UNLV's Marion living up to his advance billing

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Somehow, you knew it would be like this.

A wide-open, playground-style kind of basketball, a game where those who can walk on air could do some serious damage.

The kind of game Shawn Marion lives to play for.

The UNLV junior small forward has been nothing short of outstanding so far and he saved his best stuff, literally, for Cal Poly. And the Mustangs, who tend to live and die by the 3-point shot, had nobody close to Marion's skills and athleticism.

So it came as no surprise that the 6-foot-7 Marion would go for a career-high 23 points in UNLV's 79-67 win Saturday. The final tally actually came back a little low. There were some who believed he would go for 40, maybe more, against the Mustangs.

But he'll settle for the 23 and, more importantly, the win, UNLV's third straight which pushed the Rebels over .500 at 7-6 headed into the WAC opener against Air Force this Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"I love playing in a game like this," Marion said. "The guys did a great job of getting me the ball where I could do something."

That would be at the end of the fast break. Especially in the second half when all of Marion's 10 points came on a stunning variety of slam dunks. The kind of dunks you'll be seeing for years to come when highlights of this year's team are shown.

Teaming with sophomore guard Greedy Daniels who had 16 points off the bench, Marion proved unstoppable. And while there has been some consternation over UNLV's 7-6 preseason, nobody can knock what the much-hyped Marion has done.

He has been everything he was advertised to be, and then some. The former Vincennes (Ind.) University standout has been the one constant for the Rebels, leading the team in scoring (16.4), rebounding (8.5) and blocked shots (29). He is second in field-goal percentage (54 percent) free-throw percentage (.722) and steals (34).

"Shawn's a special player," coach Bill Bayno said. "What I love the most about Shawn is his attitude. He's so unselfish. He loves to play and he loves to win."

Marion probably couldn't recite his stats to you. What he does know is that UNLV is only 7-6 and he'd like to see improvement with the ledger. And with a three-game winning streak heading into WAC play, Marion believes that stat will get better.

"We're out of the woods now," he said as the team has rebounded from 4-6 just before Christmas to post a winning record the first week of 1999. "We just have to keep moving in the right direction like we're doing.

"This was a good win for us. Cal Poly's a pretty good team."

As for what Marion has accomplished so far, he said he never worried about the hype or the pressure to deliver. He figured as long as he played like he's capable of playing, that stuff would take care of itself.

And at the midway point of the season, it has.

"It's not about dominating or scoring a lot of points," he said. "It's about doing what I can do to help the team."

And that is to make life miserable for the opposition. Cal Poly, the nation's highest scoring team at just over 100 points a game, was primed to tilt the Mott Gym scoreboard Saturday. The Mustangs would've conceded Marion his points, just as long as they got theirs.

Instead, Cal Poly was held to its second-lowest total of the year, and the fewest points at home since last February when Pacific limited Jeff Schnieder's team to just 71. And the Mustangs can thank Marion for that.

Along with his 23 points, Marion also blocked five shots and was an intimidating factor inside. Because while Cal Poly loves to bomb away from the perimeter, it also likes to go to the basket. And when the Mustangs drove to the hoop, guess who was waiting for them.

"He's just so athletic," Schneider said of Marion. "He runs the floor so hard and he plays both ends of the court so well."

Everyone knew Marion could score and make things happen offensively. But few believed his defense would be as good as it has been at this stage and that he would be a force when it came to blocking shots.

It's why he's the franchise player in the UNLV program. His all-around game continues to get better and better.

"Whatever it takes to help the team win," Marion said.

And if Bayno's passing out any midterm grades, one of the few A's he hands out goes to his small forward who plays big every night.

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