Rebels guard Adams in doubt for next game with sore knee

Two days after UNLV's last-second loss at UC Santa Barbara, junior guard Wink Adams still was feeling bad. But what bothered him most was his sore left knee.

Adams sat out of Thursday's practice and said his status is questionable for Saturday, when the Rebels (4-2) host Texas-El Paso (4-1) at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"I've just got to see how it feels," he said. "Hopefully it's nothing too serious."

Adams said he sprained the knee Tuesday during warm-ups before UNLV's 63-60 loss at UCSB. He scored 11 points and missed a 3-point shot with 33 seconds left in a tie game.

"When I woke up the next morning, it was real swollen," said Adams, the Rebels' leading scorer at 12.7 points per game. "It kind of gave me a lot of pain. Once it warms up, it really doesn't hurt."

Adams said he hopes to practice today, but if not, he still could be ready by Saturday.

If Adams' potential go-ahead shot had fallen, some of UNLV's troubles in Tuesday's game -- poor free-throw shooting (10-for-18) and weak second-half defense -- might not be so closely scrutinized.

But Adams' jumper rattled in and out, and the Gauchos won a stunner by overcoming a 13-point second-half deficit.

"If that shot goes in, we win by one and we feel like we're playing great -- everyone does," Rebels coach Lon Kruger said. "That's the nature of the game. But it doesn't change how we're playing. It just changes our record by one.

"We gave ourselves a chance to win and don't feel good about not winning. You can look at it either way."