1991 N.C.A.A. Division I Men's Basketball National Semi-finals Game: U.N.L.V. Runnin' Rebels vs Duke Blue Devils – U.N.L.V. caps unbeaten 1990-91 N.C.A.A. season with last-second 79-77 nail-biting Final Four loss to Duke

Credit: U.N.L.V. (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

Credit: U.N.L.V. (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

Credit: Bryan Horowitz

Credit: David Herrera

Riding the wave of momentum of their 1990 N.C.A.A. (National Collegiate Athletics
Association) Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Game 103-73 blowout win against the Bobby-Hurley-led Duke Blue Devils, Larry “Grandmama” Johnson and the U.N.L.V. (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) Runnin’ Rebels continued their torrid winning ways during the subsequent 1990-91 N.C.A.A. season. After going undefeated (27-0) during the 1990-91 N.C.A.A. season and winning the 1991 Big West Tournament in convincing fashion, U.N.L.V. entered the 1991 N.C.A.A. Tournament with a sparkling 30-0 record. An equally impressive feat was how the Jerry “The Shark” Tarkanian-coached U.N.L.V. Runnin’ Rebels totally dismantled their opponents by double-digit margins during the 1990-91 N.C.A.A. season; case in point was a season scoring-high 131-81 U.N.L.V. rout of the University of Nevada, Reno on December 7, 1990.

Unfortunately, U.N.L.V.’s hopes of back-to-back N.C.A.A. National Championship victories were dashed when U.N.L.V. ended up losing 79-77 in the 1991 N.C.A.A. Final Four Semifinals Game to eventual-1991 N.C.A.A. Tournament champions Duke. In a rematch of the 1990 N.C.A.A. Men’s Basketball National Championship Game, Duke dodged a proverbial U.N.L.V. bullet when U.N.L.V.’s athletic, southpaw shooting guard Anderson Hunt missed a three-point attempt in the waning moments of the hardly-contested game. Amazingly, U.N.L.V.’s last-second nail-biting 1991 Final Four loss to Duke snapped a 45-game winning streak that dated back to the previous season (a 70-78 loss to the University of California, Santa Barbara on Feb 26, 1990 at the Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, California U.S.A).

Notwithstanding the St. Joseph’s Hawks in 2004, U.N.L.V. had been the last team to finish the regular season unbeaten since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers. Historically speaking, U.N.L.V. was also the last team to enter the N.C.A.A. tournament unbeaten; Wichita State accomplished said feat in 2014 and Kentucky in 2015, respectively. U.N.L.V.’s streak is reminiscent of the unprecedented John Wooden-led U.C.L.A. Bruins back-to-back undefeated 30-0 seasons during the 1971–72 and 1972–73 N.C.A.A. seasons, respectively. At the time, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas “Runnin’ Rebels” played in the now re-organized Big West Conference with the likes of the New Mexico State Aggies and Utah State Aggies, respectively. The team played its home games at the Thomas & Mack Center (so-called “Shark Tank”) in Paradise, Nevada. Their conference was not exactly the Pac-12 or Big 12 in terms of basketball prowess, but kudos nonetheless to U.N.L.V. for their impressive unbeaten run. I would like to have seen this U.N.L.V. team play in the then Pac-10 against perennial Pac-10 basketball powerhouses i.e, U.C.L.A. Bruins, Arizona Wildcats or University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears.

The image of Jerry “The Shark” Tarkanian standing on the U.N.L.V. sideline biting his towel anxiously during close, tense games stands out vividly in my mind. All of the 1990 U.N.L.V. Runnin’ Rebels squad starting five players ended up becoming first-round 1991 N.B.A. draft picks with the exception of two players; including two first-round top ten picks overall. Superlative southpaw U.N.L.V. small forward Stacey “Plastic Man” Augmon ended up being the first-round, ninth pick overall by the Atlanta Hawks and went on to have an above-average N.B.A. career. U.N.L.V.’s dependable, southpaw point guard Greg Anthony was selected as the first-round, twelfth pick overall by the New York Knicks and went on to have a decent N.B.A. career. Despite his exceptional N.C.A.A. college career, U.N.L.V.’s sharpshooting shooting guard Anderson Hunt was surprisingly left undrafted in the 1991 N.B.A. draft. Hunt ended being the second-round, 25th pick overall by the La Crosse Catbirds of the now-defunct C.B.A. (Continental Basketball Association). U.N.L.V.’s versatile, high-scoring power forward Larry”Grandmama” Johnson ended up being a first round, first pick overall selection of the Charlotte Hornets and went on to have a stellar, All-Star-caliber N.B.A. career. The following table illustrates the 1990 U.N.L.V. Runnin’ Rebels starting five players 1991 N.B.A. draft results:

In conclusion, I wish the U.N.L.V. Runnin’ Rebels were able to put the proverbial “icing on the cake” by winning the 1991 N.C.A.A. Championship Game against the Duke Blue Devils. Nevertheless, the 1990-91 U.N.L.V. Runnin’ Rebels 45-game unbeaten streak goes down in sports history as one of the most impressive streaks in organized basketball history.

Below are some 1989-1991 N.C.A.A. National Championship Game/Final Four – Duke vs U.N.L.V. highlights and statistics:

1990 N.C.A.A. Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship Game – #9 Duke vs #2 U.N.L.V. Box Score

1991 N.C.A.A. Division I Men’s Basketball National Semifinals Game – #6 Duke vs #1 U.N.L.V. Box Score

1991 N.B.A. Draft Results (U.N.L.V. Players)

1990–91 U.N.L.V. Runnin’ Rebels Men’s Basketball Team Roster

1990 N.C.A.A. Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship Game – #2 U.N.L.V. vs #9 Duke – 103-73 Complete Game (April 2, 1990)

1991 N.C.A.A. Division I Men’s Basketball National Semifinals (Final Four) Game – #6 Duke vs #1 U.N.L.V. – 79-77 – Complete Game (March 30, 1991)

1990 N.C.A.A. Division I Men’s Basketball National Semifinals (Final Four) Game – #9 Georgia Tech (Kenny Anderson/Dennis Scott) vs #2 U.N.L.V. – 81-90 Complete Game (March 31, 1990)

Teams To Remember (Short Documentary) – 1990 U.N.L.V. Runnin’ Rebels – Part One

Teams To Remember (Short Documentary) – 1990 U.N.L.V. Runnin’ Rebels – Part Two

Teams To Remember (Short Documentary) – 1990 U.N.L.V. Runnin’ Rebels – Part Three

Teams To Remember (Short Documentary) – 1990 U.N.L.V. Runnin’ Rebels – Part Four

Teams To Remember (Short Documentary) – 1990 U.N.L.V. Runnin’ Rebels – Part Five

Teams To Remember (Short Documentary) – 1990 U.N.L.V. Runnin’ Rebels – Part Six

1989-90 N.C.A.A. Division I Men’s Basketball Regular Season Game – #20 Arizona (Jud Buechler/Sean Rooks) vs #7 U.N.L.V. – 87-95 – Complete Game (February 18, 1990)

1990 N.C.A.A. Division I Men’s Basketball Game – #16 Louisville (Denny Crum/LaBradford Smith) vs #4 U.N.L.V. – 81-91 – Game Highlights (February 23, 1990)

1991 N.C.A.A. Division I Men’s Basketball West Regional Semifinals (Sweet Sixteen) Game – #1 U.N.L.V. vs #21 Michigan State (Steve Smith/Matt Steigenga) – 95-75 – Complete Game – Part One (December 15, 1990)

1991 N.C.A.A. Division I Men’s Basketball West Regional Semifinals (Sweet Sixteen) Game – #1 U.N.L.V. vs #21 Michigan State (Steve Smith/Matt Steigenga) – 95-75 – Complete Game – Part Two (December 15, 1990)

1990-91 N.C.A.A. Division I Men’s Basketball Regular Season Game – #1 U.N.L.V. vs #2 Arkansas (Todd Day/Oliver Miller) – 112-105 – Complete Game (February 10, 1991)

1989-90 N.C.A.A. Division I Men’s Basketball Preseason N.I.T. Game – #1 U.N.L.V. vs Unranked Loyola Marymount University (Hank Gathers/Bo Kimble) – 102-91 – Complete Game (November 15, 1989)

1989-90 N.C.A.A. Division I Men’s Basketball West Regional Finals Game – #1 U.N.L.V. vs #21 Loyola Marymount University (Hank Gathers/Bo Kimble) – 131-101 – Game Highlights (March 25, 1990)

1989-90 N.C.A.A. Division I Men’s Basketball Regular Season Game – #5 U.N.L.V. vs #16 Lousiana State University (Chris Jackson/Shaquille O’Neal) – 105-107 – Complete Game (January 28, 1990)

Published on: May 7, 2018

Sources: Wikipedia–https://www.en.wikipedia.org, N.C.A.A.– https://www.ncaa.org, E.S.P.N.–https://www.espn.com, YouTube–https://www.youtube.com