NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : WEST REGIONALS : Playing on Point, He Takes It on Chin : Nevada Las Vegas: Despite a broken jaw, Anthony continues to lead Rebels toward Final Four.

Greg Anthony considers himself a politician, and as such he knows the value of words, both those spoken and those withheld.

Some of Nevada Las Vegas’ opponents can vouch for that. Anthony is known for a certain eloquence on the court, which has drawn him a number of technical fouls, including two committed even though his broken jaw was wired late in the season.

He also has another way of making his opinions known--by declining to comment, as he did throughout the regular season in response to articles in Las Vegas newspapers about the cars UNLV players drive.

But as second-ranked UNLV (31-5) began the chase for a national championship that continues against Ball State (26-6) in a West Regional semifinal game tonight at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, Anthony has broken his silence, his point made.

“I don’t have any hard feelings,” he said. “But it was a stance I took, and one I had to keep. I’m a man of my word.”

For a time late in the season, Anthony’s refusal of interviews was more by force than choice. After breaking his jaw in two places in a fall, in a game against Fresno State on Feb. 12, his jaw was wired, as it still is for games.

Doctors left the decision up to Anthony, who cried when he was told his jaw was broken.

“When they said I might be able to play, I thought it was just to make me feel all right,” he said.

What they told him was that he could play if he could bear it.

“I thought it would hurt more not to play,” Anthony said.

He has lost about 12 pounds, but he is playing, helping the Rebels press forward.

Anthony, a junior point guard, is one of the more intriguing members of the UNLV team. He is an aspiring politician, a man from Las Vegas who hopes to become a Republican senator from Nevada.

The party affiliation--already he is vice chairman of the Nevada Young Republicans and has interned in Washington--has been a point of contention in a family that was not traditionally Republican.

“I caught a lot of flak,” said Anthony, smiling. “I’m a Reagan Republican.”

But he is here this weekend to talk basketball, not politics.

UNLV, seeded No. 1 in the West, must beat 12th-seeded Ball State and the winner of the game between seventh-seeded Alabama and 11th-seeded Loyola Marymount to reach the Final Four for the second time in four years.

The Rebels fell one game short last season, losing to Seton Hall in the West Regional final.

“I told our kids that if our team stayed together, we had a chance to do something big,” UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian said. “I never did identify what I meant by big, but I think the guys pretty much knew what I was talking about.”

He is talking about the NCAA title, the championship of an organization that UNLV does not particularly consider a friend, and vice versa.

The NCAA has hung close by UNLV all season, suspending players for unpaid phone bills and an unrepaid student loan. NCAA investigators have made eight visits to the campus, and sometime after the Rebels’ season ends, the NCAA is expected to say whether its preliminary inquiry will become a full-scale investigation.

“I’m sure they’re not pulling for us,” Tarkanian said last weekend. “I’m sure there’s someone up there who would like to see me lose.”

Notes

In Ball State, UNLV faces a team that used strong interior defense to beat Louisville, which had 7-foot center Felton Spencer. “I don’t think they’re the same as Spencer, because of his height and weight,” said Curtis Kidd, who did most of the defensive work against Spencer. “This should be a little easier.” UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian sees it differently: “One thing we have that maybe Louisville lacked is exceptional quickness inside.” . . . Ball State Coach Dick Hunsaker invited alumnus David Letterman to join the team here but said Letterman declined, saying he would join them if the Cardinals reach the Final Four in Denver.