Rivalry’s too good to let it slip away

Oscar Bellfield now has played in 11 of these don't-leave-your-seat-for-a-second games for UNLV, a veteran of the electricity and tension and frantic finishes the Rebels and San Diego State create when they meet on the basketball court.

He has seen the crowds, lived the atmosphere, known both the euphoria of beating the Aztecs and despair of losing to them.

"It's always a battle, always two great teams going at it," Bellfield said. "It's a great thing to have them on the schedule. And if you can pull out a win, it's even better. The (teams) should definitely continue playing."

The Rebels did some serious pulling Saturday, finally getting over the frustrating hump that encountering San Diego State had become. UNLV won 65-63 at a sold-out Thomas & Mack Center, snapping a six-game losing streak to the Aztecs and climbing into a three-way tie for first place in the Mountain West Conference with six games remaining.

It is a series that has taken on a life of its own, a matchup that has spilled into rivaling student sections and created Twitter exchanges that range from mutual respect between players to mutual disdain between fans.

It is what college basketball should be, a series in which the last three games have been decided by two points each and the last five by six or fewer.

It also would be ridiculous for it to end following next season.

The Aztecs in 2013-14 are headed to the Big West Conference in basketball while the Rebels by then probably will be in something called the Mountain Conference West USA League.

Big-picture thinkers know continuing the series should be an easy decision, much like the way UNLV should again schedule Brigham Young in all sports. Most fans disagree, typically thinking with their hearts and not heads.

But gate receipts matter. Easy travel matters. Competition matters. Recruiting the same types of players matter. UNLV-San Diego State in basketball has all of that and more.

"Absolutely, we should continue playing," UNLV athletic director Jim Livengood said. "I can't believe another college basketball game played today had a better atmosphere. This was just incredible. We need to play San Diego State."

It wasn't a great game. It was a great final six minutes. It was two teams guarding hard and making big shots and grabbing critical rebounds and forcing huge turnovers.

The Aztecs for so long against UNLV were the ones making the sort of important plays that lead to close wins. Not this time.

Whether it was Brice Massamba bolting out of the locker room after halftime and scoring UNLV's first 10 points or Justin Hawkins rebounding a missed free throw with 10.4 seconds left and icing the game with a steal in the final few ticks, UNLV wouldn't be denied. It shot only 41 percent from the field and 24 percent on 3s and had stretches without a basket that seemed to last forever, but when winning mattered, it locked up San Diego State.

The Rebels were better prepared than during a 69-67 loss to the Aztecs last month, better aware of defensive assignments, better at dealing with a slower pace, better at sharing the ball, better at forcing mistakes, better at being the tougher side.

"Another terrific UNLV-San Diego State game," Rebels coach Dave Rice said. "Neither team ever believes it's going to lose. The bottom line is, our guys were tired of having to answer the questions of, 'Why have we lost six in a row (to San Diego State) and why have we lost nine of 10?' But when we're good, we can certainly count on our defense. The effort was terrific."

It will only continue to get better between these teams. Neither will slip if these are the coaching staffs leading them, and when you consider returning players and recruiting classes to come, each could be among the Top 15 teams ranked nationally to begin next season.

San Diego State has every opportunity to dominate the Big West much as UNLV did in the 1980s and '90s and the current Rebels should annually sit at or near the top of whatever remains of the Mountain West and Conference USA when the impending merger happens.

"First and foremost, those are our friends (at San Diego State)," Rice said. "There is such a great respect for one another on the coaching staffs of each team. I'm really disappointed they are leaving the Mountain West. This has become a really healthy rivalry. All the games have been so close. I definitely want to continue (the series). It makes too much sense."

If you were at the Thomas & Mack on Saturday, if you watched from home, if you have seen what UNLV against San Diego State has grown in recent years, you realize it's a no-brainer.

This is college basketball at its best.

And for the first time in a while against the Aztecs, UNLV was the one left smiling.

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.