May 30, 2001

By STEVE CARP
Las Vegas Review-Journal

LAS VEGAS - Charlie Spoonhour faces a lot of unknowns as he prepares for his first season as UNLV's basketball coach. But the Rebels' 2001-02 schedule is not one of them.

Spoonhour knows it's an ambitious schedule, beginning with opening night Nov. 17 at the Thomas & Mack Center against Wisconsin, which participated in the NCAA Tournament last season. The Rebels have nonconference games against three other NCAA teams -- Texas and DePaul at home and Cincinnati on the road.

UNLV's third year in the Mountain West Conference begins on a Sunday when the Rebels play at Air Force on Jan. 6. Five of the first seven games are on the road, but UNLV concludes the season with three home games, against San Diego State, Air Force and New Mexico.

The Mountain West tournament, which will be played at the Thomas & Mack, tips off March 7, so the Rebels will play at least four in a row on their home court.

"Is it too ambitious?" Spoonhour said. "I don't think so. But we better get used to it because we need to play good people and we're not going backward."

In addition to opening night against the Badgers, UNLV will face Texas in the Dec. 22 Las Vegas Showdown doubleheader that will have Stanford playing Brigham Young in the first game. The Cougars, the Mountain West Conference's only NCAA representative, meet the Rebels early, with the first of two games Jan. 10 at the Marriott Center in Provo.

UNLV's other games against NCAA teams will be at Cincinnati on Nov. 24 and at home against DePaul on Feb. 3.

The rest of the nonconference schedule is easier, though Spoonhour said games at Washington on Nov. 28 and at Alabama-Birmingham on Dec. 8 will be difficult. UNLV's other nonleague road game is at Loyola Marymount on Dec. 15.

"UAB is very good, and Washington's tough at their place," Spoonhour said. "We've got DePaul coming here in February, and they're going to be talented.

"It's a schedule with a lot of hard teams to play, and by that I mean their styles are hard to play against. You're not going to just be able to run up and down the floor against Wisconsin, Cincinnati and Texas because they simply don't let you. They are not going to be pretty games."

UNLV's remaining nonconference home schedule has Nicholls State on Nov. 20, Georgia Southern on Dec. 1, in-state rival UNR on Dec. 20, Tennessee State on Dec. 28 and Old Dominion on Dec. 30.

Night home games again will start at 7:35 with the exception of Texas (9 p.m., to be televised nationally by ESPN) and UNR (8:30 or 9 because the Las Vegas Bowl will be played the same night at Sam Boyd Stadium). The Feb. 3 game against DePaul will be televised regionally by ABC with a noon start.

As for the conference schedule, Spoonhour has taken teams to Wyoming and BYU, so he knows how tough it is to play there.

For the first time in five years, the Rebels will play at Wyoming first, then travel to Colorado State. The game at Laramie is scheduled for Feb. 16, with the Colorado State game at Moby Arena on Feb. 18.

"The hope is the nonconference schedule will get you ready for league play," Spoonhour said. "There's no question that games of this ilk -- Wisconsin, Cincinnati and Texas -- will prepare you (for conference play)."