Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.
This was to be the year of the Killer B's for UNLV's men's basketball team.
That's "B" as in three seniors -- forward Odartey Blankson, point guard Jerel Blassingame and shooting guard Romel Beck, all considered potential all-Mountain West Conference players.
But during UNLV's current four-game winning streak, only one of those Killer B's --- Blankson --- has been in the starting lineup.
Considering Blassingame continues to lead the Mountain West Conference in assists at six per game and Beck is the team's second-leading scorer at 13.8 points per contest, one might imagine another word that starts with "B" popping up these days when talking about the backcourt duo --- bitter.
After all, coming off the bench isn't exactly what Blassingame and Beck had in mind when it came to closing out their UNLV careers.
But both players have handled the move with class and maturity while also playing some of the best basketball of their UNLV careers during the team's first-ever Front Range sweep at Wyoming and Colorado State over the weekend.
"I don't have any problem with anything," said Blassingame, who had five assists, a steal and just one turnover in 27 minutes while helping rally the Rebels to a 68-66 win at Wyoming. "I don't want to be a cancer for the team.
"The best thing is to stay positive and believe in Coach (Lon Kruger). Coach stuck with me the whole year and I believe in Coach. Whatever he decides to do, I'm with it."
Kruger has decided to start junior Ricky Morgan the past five games at point guard and bring in Blassingame for his first action about six minutes into the first half.
"Ricky and Jerel together need to give us 40 good minutes," Kruger said. "I think they give us much improvement. We're taking better care of the basketball. We're distributing the ball better. We're more solid defensively and we have better direction on the floor. Some nights Ricky plays more and other nights J.B. (Blassingame) plays more. Whoever is giving us direction and getting results will play a little bit more."
Blassingame played 27 minutes at Wyoming and 19 at Colorado State. But the stat that jumps out the most is that the Rebels, who had been averaging about 15 turnovers per game, had just 19 turnovers total in the two wins on the Front Range. And the point guard position was responsible for just four of those turnovers, all by Blassingame.
"It's a case of -- as a pair -- getting the most productivity we can from that position," Kruger said. "J.B.'s confidence from a shooting standpoint earlier in the year wasn't what he wanted it to be. I think that affected a lot of things. But right now I think he's playing as well as he has all year."
"I still play enough minutes," Blassingame said. "It really doesn't matter (if Morgan starts). As long as we get some wins and I'm out there on the floor contributing. If I wasn't contributing, then it would probably be a problem. Ricky has been playing well. I think he plays better as a starter anyway."
Beck, meanwhile, has been replaced in the starting lineup the past five games by sophomore Michael Umeh. He missed the first three of those games with a sprained foot but has been a sparkplug off the bench in his two games back, scoring eight points at Wyoming and following that up with 17 points and a career-high seven rebounds in the Colorado State victory.
"It doesn't faze me at all," Beck said of not starting. "I'm a player. It doesn't matter who starts. It's all about who finishes."
The move to start Morgan and Umeh has also done wonders for UNLV's depth. When most teams bring in reserves six or seven minutes after the opening tipoff to give their starters a rest, UNLV brings in two of the most dangerous offensive players in the Mountain West.
The Rebels bench, minus an injured Beck, still outscored San Diego State's reserves 28-14 in their dramatic 93-91 overtime victory two weeks ago. It also outscored Wyoming's bench 29-13 in the two-point win over the Cowboys, and held a 28-8 edge over Colorado State.
"We've got some players coming off the bench in Dustin Villepigue and Joel Anthony and Curtis Terry and Romel and myself who can come in and make some things happen," Blassingame said. "It's always good to have a bench that can come in and do some things."
Kruger agreed.
"We're rotating 10 people through right now," Kruger said. "We have confidence in any of them. Obviously, different combinations on different nights have gotten us good results."
Such depth could prove critical in the Mountain West Conference tournament in two weeks in Denver where UNLV, will need to win three games in three nights at high altitude to reach its ultimate goal --- an automatic NCAA tournament bid.
"This group of seniors," Kruger said, "wants to go out on a positive note and they're all working hard to that end."
Even if it means coming off the bench.
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