Rebels’ sights set on reversing role in rivalry with Aztecs

SAN DIEGO -- The comeback that never happens, but did, still resonates with Curtis Terry years later. He can still see the margin and the clock and the improbable mountain to climb, still see Odartey Blankson score off a rebound, still see Jerel Blassingame make that 3-pointer, still feel himself racing up the court at the end of regulation, receiving the pass and heaving an off-balance 3 toward the rim as the buzzer sounded.

He still sees it going in.

He still can't believe it.

"It was surreal," Terry said. "It was something no one expected."

Say this for the UNLV-San Diego State basketball rivalry of late: It hasn't been boring.

The Rebels and Aztecs meet again today when Mountain West Conference play begins, and two of the teams expected to challenge for a regular-season championship will tip off at 1 p.m. inside what will be a sold-out and wild Viejas Arena. No. 12 UNLV has won here only twice in the past seven years and hopes to reverse a trend that has seen No. 22 San Diego State own the series.

Terry remembers the impossible occurring in 2005, when UNLV overcame a 10-point deficit in the final 28.5 seconds to force overtime and eventually win, 93-91. The Rebels also beat San Diego State here in 2008, when Terry again made a late 3 for a 72-69 victory.

But it has been a weird series since that stunning 2005 comeback. Two teams known for pushing tempo and relying on better athletes to produce wins have been, well, unable to produce many high-scoring outcomes.

The Aztecs have won 12 of 16 against UNLV since the comeback that never happens did, with seven of those games being decided by seven or fewer points and four of them by three or fewer.

Of the 16 games, only six times has the winning side scored at least 70.

On five occasions, neither team reached 64.

"I think what you have are two very good programs of the same caliber with good players and coaches who care about the rivalry," said Terry, who is playing professionally in Japan. "I remember being in the (NBA Development League) on the same team with (former Aztecs star) Brandon Heath. We would watch UNLV-San Diego State games and give each other a hard time and really took a lot of pride in it.

"The proximity of the schools, the fact both teams recruit a lot of the same players, the games being so tight over the years. ... All of that makes things more intense when it comes time to play."

Brigham Young has departed the Mountain West and so, too, will San Diego State after the 2013 season, meaning another of those natural rivals that Rebels fans enjoy loathing is soon to be out of UNLV's view. It's not a good thing for anyone when teams this competitive no longer play annually. No one wins then.

But that doesn't mean the next two seasons, beginning with today's meeting, won't produce memorable games and possibly influence some of those recruits up and down the West Coast being pursued by both programs.

The Rebels are 2-point favorites against a program that has beaten them eight of the past nine meetings and five straight, a program that is 39-3 in its home arena the past three seasons, a program whose players have come to believe they will beat anyone who steps onto the court against them here.

UNLV has been the better team this season.

Now it gets a chance to prove it.

"The thing that stands out to me is that so many of our games against Vegas have been so close and down to the wire," Aztecs associate head coach Brian Dutcher said. "For whatever reason, we've had their number of late. For years, it seemed like UNLV beat BYU, and BYU beat us, and we beat UNLV. It's impossible to say why. Just a lot of balance between the teams.

"But (UNLV) is really good this year. They remind me of us last season when we (won 34 games and reached the Sweet 16) -- a veteran team with four returning starters, and now they add a wonderful player in (Mike) Moser. He plays with that swagger that great players have. We knew we were going to be good last year but didn't know how good. UNLV seems to be in that position this year. They have been great so far."

I'm not sure the Rebels need to be great to win today.

But they at least need to be in the neighborhood of it.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.