College Basketball / Robyn Norwood : After Long Wait, Gauchos and Rebels to Finally Meet Again

UC Santa Barbara’s two upsets of Nevada Las Vegas last season were among the more thrilling games of the season.

They also inspired a T-shirt message. When UNLV arrived at Santa Barbara for the second game, the players were greeted by students selling shirts proclaiming, “Rebels Without a Chance.”

But this season’s much-anticipated rematches have been a long time coming. The teams finally meet for the first time Monday night at 9 in Las Vegas.

Originally, they were scheduled to have met twice by now, at Santa Barbara on Jan. 10 and in Las Vegas Thursday. Instead, they are playing for the first time with the Big West Conference schedule more than half over.

Because the first meeting was at Las Vegas last season, it was scheduled to be at Santa Barbara this season. But that too has changed.

The reason? Television.

With the conference name change from Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. to the Big West came a deal with ESPN to televise 4 conference games in a Monday package with the Big East and the Big Ten.

And, of course, ESPN wanted those games to include both UNLV-Santa Barbara games.

And, naturally, ESPN thought it would be nice if both were in February, which is sweeps month for ratings.

So the teams are playing Monday, and again on Feb. 27.

Travel considerations caused the location switch, said Dennis Farrell, associate commissioner of the Big West.

UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian, whose team is leading the conference with a 9-0 record, called the scheduling unusual, but was rather unconcerned.

Santa Barbara Coach Jerry Pimm, on the other hand, allowed that he was not pleased, but added that exposure and economics make the scheduling reasonable.

“I wasn’t real thrilled with it,” said Pimm, whose second-place Gauchos have lost to Utah State and New Mexico State on the road. “I like to play 2 separate rounds. But I understand the economics of the business.”

UNLV’s television schedule--which could include as many as 16 national regular-season appearances--caused the conference to make a number of schedule accommodations. By mid-January, UNLV already had played 6 conference games.

“We were 2 games (actually 3) into the (conference) season and they were already 6-0, and we’re looking up at them right from the beginning,” Pimm said.

For Santa Barbara to catch UNLV, the Gauchos would probably need to beat the Rebels twice, and hope for another conference team to upset them on the road, most likely New Mexico State.

Has the revamped schedule affected the race?

“I don’t know,” Pimm said. “We’ll have to wait and see. . . . The thing that really hurts our chances this year, as opposed to last year, is just that they’re a better team.”

Gather the warmups, and go in for the point guard: This is emerging as quite a season for water boys. At least three team managers have been able to suit up and play.

At North Carolina State, manager Roland Whitley, a 5-foot 11-inch freshman guard who never played high school basketball, has been called on a number of times because of a player shortage.

At Clemson, freshman Dennis Hopf suited up after Coach Cliff Ellis had suspended seven players for violating team study hall rules.

And at San Jose State, George Metcalf, a 6-4 freshman, was added to the roster after 10 players had walked out, accusing Coach Bill Berry of verbal abuse and “mental cruelty.”

Michigan’s Loy Vaught will threaten the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. record for season field-goal percentage if he continues his pace. Vaught, averaging 14 points a game, has made 118 of 159 shots--74.2%.

The only higher percentage in NCAA history was 74.6%, by Oregon State’s Steve Johnson in 1981.

When Pacific’s Chris Fox lost a contact lens during the first half of a loss to UC Santa Barbara 2 weeks ago, he seemed to have trouble on the court, and Doug Smiley, the school’s sports information, director was concerned.

Concerned enough at halftime to offer one of his own contacts to Fox, who sterilized it, inserted it--and promptly went 0 for 7 from the line, despite being a 70% free-throw shooter.

“I thought, being the nice guy that I am, that my contact might help,” said Smiley, who like Fox is nearsighted. “I don’t think we’ll try that again.”

Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim recently sought a second opinion on former Crenshaw High School star Stephen Thompson, bringing in Ernie Hobbie, a junior high principal from New Jersey, known as the Shot Doctor.

Thompson, the Orangemen’s leading scorer, is averaging 18 points a game, and making 62% of his shots.

But he is stricken with a bad case of the season-long Syracuse ailment: He can’t make free throws.

Hobbie was brought in to recommend a cure for Thompson’s sub-50% shooting from the line.

Thompson and other struggling shooters--Syracuse is making just 59% from the line--were counseled, instructed, audiotaped and videotaped.

Thompson has improved a little.

“It’s not a major transformation,” said Bill Strickland, a team publicist. “But he doesn’t go to the line with you expecting him to miss anymore.”

Massachusetts Coach John Calipari was understandably upset 2 weeks ago, as he watched his team become the first to lose to George Washington this season.

With the game in its closing minutes, and George Washington’s first victory in 15 games apparently assured, Calipari took issue with the officials.

After one call, Calipari took off his jacket, and made a show of tossing it down. Next came the tie. Then the shirt off his back. He was down to the third or fourth button when he got a technical.

“If they hadn’t called a T, I would have been bare-chested,” Calipari told the Washington Post.

After the technical, he went to the end of the bench, shook hands with the George Washington mascot, and high-fived some students.

“I don’t know,” Calipari said afterward, apologizing for his behavior. “I guess I thought I was Morton Downey Jr.”