Central Arkansas plans to run with 19th-ranked Rebels

As a player at Arkansas, Corliss Williamson starred on teams that ran opponents ragged with "40 Minutes of Hell."

As a second-year coach at Central Arkansas, Williamson hopes his team can avoid that kind of torture today against UNLV.

"It's a tough matchup. We understand what we're up against," Williamson said. "It's a David-and-Goliath type deal."

One lucky shot decided that supposed mismatch. When the 19th-ranked Rebels (13-2) play the Bears (5-6) at 7 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center, expect shots to be fired at a rapid pace.

"I don't like slowing it down. We definitely don't like to walk the ball up the court," Williamson said. "As far as playing the '40 Minutes of Hell,' I want to play that style. But we have to pick and choose when to play that style."

Williamson was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 1994 NCAA Final Four by leading the Razorbacks to the national championship with a victory over Duke -- and that fact alone should make him popular with UNLV fans.

Nicknamed "Big Nasty," he was a two-time All-American at Arkansas, where former coach Nolan Richardson used rosters loaded with talent to fast-break opponents into oblivion.

Williamson is trying to re-create something similar at Central Arkansas, but he's just getting started. The Bears, still far from loaded, were 5-24 last season.

In its past two road games, Central Arkansas was overrun by Drake (87-64) and Iowa (105-64).

The Bears are 31-point underdogs to the Rebels, so Williamson said he knows engaging in a running game might not be the best plan of attack. But he's willing to try it.

"We'll start the game like we always do and play our style," he said.

UNLV has played at all sorts of tempos, finding ways to win slowdown battles against Cal Poly and Southern California, and also losing one 62-51 at Wisconsin.

But Rebels sophomore forward Mike Moser said he doubts Williamson will force the Bears to pump the brakes for 40 minutes.

"We're definitely excited to play a team that likes to get up and down," Moser said, "so we're going to run with them and see who breaks down first."

Williamson, who played 12 years in the NBA and won a championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004, said he learned from "some of the great offensive minds of the game" and always desired to return to college to mentor young players.

His best player is 6-foot-5-inch sophomore guard LaQuentin Miles, who averages 17.7 points. But Central Arkansas, a program that once produced NBA great Scottie Pippen, obviously lacks the elite talent Arkansas had when Williamson was a star there.

"Not everyone is cut out for '40 Minutes of Hell,' " Williamson said.

The Bears are scoring 75.5 points per game. The Rebels, who have scored 90 points or more five times, average 78.4.

UNLV coach Dave Rice is instilling a running mentality in his team and is mostly satisfied with the results through 15 games.

"We're playing more stretches of games the way we want to play in terms of tempo," Rice said. "The biggest part is our mindset has changed to where we always have it in our mind that we're trying to push the ball, and that's a big part of it.

"There's still progress to be made. But it's not like I'm sitting here as a guy who's unhappy with where we are, because I'm pleased with the progress that we've made."

The Rebels had no problems running with North Carolina and beat what was then the nation's No. 1-ranked team 90-80 on Nov. 26.

Williamson said he was watching: "I called my assistant coach and said, 'What were you thinking when you scheduled this game?' "

■ NOTE -- Rice said senior forward Chace Stanback, the Rebels' leading scorer, will not start today as a disciplinary measure. Stanback arrived late to Monday night's practice after driving back from Los Angeles, where he was home for the weekend. Junior guard Justin Hawkins will get his second start of the season.

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.