Bayno, Rebels eye fast start

On the cover of this year's UNLV men's basketball media guide is a picture of head coach Bill Bayno sandwiched between seniors Issiah Epps and Mark Dickel.

Above the picture is the phrase "Rising to the Millennium."

The three of them are standing in front of the fountain show at Lake Bellagio in front of the hotel-casino on the Strip.

They are not smiling. They have the determined look of three people on a mission.

They are.

When Epps and Dickel take to the floor tonight in the Rebels' season opener against Mississippi Valley State at the Thomas & Mack Center, it will be the start of their last chance to make a return to the NCAA Tournament.

So for them, every game is important.

"Basically I look at it as not really my last year, just a good year for me to improve and just to show everybody that I can play basketball," Epps said. "To prove everybody wrong.

"Every game you've got to take it serious whether you think it's a weak team or not. The way I look at it is the harder we work in practice the better we get in games."

The season will be a test for Bayno as well.

He lost three starters, including Phoenix Suns rookie Shawn Marion and Kevin Simmons from a team that was 16-13 and made it to the NIT.

But Bayno gained five junior college transfers and one freshman in a recruiting class ranked second in the nation to Duke by the Hoop Scoop.

With his new cast and two returning starters in Dickel and big man Kaspars Kambala, Bayno is determined to make the team live up to its nickname.

Dickel is a proven point guard who was voted by conference media to the preseason Mountain West All-Conference team. He averaged 6.5 points and 6.6 assists last season.

After two exhibition games, it seems he is ready to take a more active role in the offense by taking a few more shots.

Kambala is a powerful presence inside who can also run the floor.

It has been a few years since the Rebels thrived on a running style of basketball.

The additions of Trevor Diggs, Kenny Dye, Danny Brotherson, Sylvester Dotson, Chris Popoola and Dalron Johnson will help change that.

During the exhibition games, Bayno used many different lineups and scoring wasn't a problem.

The team scored 103 points in a win over Global Sports and 104 in a victory over the California West All-Stars last Monday.

Against Global Sports, though, the team's defense was porous and gave up 97 points.

Bayno made sure practice revolved around defense the week after. The result was a much better effort from the Rebels, who outrebounded the All-Stars while yielding 87 points.

Against Mississippi Valley State, a Southwest Athletic Conference team that also will run, the Rebels will try to use what they learned in practice.

The Delta Devils return four starters from a team that went 14-13 overall last season, 10-6 in SWAC play.

"We are just trying to get better overall, defensively and offensively," Dotson said. "They like to get up and down, too. We're going to try to stop them because they're going to be trying to stop us.

"I'm glad the season is starting because the two exhibition games were fun, but now it's time to get down to business."

It will be a busy opening weekend for the Rebels, who also will host Fairfield at the Thomas & Mack Center at 7:35 Sunday.

* REBELS ON THE RADIO: All UNLV games will be broadcast live on KBAD 920-AM. Ken Korach and Glen Gondreziek return to call the games this season.

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