SMU refuses to tire vs. fatigued Rebels

For a game that is played with a sphere, basketball sure can be a funny sport.

Good luck trying to figure out what happened Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center. Southern Methodist, the team that traveled all day to get to Las Vegas, was supposed to be tired but wasn't. UNLV, the team that was supposed to be fresh and had spent most of the week at home, looked fatigued.

And maybe some of UNLV's fatigue can be attributed to the fact coach Bill Bayno played just five players the final 12 minutes of the game. While nobody was saying they were tired, a few of the Rebels sure looked the part in losing to the red-hot Mustangs 80-78.

Kevin Simmons, for one, looked exhausted.

The 6-foot-8 senior played 35 tough minutes and made just 6 of 16 shots. At the end, he appeared to have no legs as he was forcing shots that were short and couldn't get by his man, usually Mike Niemi, when isolated one-on-one.

When Desmond Herod came on for Brian Keefe with 12-plus minutes to go and UNLV up 59-55, it was the last time anyone would report to the scorer's table.

Issiah Epps had been plagued by foul trouble in his brief eight-minute stint. Donovan Stewart did virtually nothing in his five minutes. Chris Richardson gave the team a burst of energy during his four minutes of action in the first half. But in the second half, Bayno opted not to play him.

"We were playing good defense at that point," Bayno said of his decision to stay with what would be UNLV's Iron Five. "I didn't think fatigue was a factor. Actually, I thought our best defense came in the second half of the second half."

Meanwhile, the Mustangs, who had all sorts of excuses at the ready given their horrendous travel day Friday in which they found themselves visiting four airports, appeared to get stronger as the game went on.

Chad Elsey, who stroked the game-winning field goal when he nailed a 3-pointer from deep in the right corner with six-tenths of a second remaining, said he wasn't sure where he got the energy.

"I was exhausted all day," he said. "We went to four airports to get here. It was a long day. We didn't have any practice. Nobody got much sleep. Then we got up at 7 a.m. for breakfast and got here for an 8 o'clock shootaround."

* DES JUST MISSES: A replay of Elsey's game-winning shot showed Herod didn't miss blocking the attempt by much.

Herod, who was flying at Elsey as he let it go, missed getting a piece of it by about six inches.

"I thought I contested it real hard. I didn't expect it to drop. I felt like I had been stabbed in the heart."

* HOOP DU JOUR: Before tonight's game, UNLV will honor seniors Kevin Simmons and Brian Keefe as part of the annual Senior Night ceremonies. Keefe's parents, Bob and Linda, will be on hand while Simmons will be represented by his high school coach, the Rev. Maurice Massey and Massey's wife, Joan. ... This might be former Western High star and current TCU standout Prince Fowler's last shot to beat UNLV. He is 0-3 vs. UNLV.

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