Nesby Ensures the Rebels Are Running Again

L.A. Times Archives

March 8, 1998 12 AM PT

Tyrone Nesby made a short jump shot to put Nevada Las Vegas ahead, then secured the victory with two free throws with 9.9 seconds left Saturday night as the Runnin’ Rebels defeated No. 20 New Mexico, 56-51, to win the Western Athletic Conference championship at Las Vegas.

With fans singing “Viva Las Vegas,” the Rebels’ tight defense forced the Lobos (23-7) to shoot from the outside much of the game.

The Rebels (20-12) scored the last nine points to cap an improbable run through the tournament and gain an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991, when Jerry Tarkanian’s squad lost to Duke in the Final Four.

“You can’t think of the big dance and not think of the Runnin’ Rebels,” UNLV forward Kevin Simmons said. “It’s been a while since UNLV’s been in the tournament, but hopefully we’re the start of another dynasty.”

At one point this season, it looked as if UNLV might not even qualify for the conference tournament. But after center Keon Clark was suspended and left the team, the Runnin’ Rebels went 9-2. They were at their best when it counted in the tournament, winning four in a row, including two over ranked opponents.

Third-year Coach Bill Bayno issued a warning for the Rebels’ first-round NCAA opponent.

“With the emotion and momentum swing we have undergone in the last two weeks, I wouldn’t want to have to play us,” he said.

Nesby made a 10-foot shot from the side to put the Rebels ahead, 52-51, with 1:18 left. After a New Mexico miss, Mark Dickel was fouled with 29.2 seconds remaining and made two free throws to give UNLV a three-point lead.

The Lobos’ Lamont Long missed on two successive free throws and Nesby was fouled after getting the rebound, sending him to the line to secure the victory with two more free throws.

ATLANTIC COAST

No. 4 North Carolina 83, No. 21 Maryland 73--Shammond Williams scored 10 of his 25 points in overtime at Greensboro, N.C., to lead the Tar Heels to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game for the seventh time in the 1990s.

Williams made two of three free throws with four seconds left in regulation to tie the score at 66-66, then took over in overtime, scoring on a fastbreak layup, a shot in the lane, a 19-foot jump shot and four free throws.

Ademola Okulaja added a key three-point shot in the extra session as the Tar Heels (29-3) scored on every possession except the final one, when they ran out the clock after outscoring Maryland, 17-7. Rodney Elliott led Maryland (19-10) with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 1 Duke 66, Clemson 64--The Blue Devils needed a tip by freshman William Avery with less than a second left to earn a rematch with the Tar Heels in the final.

Elton Brand’s tip-in with 15 seconds left put Duke (29-2) ahead, 64-61. Clemson (18-13) raced down the court and Terrell McIntyre put up a three-point shot that hit the front of the rim, bounced up near the top of the backboard and fell through the basket with 7.8 seconds remaining.

Duke came back and Avery put up a runner in the lane that bounced off the rim and caromed off to the right. But he tipped the ball back up off the backboard and in with three-tenths of a second remaining.

AMERICAN EAST

Delaware 66, Boston University 58--The Blue Hens, playing the American East Conference final on their home court at Newark, Del., used an ACC connection to earn a berth in the NCAA tournament for the third time in school history.

Darryl Presley, a transfer from Virginia, scored 25 points and had 13 rebounds and Mike Pegues added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Hens (20-9), who ended Boston’s nine-game winning streak. The Terriers (19-11) were the 1997 conference champion. Delaware is coached by former Duke assistant Mike Brey.

ATLANTIC 10

Xavier 77, George Washington 63--James Posey, the best sixth man in the Atlantic 10 during the regular season, was the best player in the conference’s postseason tournament at Philadelphia.

Posey scored 23 points, including 11 of 14 from the foul line, as Xavier won its first Atlantic 10 tournament.

Posey, who won the conference’s sixth-man award the last two seasons, also had seven rebounds and two spectacular dunks as the Musketeers (22-7) took over in the closing minutes. Yegor Mescheriakov led the Colonials (24-8) with 15 points and Shawnta Rogers added 13.

BIG EAST

No. 6 Connecticut 69, No. 22 Syracuse 64--The Huskies used a deeper and tough defense down the stretch to win at New York, their third Big East tournament championship.

The top-seeded Huskies, who won the regular-season title by two games, struggled offensively for the third game in a row.

Reserve Rashamel Jones had 17 points to lead the Huskies (29-4), who held the Orangemen (24-8) without a field goal for 8:28 of the second half as they wiped out a nine-point deficit. Todd Burgan had 17 points and nine rebounds for Syracuse.

BIG SKY

Northern Arizona 77, Montana State 50--The Lumberjacks qualified for their first NCAA berth by winning the Big Sky on their home court at Flagstaff, Ariz.

Andrew Mavis had 11 of his 17 points in the first half as the Lumberjacks (21-7) opened a 45-21 lead and breezed to their eighth consecutive victory. Their only other final appearance was in 1979, when Weber State beat them, 92-70.

BIG 12

No. 3 Kansas 91, Nebraska 59--Getting the OK to play shortly before tipoff, Raef LaFrentz had 19 points and 10 rebounds and reached another career milestone as the Jayhawks routed the Cornhuskers in the Big 12 semifinals at Kansas City, Mo.

The two-time conference player of the year, who has been bothered all week because of a strained left shoulder, became the second player in Kansas history and the 85th in the history of the NCAA with more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Paul Pierce added 17 points as the Jayhawks (33-3) stretched their winning streak to 12, beat Nebraska for the eighth consecutive time and handed the Huskers (20-11) their most lopsided loss of the season.

Oklahoma 68, Texas 55--Evan Wiley had 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Sooners won a semifinal game in which 54 fouls were called.

Oklahoma (22-9) beat the 10th-seeded Longhorns for the third time this season as 28 fouls were called on the Sooners and 26 on Texas (14-17).

There were 67 free throws: Oklahoma was 27 of 39, Texas 13 of 28.

CONFERENCE USA

No. 14 Cincinnati 71, North Carolina Charlotte 57--Cincinnati’s most troubled regular season under Coach Bob Huggins has ended like the last six--with an NCAA tournament berth.

Kenyon Martin had five points and a block in a decisive second-half run that carried the Bearcats past North Carolina Charlotte in the final of the Conference USA tournament at Cincinnati.

The Bearcats (26-5) won their sixth conference tournament title in seven years by exploiting their home-court advantage and depth against the 49ers (19-10), who were playing their second game in 12 hours.

The strong finish has polished a season marred because of five player suspensions, four of them for NCAA rules violations.

MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC

South Carolina State 66, Coppin State 61--Tyler Brown scored 20 of his 31 points in the second half, and Raheem Waller tipped in a missed free throw with 23 seconds left at Richmond, Va., lifting the Bulldogs to their second Mid-Eastern Athletic tournament title in three years, and the third NCAA tournament berth in school history.

Danny Singletary scored 18 points to lead Coppin State (21-8).

SOUTHEASTERN

No. 15 South Carolina 87, No. 10 Mississippi 77--BJ McKie scored 37 points and Melvin Watson added 27--both career highs--as the Gamecocks’ backcourt duo dominated the Rebels in a Southeastern Conference semifinal at Atlanta.

The Gamecocks (23-6) will play defending champion Kentucky today for the title.

Mississippi (21-6) had won eight in a row and beaten South Carolina by 19 points--73-54--earlier in the season in the only meeting between the schools.

McKie, a junior, scored 24 of his points in the second half, including 20 of 22 free throws as the Gamecocks converted on 39 of 47 attempts (83%), both tournament records. Mississippi made only 11 of its 22 attempts (50%).

No. 7 Kentucky 99, No. 16 Arkansas 74--The Wildcats broke down the Razorbacks’ vaunted pressure defense and shot 63% in the first half to advance to their sixth conference title game in seven seasons.

Kentucky (28-4) built a 58-33 halftime lead and Arkansas (23-8) never got closer than 20 the rest of the way. Twelve players scored for the Wildcats and five were in double figures, led by Jeff Sheppard with 17 points.

“That was the greatest exhibition of playing basketball I have ever seen in the SEC,” Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said. “They could have played anybody today and it would have been a 10-, 15-point win. It didn’t matter who. It could have been Duke, Kansas or North Carolina.”

SOUTHLAND

Nicholls State 84, Texas Arlington 81--Russell McCutcheon scored 22 points, including a basket with 11 seconds remaining, and the Mavericks overcame a nine-point deficit with a 17-4 run over the final five minutes at Shreveport, La., to earn the Southland’s automatic NCAA bid.

Texas Arlington (13-16) led, 50-47, with 16:54 left after two free throws by Bill Washington. Nicholls State (19-9) came back to even the score twice over the next 4:20, including a 58-58 tie at 12:34, only to go 5:09 without a field goal as Texas Arlington built its lead to 78-69 with 5:13 to play, setting the stage for the Mavericks’ rally.

Washington’s three-point shot that would have tied the score and forced overtime was ruled to have rattled through after the buzzer.

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They’re In

Schools that have received automatic bids to the NCAA tournament. All bids are by virtue of conference tournament championships with the exception of the Ivy League and Pacific 10, which do not conduct postseason tournaments:

* Arizona: Pacific 10

* Butler: Midwestern Collegiate

* Cincinnati: Conference USA

* Coll. of CharlestonTrans America Ath.

* Connecticut: Big East

* Davidson: Southern

* Deleware: America East

* Eastern Michigan: Mid-American

* Fairleigh Dickinson: Northeast

* Illinois State: Missouri Valley

* Iona: Metro Atlantic Athletic

* Murray State: Ohio Valley