Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 5, 1990 TAG: 9004030398
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: DENVER LENGTH: Long
The Rebels with a cause gave Jerry Tarkanian something to remember forever in his 13-year battle with the NCAA's enforcers - a national basketball championship.
UNLV did it in style, blitzing Duke 103-73 Monday night in a manner that was a reminiscent of the old UCLA dynasty.
Not only did UNLV become the first Western team since the 1975 Bruins to win the national title, they shattered numerous tournament records. They became the first team to score 100 points in a title game, and the margin was the greatest in NCAA history.
Nobody can say the Rebels didn't come prepared to win.
With five minutes left in the NCAA Tournament final and starters hugging Tarkanian every time they retired to the bench, the excess clothing appeared.
The players donned hats that read, "Just did it, No. 1."
Then came the T-shirts - not one, but two.
"The Shark takes his bite, 1990 champions," read one.
The other read: "They just couldn't run with the Rebels."
Spontaneous or not, the clothing most assuredly was accurate.
In becoming the first team since North Carolina in 1982 to be ranked No. 1 in preseason and win the championship, UNLV closed a 35-5 campaign with an exclamation point.
After the demolition of a Duke team that simply couldn't handle anything the Rebels threw at them - or the ball, for that matter - UNLV had every reason to giggle.
Meanwhile, the Shark was having the last laugh.
It would be difficult to imagine a team playing any better than did the Rebels, especially in the second half.
Led by mercurial guard Anderson Hunt, who fired 3-pointers as casually as if he were playing in a YMCA scrimmage, the Rebels put on an overall display that simply gave Duke no chance.
The Blue Devils, a surprise finalist, completed a 29-9 season on a down note, appearing in a Final Four for the eighth time without winning a title.
This time, they didn't have a chance.
UNLV shot 61.2 percent from the field, including 66.7 in the second half.
Hunt was the chief executioner, with 29 points, including four 3-pointers and only four misses from the floor. He averages 15.7 points, but like his teammates, there was a message to be delivered.
"I think it's the best a team has ever played against me as a coach," said Duke's Mike Krzyzewski. "There's not really much we could do."
Coach K is defense-oriented, and he appreciated what happened on the McNichols court.
"Their half-court defense dictated their offense," Krzyzewski said. "They were in control of the game early and throughout. I thought they were so positive offensively because they knew they were in control defensively."
Duke, with 14 first-half turnovers, never was in the game, but the Blue Devils stayed reasonably close at intermission, trailing 47-35.
Starting the second half, Duke scored on six straight possessions but still closed only to 57-47.
With 16:08 left, Hunt hit a jump shot to start what would become an 18-0 run that had all the subtlety of an avalanche.
A TV timeout followed the Hunt goal. In the next 1:37 of play, including a couple of Duke timeouts, the Rebels scored on five straight possessions, including 3-pointers by Hunt and Stacey Augmon.
Just to show UNLV's versatility, All-America forward Larry Johnson, a 6-foot-7, 250-pounder, hit two straight 3-pointers. It was that kind of night.
The timeouts didn't slow the Runnin' Rebels. Johnson made a layup and Hunt hit another bomb to make it 75-47.
By then, with 13 minutes to play, the love-in already had started on the UNLV bench.
Even the Shark permitted himself a pre-finish smile. He even discarded his ever-present towel long before it was over.
"I really didn't want to accept the trophy," Tarkanian said. "They made me do it."
Asked if the title was sweet revenge, the humble coach said, "It's not revenge. It's sweet."
match.
Without saying it was men against boys, Krzyzewski said, "They were so mature, so physically dominating."
Despite the obvious offensive production, it was the defense that made this a bloodletting that would have attracted a pack of great white sharks.
"I think we play the best defense in the country," Tark said. "It was the best we've played all year. We probably got lucky, because we got in foul trouble in the second half, so we went to our amoeba [zone trap], and the amoeba destroyed them."
The Rebels finished with 16 steals, a tournament record on a night they rewrote the book.
Johnson, a junior college transfer, was asked what was left for him to do now that UNLV has won the championship.
"Back to back," he said.
Off Monday night's display, with four starters returning, that surely seems possible. DUKE MPFGFTRAFPT Brickey 242-40-23224Laettner 295-125-695415Abdelnaby 245-74-670314Henderson 329-202-220221Hurley 320-32-20332Davis 212-52-31016Koubek 141-40-02002Hill 80-20-03100McCaffrey 91-32-22014Buckley 30-00-01000Palmer 20-03-43003Cook 21-13-43002Totals 20026-6120-2739111673 UNLV MPFGFTRAFPT Johnson 308-124-4112322Augmon 266-70-147512Butler 271-42-23334Hunt 3112-161-222029Anthony 305-113-416313Scurry 122-50-00015Bice 90-10-00220Young 122-20-00015Jones 84-50-02028Cvijanovich 101-22-21225Jeter 30-00-00000Rice 20-20-01000Totals 20041-6713-17332423103 Rebounds include team rebounds Score by periods: Duke35-38-73 UNLV47-56-103
Three-point goals - Duke: Henderson 1-8, Koubek 0-1, Hurley 0-2, Totals 1-11. UNLV: Hunt 4-7, Johnson 2-2, Cvijanovich 1-1, Young 1-1, Anthony 0-1, Bice 0-1, Rice 0-1, Totals 8-14.
Attendance - 17,765
by CNB