Can we imagine a recent Duke or Kansas or Kentucky team finishing off a regular season in such a humble circumstances? For the game, Fullerton nearly doubled its average attendance. Gambling problem? Quinn Buckner, for one, had already stated his belief that UNLV was actually superior to his own team. But still, UNLVs last game of a perfect season was played in a gym. . Previous Season Next Season. The 1990 UNLV Runnin' Rebels are regarded as one of the greatest college basketball teams of all time. ESPN reported in January of 1990 that Augmon would reunite with his 1988 Olympic team coach, John Thompson, and transfer to Georgetown if the Rebels were ineligible to play in the 1991 postseason. People can try to deny this, but UNLV was like the Yankees in baseball, the Notre Dame of college football and the Mike Tyson of boxing. Duke assurance grew with every break they caught in the second half: Ackles picked up his fourth foul minutes after halftime, an ankle injury hobbled his backup, Elmore Spencer. Muoka, Bryce . The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Because many people forget or simply ignore the plain truth - LJ kicked everyone's ass on the court. ", Duke had also added a freshman sensation. Director of Basketball Operations. "Our attitude was that if we keep it close, the pressure is on them. 1991 Georgetown (jd) 1991 UNLV (jd) 1992 Duke (jd) 1993 Michigan (jd) 1993 North Carolina (jd) 1994 Arkansas (gagablagblag) 1995 UCLA (jd) Tarkanian died in February 2015 at the age of 84. Heck, I was a kid living in Canada and I couldnt get enough of Greg Anthony, Stacey Augmon, Anderson Hunt, and Larry Johnson (and I guess we can toss George Ackles in there too). Nine players from this past year's team have entered the transfer portal. The largest margin of victory ever. Hartman, Tim Both were ejected. Plastic Man, with his elastic arms and legs, made it a nightmare for offensive players in an age where defensive player like Shane Battier take acting classes to engage in flopping to gain foul trouble on his match-up. Laettner, Grant Ja Morants allegations of aggression off the court, explained. The semifinal upset also ended the run of one of the most culturally influential college basketball teams ever. On the court Duke trained for UNLV's length, athleticism and speed. Hampshire, Marvin If this two-time all American honors and 1991 Wooden Award winner isnt in your list of top 20 college players of all time, chances are you need to get some old film and watch pure dominance at work. Justin Webster called the Rebels 91-66 loss Wednesday to Utah State the worst game hes ever played in during his basketball career. With 99 Duke they werent even ranked as the number one team in the country. The rodeo came to Las Vegas and the Thomas & Mack Arena, so UNLV had to find somewhere else to start the season. As for Johnson, it was widely assumed that he would enter the 1990 NBA draft and quite possibly be taken as the first overall pick. Its simple those teams are mentioned in passing - never with the reverence of 91 UNLV. The Runnin' Rebels have one Sweet Sixteen appearance since 1991. Then Michigan State by 20. With Anthony on the bench, UNLV managed just three points the rest of the way. We had three of the top college players of all time, but we didn't know that then.". Visit ESPN to view the UNLV Rebels team roster for the current season. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Dikembe Mutombo was 7-foot-2, Alonzo Mourning was 6-10 and Georgetown slowed the pace of the game down to a crawl. Copyright 2019 Las Vegas Review-Journal, Inc. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service, In this March 30, 1991, file photo, UNLV's Anderson Hunt (12) and unidentified teammates leave the floor after losing to Duke in an NCAA national semifinal game in Indianapolis. Williams, Jordan "UNLV were so cool and nonchalant like, Yeah, it's going to be a cakewalk. Let it burn into your cranium. UNLV had reason to be confident entering the 1991 national semifinal game. After the first TV timeout, Tarkanian switched his defense from man-to-man to the infamous "amoeba" zone. Krzyzewski. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, Anderson Hunt, George Ackles and their teammates would enter the 1991 Final Four having trailed their opponents for a total of just one minute and 20 seconds in any second half all season. Unsung hero: David Butler of UNLV, one of the toughest and best defenders in school history. If youre a basketball nut like me, you saw HBOs UNLV documentary. Thirty years later, that 79-77 upset loss to Duke in the 1991 Final Four still stings. First LJ (who wasnt called that yet) picked Vegas. Asked at the Final Four news conference about his mentor's comments, Krzyzewski laughed it off. The two stars could have transferred and received immediate eligibility, but both elected to remain in Vegas. By this point in his career he had already taken the NCAA all the way to the Supreme Court. The Runnin' Rebs lived up to their nickname, sprinting on fast breaks off misses and turnovers, but they were also a juggernaut in the half court. Reggie Manuel was recruited to UNLV by legendary men's basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian shortly after the Rebels won the NCAA championship in 1990. The left-hander often backed up Ackles or Larry Johnson depending on foul trouble and opposing team personnel. Will Saxon. 1991 UNLV Roll Call: The Starters. Baker, Trey "Beating that UNLV team was a pivotal moment in Duke basketball history," Grant Hill . We can also describe in great detail the championship game the previous year, a 103-73 victory over Duke. The Rebels swallowed up the Blue Devils, overwhelming them from the start and cruising to the biggest rout in a national final. As 7,963 Canadians looked on (in a stadium that could seat 60,000), the Rebels rolled. Duke's game plan worked from the opening tip, with the Blue Devils hitting their first five shots for a 13-5 lead. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Don't miss the big stories. Before the 1990 season Ackles injured his wrist in a pickup game and redshirted. UNLV Rebels Men's. Roster and Stats. We present them here for purely educational purposes. 103-73. The largest crowd in the history of Barnhill Arena showed up to do their Woo Pig Sooieing worst. The Rebels eked out a two-point win against surprising No. "I think it's the best a team has ever played against me," Krzyzewski said afterward. More School Info. Hide/Show Additional Information For Royce Hamm Jr. Hide/Show Additional Information For Reece Brown, Hide/Show Additional Information For Josh Baker, Hide/Show Additional Information For Trey Hurlburt, Hide/Show Additional Information For James Hampshire, Hide/Show Additional Information For Marvin Coleman, Hide/Show Additional Information For Cameron Burist, Video Platform powered by CBS Sports Digital. Two nights later, Duke concluded its NCAA run by beating Kansas 72-65 to claim the title. The UNLV men's basketball team, called The Runnin' Rebels, and the women's basketball team, called the Lady Rebels, are NCAA Division I teams and part of the Mountain West Conference. Hunt had a sweet shooting stroke, solid perimeter defense and above average athleticism to finish above the rim. Previous Season Next Season. But the 1990 team is for another article at another time. This was the first NCAA Tournament to feature all four of the, The Final Four was also the first to include both halves of the. To this day, the Rebels are the only team to top 100 points in the title game, and the win over Duke still stands as the largest margin of victory ever recorded in a championship final. When talk began to hit the Wizard of Westwood ears, the typically humble and reserved Wooden quickly spoke that his UCLA teams were better than UNLV, but also quickly recanted in a separate interview proclaiming that 1991 UNLV is up there and no college basketball team is the best ever. Sara Doty. In addition, Hunt was sensational from both sides of the arc and would lead all scorers with 29 points. Men's College Basketball News. I just feel so happy and fortunate that we got here and were able to win it., Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski: We were overmatched. Florida State by 32. Instead, the Rebels overcame a one-point deficit midway through the second half and won going away, 95-75. But the committee saw the matter differently and imposed the ban on postseason play for 1991, making UNLV . "We just never got there," Koloskie says now of the Duke game. Do you have a blog? Athletic Trainer. But what makes them different than, say, 83 Houston, 85 Georgetown or 99 Duke? All rights reserved. In the first three rounds, games were shown on a regional basis, except for one game each on Saturday and Sunday in the second round. The Lions were making a storybook tournament run in the wake of the tragic death of Hank Gathers, but UNLV ended that story with an easy 131-101 victory. In fact, the team that beat them (Connecticut) spent more time on the court as the #1 team in comparison to Duke. Stanford Cardinal (13-17, 7-12 Pac-12) at Oregon Ducks (17 . Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? IT WAS TOUTED as the game of the year in college basketball, and it would tip at 11:20 in the morning local time on a Sunday in February. Ackles was an extremely athletic player who often finished around the basket with authority. Now you know what Duke experienced for 40 minutes. Find out more. Beating UNLV team legitimizes us as a serious program.. Armed with length, leaping ability and creativity, Augmon usually converted difficult shots with ease. The Hogs even held the halftime lead. KOZN (1620 AM) and KOOO (101.9 FM) will carry all Creighton men's basketball games during the 2022-23 season. The 1990 NCAA tournament concluded with UNLV winning the national championship thanks to a 30-point rout of Duke in the final, 103-73.The margin set the record for largest in championship game . Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 6:03AM. That remains the largest margin of victory in any tournament finalan amazing achievement by UNLVs fantastic title team. Two of the program's prize recruits, Ed O'Bannon and Shon Tarver, promptly withdrew their verbal commitments to Tarkanian and enrolled at UCLA instead. Coach: Jerry Tarkanian. UNLV had now won 45 games in a row, and Tarkanian's men -- who had won their games by an average of 27 points -- were being compared to the undefeated Indiana Hoosiers of 1976. Simply put, most opponents were already beat before the game even started. We got these dudes because they are taking us lightly. Video & Recruiting Coordinator. But in looking back at UNLVs historic season, Im overwhelmed by one pervading sentiment: 1991 was such a different time in college sports. Buckley, Brandon Thats like saying the 1983 North Carolina State Wolfpacks victory over Phi Slamma Jamma meant they were better. Melvin Love: Better player than stats indicate; effective rebounder with below average feel for the game. Krzyzewski had said goodbye to Phil Henderson and Alaa Abdelnaby from the previous year's team, but he still had Christian Laettner, Thomas Hill, Bobby Hurley, Billy McCaffrey and Brian Davis. UNLV's semi-final loss in the NCAA tournament brought an end to their astounding 45-game win streak. ESPN and CBS analyst Jay Bilas was a Duke assistant coach for both the 1990 national title game, UNLV's 103-73 rout, and the following year's 79-77 Final Four upset that stopped the Rebels two . (Editor's note: ESPN reached out to multiple starters from that team as well as to one member of the coaching staff. Ill see you after the game, Johnson threatened as the referees pulled the players apart. On Nov. 29, 1990, the Committee on Infractions announced that, after hearing UNLV's appeal, it was giving the program two options. Record: 34-1 (18-0, 1st in Big West MBB ) Rank: 1st in the Final AP Poll. We didnt know it would also mark the beginning of the end of the programs reign as a national power. "They were brutal," he said, and that was just what he expected and wanted. That and the fact that perfect regular seasons are exceedingly rare in college basketball. The tournament was notable for its upsets. Duke, meanwhile, won the first of five National Championships (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015) two nights later. Former Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton had by this time become a vocal fan of the No. Learn more and register, College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. No need. Laettner made two free throws with 12.7 seconds left, and Duke won 79-77 when Hunt's contested 3 from 25 feet missed long just before time expired. When writers praised his team's valiant effort after the game, John Thompson was having none of it: "We're not in the moral-victory business at Georgetown.". In this March 30, 1991, file photo, UNLV's Anderson Hunt (12) and unidentified teammates leave the floor after losing to Duke in an NCAA national semifinal game in Indianapolis. UNLVs roster included three of the eventual top 12 picks in the 1991 NBA Draft: Larry Johnson (first overall), Stacey Augmon (9th) and Greg Anthony (12th). I dont think they knew what to do theyd never been in that situation before. Instead of using the traditional players' entrance to the arena, Tarkanian had the UNLV bus pull up to Barnhill's main gate on game day. Tarkanian died in 2015.) As journalists its just easier to say that bad guys wear black and good guys wear white when in truth the real intentions of men are somewhere in the middle called the grey area. Former KU player Milt Newton called the NCAA's decision on UNLV "gutless and spineless.". "We had something to prove. Georgia Tech, with Kenny Anderson and Dennis Scott, gave UNLV a game in the Final Four, but UNLV pulled out a 90-81 victory. But Augmon (31 points), Hunt (26) and Johnson (25) were too much. Games played in Detroit since have either been at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Ford Field or, starting in 2018, Little Caesars Arena. Some Duke players reportedly cried in the locker room after the 103-73 defeat and starting point guard Bobby Hurley later admitted that during the summer of 1990 he had recurring dreams of swimming with sharks. Coach Wooden (good) is to this day considered a saint with not a single corrupt bone in his body, while Coach Tarkanian (bad) is viewed as having low morals with little regard for authority. But that wide-ranging influence was rooted first in UNLV's dominance on the basketball court. 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Ranking the top 25 players in the 2021 Final Four, Anonymous coaches scout the men's Final Four teams, ESPN Insider college basketball contributor, First began covering college hoops in 2004, Has written for Basketball Prospectus and the Wall Street Journal. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. "We heard some of the worst comments," Tarkanian would recall in 2009. Its a record that still stands 5th all time. Those teams entered the tournament with double digit loses. Duke, coached by Mike Krzyzewski, won a rematch of the previous year's national final matchup against undefeated UNLV 7977 in the semifinal,[1] then won the national title with a 7265 victory in the final game over Kansas, coached by Roy Williams. In advance of the rematch on the Aggies' home floor, Utah State took out a full-page ad in the Logan Herald Journal. If youre in a war you want him in the foxhole with you. When the two teams met in Las Vegas in February of 1990, a brawl erupted after UNLV's Chris Jeter head-butted one Utah State player and punched another. What else could he say? Mutual respected rivals (L to R) Tark & Wooden. It was also the first time a team reached 100 points in the championship game. UNLV reeled off its next 16 wins by an average score of 103-71 before encountering what experts forecasted to be an actual challenge, a true road game at Arkansas. While both Cole Field House and Freedom Hall have both been replaced, only Freedom Hall's replacement, the KFC Yum! Augmon would like to refute a few notions surrounding the upset. Chappell, DeShawn Not an arena it was a bleachers and lines all over the floor gymnasium. What happened: You can count on hand how many times an NCAA final has seen such dominance created by defense. UNLV crushed Utah State, then had a party on the court with its fans Thursday to celebrate its back-to-back Mountain West regular-season championships. Four of Fresno State's 10 wins have come in true road games (three in conference play). Johnson joined an already loaded squad. "We were basically outplayed," he said, "but I still think we're part of history. "I've found out that it's smart never to argue with him," he said, "and I suppose if I were [Knight] I would pick UNLV to win, too.". Veterans from that IU roster fielded a high volume of calls from the media that week. Before that St. Josephs in 2004. These sites are not endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with with these teams or institutions. And in game situations, he had no qualms telling you how he felt. Although not on the trash-talking level of todays college players, Anthony was clearly the kind of player that make you regret any trash-talking you dished out. You call a jump shooting team getting to the free throw line 23 times to a post oriented teams 15 times better? This collection contains programs for UNLV men's basketball games and annual guides for men's and women's basketball.
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1991 unlv basketball roster