Las Vegas Gets Back on Winning Track

After upsetting then sixth-ranked Nevada Las Vegas Saturday night, UC Irvine left a not-too-subtle reminder on the blackboard in the visitors’ locker room. It read: Georgetown, 1983. UCI, 1986.

Those are the only two losses the Rebels have suffered at home since the opening of the Thomas and Mack Center. And there were 36 wins in between.

Monday night against Cal State Fullerton, the Rebels didn’t exactly come out breathing fire, but they did start a new streak, beating the struggling Titans, 92-83, in front of 13,770. The victory clinched at least a tie for the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. title for Las Vegas (13-1 in conference, 25-3 overall). The Rebels have won the PCAA title all three years they have been in the conference.

Fullerton (6-9, 13-14) could miss the PCAA Tournament. The Titans, Pacific and UC Santa Barbara all have six PCAA wins. Utah State, which lost to San Jose State on Monday night, has five. Cal State Long Beach, with just two conference victories, is one of the two teams that will not play in the postseason tournament.

Having to play the now No. 11 Rebels is difficult enough. But Fullerton Coach George McQuarn already knew the feeling. McQuarn became the latest member of Fullerton’s walking wounded when he got up in the middle of the night after Saturday’s win over San Jose State and popped his neck out of place.

A cervical collar and pain-killers didn’t alleviate the discomfort. For much of Monday night, he probably wished he stayed in bed.

The Titans, who trailed by as many as 26 points late in the second half, made the score more respectable and probably eased McQuarn’s discomfort a bit by rallying against UNLV’s second string. Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian had to bring the starters back. Fullerton closed the gap to eight with 1:14 to play and Richard Morton’s three-pointer made it a five-point game with 28 seconds left before the Rebels made four free throws for the final margin.

Tarkanian has been especially concerned about two aspects of the Rebels’ game lately--their lack of inspiration at home and their lack of inside defense. Both were factors in UNLV’s loss to Irvine.

“We seem to play with more intensity on the road,” Tarkanian said before the game. “I guess maybe the kids thought they couldn’t be beaten at home. It could be good for us, depending on how we respond tonight.”

Actually, the Rebels looked a bit sluggish early, and the Titans grabbed a 10-7 lead on a Kevin Henderson layup with 16:22 left in the first half.

Las Vegas’ inability to defend underneath was also apparent as Herman Webster, the Titans’ 6-foot 6 1/2-inch center, made 5 of 6 first-half field-goal attempts and finished with a career-high 23 points.

Fullerton trailed by just six, 46-40, at halftime, but the Rebels showed why they’re still called the Runnin’ Rebels at the start of the second half. They outscored Fullerton, 22-6, in the next 7 1/2 minutes to break the game open.

A Freddie Banks layup made it 55-44 with 16:29 to play. Four minutes later, a follow dunk by Anthony Jones made it 68-46. Five minutes after that, Jones slammed home a behind-the-head stuffs, and the Rebels were running on all cylinders . . . to the tune of 81-56.

Banks, who made 5 of 5 three-point attempts, led all scorers with 27. Jones, who was “sensational” in Tarkanian’s words, scored 26.

But Tarkanian emptied his bench a bit prematurely, and Fullerton outscored the second string, 15-2, then scored five more in a row against the re-inserted starters to make it an 86-78 game.