Columnist Ron Kantowski: Witnessing a totally unspectacular basketball game, but notes, UNLV fans shouldn’t lose hope

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006 | 9:06 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

You may still refer to it as the Mountain West Conference. But when it comes to men's basketball this season, I prefer Wendell White and the Nine Dwarfs. Or even better, the League of Not So) Extraordinary Gentlemen.

In keeping with the spirit of that movie, which was set in an alternate Victorian Age in which superheroes joined forces on secret missions (such as road trips to Laramie in the dead of winter), Allan Quartermain (Air Force) and Captain Nemo (UNLV) squared off at the Thomas & Mack Center Wednesday night.

Quartermain won, 52-50, with an assist from the Invisible Man. Or at least the invisible instant replay machine. Upon further review, officials ruled that White's putback of Lou Amundson's airball in the final frantic seconds did not beat the buzzer, or at least the red light on top of the backboard.

While the Rebels huddled to discuss strategy for overtime, the officials also huddled to discuss dinner plans. A minute later, the basket was waved off. And then it started raining beer cups and popcorn boxes in the T&M.

"Good or no good is all we got," Rebels coach Lon Kruger said of the of.cial ruling. "I think everyone with the Rebels thought it was good. But the replay gave them a little better look than what we had."

While it may have seemed like a tough loss, it changed exactly nothing as far as what lies ahead for UNLV. Or for that matter, Air Force. And the other seven dwarfs.

Getting back to the science action and fantasy theme, anybody who thinks a Mountain West team, with the possible exception of Air Force (now 17-3 with two wins over ACC teams), is going to sneak into the Big Dance without the conference tournament trophy under its arm is sadly mistaken.

But admit it, Rebels fans. You were pretty stoked by this recent run of success than had seen your heroes win five conference games in six starts, including two on the road. You were beginning to sound like Cubs fans on Memorial Day, filling the chat rooms with wishful thinking disguised as positive thoughts.

You were wondering if Jason Petrimoulx continued to handle the ball and Amundson kept sinking free throws and Michael Umeh's knee got better and Jason Terry finally contributesd something and White got a haircut and Jupiter aligned with Mars ... if this rag-tag group of shooting guards could somehow sneak onto the NCAA tournament bubble by March.

The answer, of course, is no. No matter how many times White finds himself in the right place at the right time to almost force overtime, that isn't going to happen. Any team that gets blown out at home by Pepperdine and starts the middle of January with a Ratings Percentage of Index roughly equivalent to one's body temperature remember, they only take 64 for the bracket and teams with an RPI of 98.6 usually are rewarded with a first-round NIT road game probably blew its bubble weeks ago, long before the officials huddled to look at a replay.

But as for sneaking into the Big Dance by putting the conference tournament trophy under its arm ... well, there isn't any reason that still can't happen. These Rebels have just as good a chance as anybody else that will be playing in Denver for the last time (yes, Virginia, there is a Basketball Jones).

In fact, their chances are probably better than most. They're almost starting to remind me of that Stuart Smalley guy, at least in context of the League of (Not So) Extraordinary Gentlemen: They're good enough, they're smart enough, and, doggone it, people are beginning to like them.

There was plenty to like Wednesday, beginning with the defensive effort.

In the first half, UNLV went 15 minutes without leaving its back door open and paid enough attention to the Air Force shooters on the perimeter that the Falcons were only able to knock down 2-of-12 from beyond the arc.

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