ST. LOUIS -- UNLV basketball awakes today a Sweet 16 loser in the NCAA Tournament and a national program for the first time in years. The Rebels are gone for now and yet matter for tomorrow.

The snapshot might disappoint you.

The portrait shouldn't.

Favorites have dominated this NCAA field to the point the bracket contains more chalk than a classroom. But in becoming the lowest seed to reach the tourney's second week, the Rebels were part of a small contingent of teams that actually made March interesting for something other than how many games Digger Phelps could wrongly predict.

But it's over for UNLV.

As it should be.

Oregon ended the Rebels' journey with a 76-72 win at the Edward Jones Dome and it's right that the Ducks will play Florida on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four.

It's not so much that UNLV got suffocated by the magnitude of the moment (or the 26,307 in a venue seemingly as big as Summerlin) as it is the Rebels were beat by a more capable team. Sometimes, you can search and dissect and debate specific runs and rotations and decisions and overlook reality: The other guys made more plays. They deserved to win.

UNLV didn't dictate tempo as it did for most of its 30 victories because a quicker Oregon wouldn't allow it.

Wendell White (nine points on 4-of-11 shooting) struggled in his final game at UNLV because a quicker Oregon made him.

Tajuan Porter scored 33 points for the Ducks and at one stretch had 17 straight for nothing more than he was not only the shortest player on the court but also the quickest and best.

Losing might take on some deeper meaning if the analysis weren't so simple. But it is.

"We're disappointed for it to come to an end, but it happens for all but one (team)," said UNLV coach Lon Kruger. "Our (players) have every reason to hold their heads up and feel good about all they accomplished."

Creating something special can often be an impossible task in a place once spoiled by success. It's one thing to build a winner at a school with no history, where expectations are nil.

It's quite another to do so at one saturated in it, where expectations are nutty.

The most impressive thing Kruger has done in three years is not shape UNLV back into a winner.

It's how he did so.

He made average players into good ones and good ones into exceptional ones. He turned projects into major contributors on a Sweet 16 team. The biggest off-court problem this team had was someone oversleeping for a class every month or so. Headlines were reserved for breaking records and not the law.

That stuff should matter to more people. Flash and style often get you trouble. Boring and predictable can get you 30 wins and the kind of national exposure few programs receive this time of year.

"I'll remember going to practice at the beginning of the year, when nobody thought we could do anything," senior guard Kevin Kruger said. "We were picked sixth in our conference and some preseason rankings had us in the high 100s. I'll remember going to practice and seeing everybody with that determination to prove people wrong.

"I'll remember after wins and seeing everybody with their hands in the middle, just kind of accomplishing it as a team."

Schools throughout Las Vegas encouraged students to wear red on Friday. Bars were packed and a spirit that was buried for so long reappeared. The run might have lasted a few days longer had UNLV played better and Porter not gone completely insane from 3-point range, but it was going to conclude here one way or the other.

When it did, this much was certain: A foundation had been laid and the heart of UNLV basketball once again beat.

If the play of those five seniors tells us anything, it's that maintaining such a level next season will be more difficult than convincing Kruger he should do post-game press conferences wearing a wig. But there is promise in returning players, those who sat out as transfers and others yet to arrive. It's not a stretch to think UNLV could be just as good a few years from now.

It's not crazy to say if you're looking at a map of college basketball today, there is a specific mark on it that has been absent for years. In the immediacy of disappointment comes a clearer picture of UNLV's program for tomorrow.

"It hurts now," said senior guard Michael Umeh. "But it's wonderful to see how the program has changed."

How?

It matters again.

Ed Graney's column is published Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egranery@reviewjournal.com