Instead of pounding the ball down low as they did in the first half, Tulsa's players suddenly thought of themselves as three-point specialists. So they were firing up shots, and those shots weren't going in.
Conversely, the Rebels -- like the crowd, for that matter -- didn't have any quit in them. If Tulsa -- which may also have had a problem with incentive, given the fact it came into the tournament with an NCAA bid all but in its back pocket -- wanted to let UNLV stay in the game, the Rebels were happy to oblige.
It was actually amazing to see UNLV come back and take the lead, let alone extend it to 59-52. It was less surprising, however, to see Tulsa come back and win it 68-65.
Poor Kevin James. He hurriedly brings the ball up the court with eight seconds to play and the Rebels needing three to tie, gets to the arc only to find the Golden Hurricane all over the logical designated shooter, Damian Smith, and has no choice but to check his footing to make sure he's behind the circle and fire one up. It was left of center from the moment it escaped his hands.
The ball deflected away and, in all probability, UNLV's shot at the NCAA Tournament went with it.
Now comes the hard part for the Rebels, at least emotionally.
Failing to sneak in to the NCAA tourney means UNLV gets the consolation prize, a berth in the lesser National Invitational Tournament. In the aftermath of this tough loss to Tulsa, the NIT doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun even if the Rebels will host a game (or two).
It would almost be easier for the Rebels to end the season now, quit at 20-9 and take comfort in the knowledge they exceeded all preseason expectations.
But scrappy teams don't quit and don't pass up any chance to win over a few more converts. So UNLV will accept the bid and will attempt to find a way to reach the finals in New York, another lofty goal.
Unless, of course, the NCAA's Tournament Selection Committee is in a magnanimous mood Sunday.
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