Take 5: Rebels 58, Air Force 51

Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008 | 10:54 p.m.

Five observations to be made from UNLV’s 58-51 victory over Air Force at the Thomas & Mack Center Tuesday:

— Yeah, I know Air Force has never won a Mountain West Conference tournament game. And the Falcons are last in the Mountain West in tattoos. Yet I have a feeling that if you held a loaded Curtis Terry jump shot to Lon Kruger’s head, the Rebel coach might tell you the one team he doesn’t want to see at the T&M next month is the Academy. Air Force (12-11, 4-6 MWC) befuddled the Rebels (19-5, 8-2) in Colorado Springs in January and is just as small as UNLV, meaning the teams match up well. Moreover, the Falcons’ noses are almost as hard as those of the Rebels, and then there’s the fact they wake up earlier and do more pushups.

— I’m not saying Tuesday’s game was closer than the final score but with 3:33 to play, the Rebels were shooting 42.2 percent from the floor to Air Force’s 41.5, rebounds were even at 27 and assists were even at 12. Actually, that’s exactly what I’m saying. The game was closer than the final score.

— After taking a 44-42 lead with five minutes to play, every basket the Rebels made was of the 3-point variety. Two were traditional (jump shots beyond the arc by Corey Bailey and Joe Darger), one was old school (Wink Adams made a leaner while being fouled) and one was the kind of shot you save for the end of a game of H-O-R-S-E. Darger launched a rocket from beyond the lighthouse on Cape Hatteras with one second left on the shot clock that, in addition to ripping a hole in the bottom of the net, gave UNLV some breathing room at 56-49.

— I love Mr. Henke. Unlike the South Park character of the same name, there’s nothing nutty about the game of Air Force’s Andrew Henke, who scored 15 points that seemed like 25. In the first half, Henke, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound junior, even tried a flying baseline dunk over two Rebels. I didn’t catch who they were, because the mere thought of an Air Force player trying to dunk was enough to temporarily blow my mind. When the chemical synapses started flowing again, Rebels were strewn across the three-second lane like pick-up sticks and Henke was drilling a 3-pointer from the left side after getting his own rebound.

— I don’t whose idea it was to hire a DJ to perform on the court during timeouts, but can somebody please pull the plug on it? As Rebels fans proved when the game was close down the stretch, they know when to cheer. They don’t need a carnival barker in high-tops to remind them.

PARTING SHOT: “Since I’ve been playing basketball, I’ve never seen an offense that effective. They run it great.” — UNLV’s Wink Adams, on what makes Air Force so tough.