Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 31, 1991 TAG: 9103310232
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Long
As Anderson Hunt's desperation 25-footer bounced wildly away, eventually to be caressed by exultant Blue Devils, the unthinkable happened Saturday night. Nevada-Las Vegas had fallen .
Duke wiped out all memories of last year's 30-point loss in the NCAA Tournament final by shocking the highly favored Rebels 79-77 on Christian Laettner's two free throws with 12.7 seconds left. Laettner shrugs off pressure. C4 Runnin' Rebels feel pain. C4
Instead of UNLV's anticipated date with college basketball immortality on Monday night, it will be Duke going against another underdog, Kansas.
UNLV shoved; Duke shoved back. And it was the mighty Rebels who cracked.
Stacy Augmon got an intentional foul; national player of the year Larry Johnson drew a technical.
And through it all, the youthful Blue Devils, getting poised and masterful leadership from point guard Bobby Hurley, kept their cool.
UNLV's 45-game winning streak was over, its season ended at 34-1, and the Rebels headed for probation with all considerations of their being the best team ever just a memory.
Next year, there will be no UNLV in the tournament because the postponed probation takes effect.
The victory by Duke, the perennial bridesmaid with nine visits to the Final Four and no championships, was accurately forecast by North Carolina coach Dean Smith. For Smith, who was ejected near the end of his losing semifinal against Kansas, it was the only thing that went right for him all night.
Tough and battle-tested despite their youth, the Blue Devils rallied at the end after UNLV had taken the biggest lead of the second half, 76-71, on a tap-in by George Ackles with 2:29 left.
But Duke didn't fold, and with almost all of the 47,100 cheering wildly for the ACC entry, it was the defending champions who backed down.
Hurley, who, like Laettner played 40 minutes, sank a 3-pointer at 2:14 and it was 76-74.
Then it was Brian Davis' turn. Laettner's roommate, normally a complementary player and defensive specialist, took a bounce pass from Grant Hill and scored on a layup while being fouled.
Davis, who also drew a critical fifth foul on UNLV playmaker Greg Anthony by taking a charge with 3:51 to go, made the free throw and the Blue Devils - not the Shark - could smell blood.
Johnson made the second of two free throws with 49 seconds left, getting a reprieve after a lane violation, to tie the score at 77.
Duke worked the ball around, and Thomas Hill drove for the basket, missing a tough 12-footer in traffic.
But Laettner, the 6-foot-11 junior center, got the most important rebound of his career and was fouled by Evric Gray with 12.7 seconds left.
The Rebels took a timeout, but Laettner, the most accurate free-throw shooter in the NCAA Tournament, wasn't about to miss.
"I knew Christian was going to hit one," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "I thought he'd hit two."
Laettner, who had 20 of his 28 points during the first half, sank both shots cleanly.
Then UNLV, lacking the leadership of Anthony, did a strange thing. Johnson, the inside man, brought the ball up the court as the time clicked away.
With the entire building a madhouse, UNLV finally had no choice. Hunt, who kept the Rebels in the game with a spectacular 29 points, had to shoot from long, long range.
It never had a chance. The rebound bounced long, Laettner tipped it away, and the upset was assured.
"It was one of the really great basketball games," Krzyzewski said. "Our kids hung in there the whole time; we just happened to play defense on the last exchange."
Most experts gave the Blue Devils little chance of winning, but the Duke players didn't listen.
"We did it by not listening to anyone except Coach K and the coaching staff," Laettner said. "We went into the game thinking we could win, and we went out on the floor and did it today."
That was Duke's attitude all night.
"They shot 51 percent against us and nobody's been over 46 percent all year," said UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian. "We had matchup problems with Laettner. Johnson was really the only guy who could guard him, and we couldn't afford to have him do that all night and get in foul trouble."
As the Blue Devils started to celebrate, Krzyzewski was on the floor, the palms of his hands turned down, warning his players that the task was far from over.
There's one more big wall to climb, and Krzyzewski didn't want a premature celebration.
Krzyzewski said the keys to the game were controlling the Rebels' vaunted transition game and shutting down the bullish Johnson inside.
Johnson, the 250-pounder, did finish with 13 points and 13 rebounds, but almost all of that came on offensive rebounds.
The only thing that kept UNLV afloat was its backcourt of Hunt and Anthony, who combined for 48 points.
Hurley, who didn't score in last year's debacle and had five turnovers and an uneasy stomach, wound up with 12 points, seven assists and just three turnovers against the persistent UNLV pressure.
"We didn't read the articles that said `Bring on the Rebels' and we didn't lose by 20 or 30 points," Hurley said. "Now I won't have to answer many more questions about last year."
see microfilm for box score
by CNB