Red-hot UNR not ceding state supremacy to UNLV

There was 6:36 left in the game, and UNLV was leading UNR by 18 points on the night of Nov. 14 at the Thomas & Mack Center. David Carter, the UNR coach, was pacing to the left of me, beads of perspiration forming on his bald pate. He did not look pleased.  

I had expected more from UNR. So did Carter, judging by his scowl.

And then, just like that, the Wolf Pack were looking as big and bad as advertised. It huffed and puffed and, with 20 seconds to play, had pulled to within one.

The Rebels hung on, 71-67. The Rebels exhaled mightily and have gone on to have a great season with much exhaling on the road.

And UNR? A little later on the night of Nov. 14, I wrote, "This is a team that probably will win a lot of games when it gets its act together."

The Wolf Pack are now 18-3 and riding a 15-game winning streak, the nation's longest behind upstart Murray State.

Consider UNR act's officially together.

"A little tip" Dick Vitale wrote Sunday on his Twitter account. "Nevada has won 16 in a row -- hope top 25 voters r aware of their success."

Dickie V. was being generous by one win but to use his Twitterese, no, most Top 25 voters r not aware of the Wolf Pack's success.

UNR received 18 votes in this week's ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll and six votes from The Associated Press writers, putting the Pack just behind Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.

At that rate, it's going to be difficult for UNR to catch up to the college basketball Mitts and Newts in the polling places. But at least the surrogates are starting to notice.

"We just got a shoutout from Dickie V," UNR's Dario Hunt wrote on his Twitter account. "That's what's up. Real recognize real."

The loss to the Rebels in November was UNR's second in four games to start the season. The Wolf Pack were blown out 68-46 at home by Missouri State three days before the UNLV game.

Eyebrows were raised. Real was recognizing unreal.

Teams picked to win their conference championship are not expected to lose to Missouri State by 22 points at home, unless the conference championship they are picked to win includes a Sky or a Sun in its name. Or a Pac-12.

After rallying against the Rebels, UNR beat Pacific, Prairie View A&M and Longwood. It lost to Brigham Young. Then it beat Bradley, Washington, Arizona State, Montana, UC Riverside, Portland and Cedarville, which sounds less like a college basketball team and more like one of those daytime drama locales, home to a scheming dowager named Erica or Dorian.

UNR beat Idaho, Utah State, San Jose State, Hawaii, Nebraska-Omaha, Fresno State and New Mexico State, at the Aggies' place. That was huge. And the Pack won 65-63 at Louisiana Tech on Saturday, after their flight was canceled. It's sometimes hard to win in the backwoods of Louisiana after a flight is canceled.

The Wolf Pack are 7-0 in the WAC. The 15-game winning binge is UNR's longest since moving to Division I.

Eyebrows no longer are being raised, at least not for losing at home to Missouri State by 22.

The Pack have used the same starting lineup for all 21 games -- Deonte Burton, last year's Western Athletic Conference freshman of the year, former Indiana Hoosier Malik Story and Jerry Evans Jr. at guard, and Olek Czyz, the Duke transfer, and Hunt up front. All except Evans average in double figures.

This is a team that probably will make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2006-07 season, though it may have to win the WAC Tournament at Orleans Arena to be sure. ESPN's Joe Lunardi has UNR penciled in as a No. 14 seed, a spot normally reserved for champions of the Sun and Sky conferences. Joey Brackets knows that wins over Cedarville do not count as much as wins over North Carolina, which is why the Rebels are locked in and the Wolf Pack are dancing on a bubble.

Still, this is shaping up as one of the best basketball seasons in Nevada's history. Not the school's. The state's.

The Rebels are 21-3, ranked 11th and projected as a No. 3 seed by Lunardi. UNR is 18-3 and hasn't lost since Thanksgiving. Shabazz Muhammad of Bishop Gorman is rated the nation's No. 1 high school prospect. Findlay Prep just beat the pants off the No. 1 high school team in the land. Even the Lady Rebels are kicking butt and taking names.

If this keeps up, kids from Amargosa Valley to Zephyr Cove are going to be shooting basketballs at baskets attached to barns and garages, like kids in Indiana do.

Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.