The Elevator

Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2005 | 8:20 a.m.

Who's headed toward the penthouse on the local sports scene -- and who's getting the shaft:

Going Up

Kevin Kruger: Well, at least it was a good week for somebody in the Kruger household. Kevin, the son of UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger, banked in a 30-foot shot at the buzzer to send Arizona State into overtime against Minnesota on Monday night to make the ESPN's Plays of the Day at No. 3. Alas, the previously undefeated Sun Devils lost in overtime despite a career-high 27 points from the Son of Lon.

Jermain Taylor: It's official. The kid from Arkansas can fight. The only difference between his first victory over the once-invincible Bernard Hopkins and the second one at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday night was that Taylor wore the white Razorback trunks instead of the maroon ones this time.

Las Vegas Marathon: The new organizers of the 26.2-mile blisterfest did such a bang-up job of reinventing it that there was a unconfirmed sighting of Madonna at the 19-mile marker.

Going Down

Lon Kruger: Nobody expected the Rebels to go 4-0 on the current roadtrip. In fact, I expected them to go 0-4. But unless you've got "Washington Generals" written on the front of your jersey, there's no excuse for blowing a 22-point lead at Oregon State, as Kruger's Rebels did Saturday.

UNLV guards: The guys mishandling the ball for Kruger haven't exactly made him look good. At Oregon State, Michael Umeh shot 3-for-12, Ricky Morgan 0-for-2, Jason Petrimoulx 3-for-15 and Jo'Van Adams 1-for-7. Combined, their jump shots formed an iceberg that could have sunk an ocean liner. On that same day, Sheena Moore, supposedly the Lady Rebels' best shooter, also wound up in the North Atlantic, making just 1-for-10 in a 58-50 loss at Cal.

Las Vegas weather: Chilly 30-degree temperature at the beginning of the Las Vegas Marathon threatened to turn the starting line into a Tenth Avenue Freezeout. But even The Boss knows that's what happens when you schedule a footrace at the crack of dawn in early December.

Ron Kantowski can be reached at 259-4088 or at ron@lasvegassun.com.