Three Up, Three Down: When fresh, Lopez plays like monster at center

The term “three-headed monster” has since become synonymous with sports, especially with teams that don’t have a one-headed monster to play center or running back or retire the last three batters in a baseball game. So they use three guys to do the job of one.

The UNLV basketball team’s three-headed monster is comprised of post players Brice Massamba, Quintrell Thomas and Carlos Lopez.

Tokyo, one assumes, is still standing. Godzilla, Jimmer Fredette and Colorado State are down at the pool, sunning themselves.

But after the Rebels remained bowl eligible Saturday by edging New Mexico 63-62 in a wacky, mistake-filled finish — the last minute at the Thomas & Mack Center looked like Gamera The Flying Turtle and Megalon trying to fall on a live hand grenade — perhaps the Rebels’ three-headed monster should become a two-headed monster, or a 1½-headed monster.

Show of hands: Who in the crowd of 13,843 — thank heaven for $5 balcony tickets — wants to see Lopez start playing more than the 12 minutes he played Saturday?

The big guy from Puerto Rico made 4 of 6 field-goal attempts, was 1-for-1 from the free-throw line, pulled down two rebounds, assisted on a basket, blocked a shot and — shades of Walt “Clyde” Frazier — made three steals during the 720 seconds he wasn’t sitting on the bench.

“Carlos was great,” UNLV coach Lon Kruger said, adding that Lopez keeps working hard in practice despite his role as monster head No. 3. “He missed a couple there when he got a little tired.”

Tired? After playing just 12 minutes? If that’s the case, Lopez needs to get in better shape, especially with Massamba and Thomas contributing little to the effort these days.

Lopez scored seven consecutive UNLV points to turn a 49-47 lead into a 56-50 cushion before he missed a layup and a dunk that led Kruger to believe he was winded.

“Just tryin’ to be consistent with it,” Lopez said after making New Mexico’s much-acclaimed Drew Gordon resemble a telephone pole. “He’s a great player. I just took on the challenge and tried to do my best.”

But the best he could do at the end was sit and watch as the Rebels and then the Lobos and then the Rebels and then the Lobos tried to give the victory away, until New Mexico finally succeeded.

“My heart dropped like four times; I closed my eyes like a hundred times, rolled my head, like, I don’t know how many times,” Lopez said.

It has been said that two heads are better than one, even when you’re not rolling them while sitting on the bench. After what Lopez showed Saturday, I’m not as certain about three.

THREE UP

■ His new school sort of sounds like an ambulance company, and since transferring to Mercyhurst from James Madison, Silverado High School product Heiden Ratner has been supplying the 12-3 Lakers from Erie, Pa., with universal health care. The 6-foot junior guard is averaging 23.6 points, ranking among the top scorers and 3-point shooters in NCAA Division II. Plus, he gets to play against Slippery Rock.

■ Former UNLV center Joel Anthony did not attempt a single shot in 43 minutes for the Miami Heat in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. But he pulled down 16 rebounds. Where there once was a picture of Mother Teresa alongside the word “selfless” in the dictionary, there now is a picture of Joel Anthony. There never will be a picture of LeBron James.

■ Hoping to achieve competitive balance, ease travel expenses and allay scheduling concerns, local high schools are proposing a new alignment for sports. The best guess is that Bishop Gorman will wind up in the same division as the Packers, Lakers, Giants, Mean Machine, Harlem Globetrotters, the Average Joes from “Dodgeball” and Billy Walters, because he rarely loses, either. But the Gaels will not be joining the Big Ten Leaders or the Big Ten Legends because, let’s face it, those are really corny names for its new divisions.

THREE DOWN

■ Mike Clausen started last season as UNLV’s starting quarterback, was switched/demoted to defense shortly thereafter and now has been suspended from spring football practice for breaking team rules. This is like going from the showroom at Caesars Palace to the back lounge at Slots-A-Fun in five months.

■ After bowling a record-low score of 100 in his loss to Finnish native Mika Koivuniemi, who rolled a near-perfect 299, in the semifinals of Saturday’s PBA Tournament of Champions at Red Rock Lanes, Wes Daugherty of West Palm Beach, Fla., did not offer excuses because, frankly, nobody would have believed them anyway.

■ I am always leery when the term “private-public” is mentioned in context of financing sports arenas, such as the one being proposed for UNLV, without first knowing the percentages. In times like these, one should always remember baseball’s Aaron brothers combined to hit 768 home runs. Hank hit 755. Tommie hit 13.

Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352.