Rematch at BYU is looking crucial

The second half of the Mountain West basketball season will be more than a Utah coronation.

UNLV's 72-66 victory over the 19th-ranked Utes on Saturday guaranteed at least that much.

But whether the Rebels can make the rest of the season really exciting depends largely on Feb. 19.

Though they can ill afford to lose at home Thursday against Colorado State or Saturday against Wyoming, the Rebels' Feb. 19 rematch at Brigham Young will go a long way toward determining if they receive an NCAA Tournament bid on March 12.

With the win over Utah already in their pocket, the Rebels' new long-term task is to ease past BYU for the MWC's second-best RPI ranking, which would greatly improve their national profile.

UNLV's 5-2 record in the Mountain West is second to Utah's 6-1, but third-place BYU still has a better RPI. Utah is 30th, BYU 43th and UNLV 59th, partly because the Rebels' strength of schedule ranks 130th in Division I and also because they hadn't beaten a ranked team until Saturday.

If the Rebels can win at BYU, avenging their only home loss of the MWC season, they will get a major RPI boost.

But don't bother asking coach Bill Bayno or the Rebels about BYU; the Cougars loom three games away, and that's two games too far for them to give BYU any attention. Their singular focus is avoiding a home letdown this week in the aftermath of their victory over Utah, which ended the Utes' 23-game conference winning streak.

Bayno is downplaying any carryover from Saturday.

"As coach, it is personally satisfying to win because (Utah) is in first place, we're chasing them and they are ranked," Bayno said. "But this does not guarantee us anything for the next game.

"We've got to keep things day to day. That is what makes Utah good. They don't look ahead and they don't look back. They just prepare every day. We have to continue to do that."

To the Rebels, however, it was clear that beating a ranked opponent erased the stigma that had dogged them after defeats by Cincinnati (by 40 points), North Carolina (24) and Oklahoma State (14).

"This gives us a real lift to know we can beat one of the top teams in the nation," shooting guard Trevor Diggs said. "We've felt we could play with those teams, but we've always come up short. This time, it was a total team effort. We've got to build on this."

Center Kaspars Kambala said, "I think this shows how much we've matured as a team. This was a real confidence-builder. I don't look at it as beating a ranked team. Utah's in our conference and we already had two conference losses, so we won a game that we needed to win. That's it."

Now the Rebels are breathing down Utah's neck again, but Utes coach Rick Majerus said he isn't sweating the Mountain West title just yet.

"I really don't care about the conference race right now. All I know is that we have games to win. That's what matters," he said. "I thought (UNLV) played very well the entire game. That was why they won. I thought their energy was really good. In the first half we didn't come out with the energy and intensity that was needed, so we dug a hole for ourselves."

"The difference was that UNLV was more intense," Utes power forward Hanno Mottola said.

The Rebels did not hesitate to admit that they got a major boost from the biggest crowd of the season at the Thomas & Mack Center, a throaty gathering of 16,629. After the win, the students celebrated at center court.

"I think (the crowd) helped our defense," Bayno said. "We played some guys a lot of minutes and it gave us energy when we were exhausted."

"The people came out and we fed off that," Kambala said.

* REBEL NOTES: Bayno's hair survived another day. He didn't have to shave his head because the Utah game didn't sell out, and Kambala let him off the hook after Bayno agreed to shave if the Rebels won. "Maybe I'll let him go to a barber," Kambala said. ...

That was Mark Dickel vomiting into a trash can near the bench against the Utes. "He puked all over me," Bayno said. "If he plays like that, he can puke on me anytime." Despite cramps in his right calf, Dickel compiled 18 points, six assists and four steals in 38 minutes. ...

Kambala's 20 points gave him 1,007 for his career, making him the 27th Rebel to go over 1,000. Tyrone Nesby was the last to do it (1998). ...

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Jerry West attended the game.

* DICKEL HONORED: Dickel today was named Mountain West Conference player of the week for the second time this season. The senior point guard had 47 points in the Rebels' 109-98 loss to Wyoming last Monday and Saturday's victory over Utah. He had 16 assists in the two games and made 20-of-22 free throws.

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