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Sunday, April 02, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
REBEL ROUSERS
It was 10 years ago today that the UNLV men's basketball team ran over the Duke Blue Devils to win the NCAA Tournament. The Review-Journal revisits a trip to the top of collegiate basketball by a group of players coach Jerry Tarkanian called "a very special team."
By Steve Carp
Review-Journal
"You need a six-game win streak once you come into this tournament to win it. and both Duke and UNLV have won five straight games. One of them will win their first national championship."
With those words, CBS sportscaster Brent Musburger set the scene as the nation tuned in to see if a school just 32 years old could etch its place in college basketball history.
It seems like only yesterday that UNLV destroyed Duke 103-73 on a crisp spring evening at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver. Today marks the 10th anniversary of the biggest moment in Rebel basketball history. Nothing before or since has been quite like it.
There are some who will argue that then-coach Jerry Tarkanian took better teams to the Final Four in 1977, 1987 and 1991. But of Tarkanian's four squads that made it to college basketball's ultimate event, only one cut down the nets.
"It was a very close team," Tarkanian said of the 1990 national champions. "A very special team."
It was a team that overcame adversity, much of it brought upon itself amid allegations of NCAA violations and heightened scrutiny, both from the association and the media. It also overcame key injuries and suspensions.
In that last game, the Rebels put on a display that left people stunned. A game that figured to be close wasn't. An 18-0 run early in the second half set the stage for the party to begin even though 13 minutes remained.
"I'll always remember that picture with our hats on," forward Stacey Augmon said of the team's gathering around Tarkanian, who held the championship trophy. "To see the happiness on everyone's faces ... that's the most vivid memory I have."
UNLV went 35-5 en route to the NCAA title, but the season didn't begin as smoothly as it ended.
To start the season, the team had to play without two of its key players -- David Butler and Moses Scurry -- who were academically ineligible for the fall semester. While the two Rebels played catch-up in the classroom, the team lost to Kansas in the semifinals of the Preseason National Invitation Tournament in New York. Two weeks later, UNLV was defeated at Oklahoma, 89-81. UNLV was 3-2, and nobody was talking Final Four. But the Big West Conference season approached. It gave Tarkanian a chance to get his team on track. The Rebels won six straight, including nonconference victories over Iowa and Arkansas, but stumbled 83-82 at New Mexico State. The next night, Tarkanian and his staff huddled in his Thomas & Mack Center office to figure out what happened in Las Cruces. There was a knock on the window.
A large man with a UNLV letterman's jacket was outside, shivering, looking for refuge. Tarkanian let him in. Larry Johnson, the person who was supposed to be the final piece of the championship puzzle, came in from the cold. He was nearly in tears.
"Larry said, `Coach, I let the team down. I could've done so much more,' " Tarkanian said. "Larry didn't want to make waves when he got here. He was holding back and being unselfish."
Johnson also recalled the meeting.
"My whole thing was to be one of the fellas," he said. "That was their team. They had everyone back, and I was new, so I wanted to learn from them.
"But that loss bothered me. I was used to being the man (at Odessa Community College in Texas), but I didn't want to step on nobody's toes when I got to Vegas."
Tarkanian looked at Johnson and told him to step on toes, arms, heads -- whatever it took to win.
"When Larry started to assert himself, we became a better team," Tarkanian said.
Johnson began shooting more. He became more aggressive on the boards. He picked up his defensive intensity. His teammates fed off that.
UNLV had almost always put great defensive pressure on its opponents. Now, the Rebels also appeared to be a hungry and angry team.
There were rumblings about the fancy cars many of the players drove. How did they enjoy such luxury? The NCAA also wondered about unpaid hotel incidentals. It made several players sit out games until the accounts were settled.
The tough part for Tarkanian was not knowing when the NCAA would strike or who it would target next.
"The whole thing was ludicrous," guard Travis Bice said. "All it did was make us closer."
Moments before the team left its Philadelphia hotel to play Temple, Tarkanian learned that Anderson Hunt, the team's second-leading scorer, couldn't play because he failed to make restitution for a surfboard he lost in Maui the year before. Hunt rented a surfboard, lost it and failed to pay for it.
A couple of weeks later, as the team was preparing to board a flight for Baton Rouge, La., word came that Augmon and Chris Jeter were ineligible because they failed to pay their hotel incidentals.
UNLV beat Temple without Hunt, but the Rebels couldn't defeat Louisiana State, which was led by Shaquille O'Neal. Tarkanian's team was now 14-4, and more adversity was ahead.
-- -- --
Tensions were high when Utah State visited the Thomas & Mack on Feb. 1 after Aggies coach Kohn Smith had questioned how UNLV players got the expensive cars they drove and the fancy clothes they wore. Just seconds before the Rebels completed a 124-90 rout, Jeter, a reserve forward, head-butted Utah State's Gary Patterson.
After the final horn, Patterson's teammate, Kendall Youngblood, went after Jeter, and a brawl broke out by the Utah State bench.
It didn't last more than a few seconds, but Scurry, who had been suspended for the game by the NCAA for failure to pay his hotel incidentals, took a swing at Smith.
Scurry said he had no idea at the time that the guy he hit was a coach.
"He had a sweater on and I'm not used to seeing coaches look like that," Scurry said. "I'm used to seeing coaches in suits."
Jeter was suspended for three games, and neither he nor Scurry were allowed to play in the March 1 rematch in Logan, Utah. That night, a group of engineering students tried to get even by placing a water bomb under the UNLV bench. When Tarkanian sat down at the start of the game, boom! He was drenched.
Tarkanian took the prank well and the Rebels won, 84-82.
-- -- --
If Feb. 1 brought adversity, Feb. 12 nearly brought tragedy -- and the turning point of the Rebels' season.
In the first half against Fresno State, guard Greg Anthony drove to the basket, looking to hit a jump shot in the key. But Anthony didn't land on his feet. Instead, his head hit the hardwood floor with a sickening thud.
Trainer Jerry Koloskie knew it wasn't good.
"You could tell Greg was in a lot of trouble," he said. "He was in a lot of pain. I was trying to make sure he could breathe."
Anthony had broken his jaw in two places. The best guess was he might be back in a month.
The next day, as the players prepared for practice, it was somewhat somber inside the Thomas & Mack. Despite being the point guard and directing the team, Anthony didn't own the respect of all of his teammates. Then he walked into practice wearing a blue hockey helmet with a facemask attached.
"Everyone was shocked," Scurry said. "We couldn't believe he'd try to play after breaking his jaw the night before. I said to myself, `Man, that is one tough dude.' "
Dave Rice, who was Anthony's roommate, said that moment brought the team together.
"We were already close because of the suspensions," he said, "but when Greg came into practice that day, he earned everybody's respect. That's when we really became close."
Anthony said he wasn't about to sit out when things were starting to get good.
"The beauty of it was any of the other guys would have done the same thing," Anthony said. "That's the kind of team we were."
Koloskie credits Dr. Daniel Orr, who fixed Anthony's broken jaw, and equipment manager Paul Pucciarelli, who came up with the hockey helmet and face shield.
"If Dr. Orr had not taken command of the situation, there was no way Greg would've returned the next day," Koloskie said. "We were getting advice from everyone, but Dr. Orr knew what had to be done and took care of it.
"Pooch (Pucciarelli) knew someone at the Los Angeles Kings, and they Fed-Exed the helmet over to us. Then we took a linebacker's mask and put it on. Eventually, we got a Plexiglas shield that came all the way down so Greg could see and still protect his jaw."
Anthony used the equipment in practice only; the NCAA forbids players to wear such apparatus in games.
For the players, it was a win-win situation. Not only did Anthony immediately return to the court, his teammates no longer had to listen to him talk trash because his mouth was wired shut.
"Any problems or distractions that team may have had went away when Greg came into the gym wearing that hockey helmet," Rice said. "That was the day he became the unequivocal leader of the team."
Anthony didn't miss a game. UNLV lost just once in its final 16 games.
-- -- --
How did the team manage to deal with adversity? One word: Tarkanian.
"Everyone followed Tark," guard Stacey Cvijanovich said. "He was the undeniable leader of the team. All those off-the-court things made us bond together."
As coach, Tarkanian said he knew he had to show the way.
"What choice did I have?" he said. "But we had tough kids."
As March rolled around, UNLV took its intensity to new heights. The Rebels won the Big West Tournament with ease, averaging 102 points over three games against Cal-State Fullerton, Pacific and Long Beach State. When the NCAA Tournament field was announced, the Rebels, who were still in Long Beach, Calif., celebrating their conference title, learned they were seeded first in the West and headed to Salt Lake City to face Arkansas-Little Rock in the first round.
Staying in the West resulted in great demand for tickets. As the team rolled through the first two rounds with victories over Little Rock, 102-72, and Ohio State, 76-65, the demand increased.
The West Regionals were in Oakland, Calif., and, as demand for seats increased, accusations of misconduct in ticket distribution surfaced. Students felt they were ignored at the expense of high-rolling boosters. A time to celebrate became embroiled in bitterness.
But for Tarkanian and his players, it was business as usual. The North Gym, where the team practiced, became a media circus. Both the positive and negative aspects of the program were widely documented. People lined up to get a piece of the players. Every day, two large tables were filled with basketballs, posters, shirts, hats ... anything to obtain the players' signatures.
-- -- --
As the Rebels prepared for the West Regional semifinals, fans wondered whether the team would be challenged.
They didn't have to wait long to find out as Ball State battled UNLV from start to finish. Every time it appeared the Rebels would pull away, the Mid-American Conference's Cardinals found a way to stay close.
"We weren't afraid of them," Dick Hunsaker, Ball State's coach at the time, said. "We wanted to attack them and not let them control the tempo.
"It wasn't their offense that killed everyone; it was the defense. With that Vegas team, it all started with great pressure defense."
After trailing 41-33 at halftime, Ball State fought back behind the scoring of Chandler Thompson and Paris McCurdy. The outcome wasn't decided until the final seconds.
Ball State had the last shot, and McCurdy, who nearly traveled going to the basket, had his shot swatted away by Butler with four seconds left. The Rebels survived, 69-67.
As the teams left the Oakland Coliseum Arena floor, words were exchanged in the tunnel. The teams nearly came to blows. As officials separated the players, Hunt yelled, "Go home, suckers!" at the Ball State players.
UNLV was one game away from the Final Four. To get there, the Rebels had to overcome a huge emotional hurdle in the form of Loyola Marymount. The Lions were on a crusade to win the national championship for teammate Hank Gathers, who died from heart complications while playing in the West Coast Conference Tournament a month earlier.
The entire nation seemingly pulled for high-scoring, emotionally scarred Loyola Marymount. UNLV? By then, the Rebels had been branded as basketball's bad boys, a label Tarkanian couldn't understand.
"These were great kids," Tarkanian said. "Anyone who would have taken the time to get to know them would tell you the same thing."
The ultimate "Us-against-the-world" matchup was set. The nation looked on to see if UNLV would receive its comeuppance.
It was the opposite. Augmon was a one-man gang, scoring 33 points. Hunt had 30. The run-and-gun Lions were beaten at their own game. The teams combined for a tournament regional record 232 points as the Rebels won, 131-101.
They were going to Denver.
-- -- --
UNLV arrived in Denver on a Thursday afternoon. Tarkanian was presented with a cowboy hat as he stepped off the plane. Joining UNLV were Duke, Georgia Tech and Arkansas. Duke played Arkansas in one game; UNLV faced Georgia Tech in the other. The Yellow Jackets were a talented team, featuring future NBA players Kenny Anderson, Dennis Scott and Brian Oliver, along with Malcom Mackey.
Duke beat Arkansas to earn its place in the championship game. Who would the Blue Devils play?
At halftime, it looked like it would be an all-Atlantic Coast Conference final as Georgia Tech beat UNLV's pressure and built a 53-46 lead by shooting 67 percent from the floor. In addition, Johnson got into foul trouble.
But UNLV's defense got it back in the game. A 10-1 run to start the second half put the Rebels ahead, 56-54. However, the fouls were mounting as Johnson, Butler and Scurry all got four personals and Augmon three. Johnson fouled out with seven minutes to go, but Butler and Scurry picked up the slack and controlled the boards as Georgia Tech tired. The Rebels pulled away to win, 90-81.
"I knew I had to come through," said Scurry, who had 11 rebounds off the bench. "When we lost Larry, I just looked at David and said, `It's up to us.' and he nodded. We weren't going to lose that game. Not after everything we'd been through."
UNLV had reached uncharted territory. The school had twice been to the national semifinals, only to lose in 1977 to North Carolina and in 1987 to Indiana. Now, the Rebels faced the biggest game in school history. Forty minutes, winner take all.
-- --
The media built the game into a morality play -- the clean-cut good guys from Duke, which graduates all of its players, against the bad boys from Vegas. But Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski had great respect for Tarkanian, his team and its style of play. He wasn't going to look past UNLV.
"This is a very good, very fundamentally sound team," Krzyzewski said.
But how good?
UNLV stepped onto the floor inspired by Chicago Bears star running back Walter Payton, a huge Rebel basketball fan. Payton gave the team a pregame pep talk, telling it that opportunities like this don't come along often and they should take advantage of it.
"He made us feel really good about ourselves," backup center James Jones said. "We were really ready to play."
The Rebels started quickly, pushing the tempo and making Duke play faster than it wanted. The Blue Devils struggled to stay with UNLV throughout most of the first half.
UNLV was firmly in control. Viewers quickly sensed this was going to be a night for Tarkanian and his players.
Duke guard Bobby Hurley suffered from a stomach virus and had trouble containing Hunt. Forward Christian Laettner appeared nervous and struggled to find his rhythm. Alla Abdelnaby, Duke's burly center, found himself locked up inside by Butler.
When the halftime horn sounded, UNLV was up, 47-35. The Rebels had controlled the game through the first 20 minutes. Still, virtually everyone, from Tarkanian to the fans sitting in the last row, believed the Blue Devils would make a game of it.
"I was so nervous," Tarkanian said. "I knew Duke was too good a team not to make a big run at us in the second half. That's all I was thinking about. How were we going to handle their run?"
Instead, it was UNLV that did the running -- 18-0 -- to build its lead to 75-47. The team used a variety of defenses to confuse Duke. When the Rebels went to their 1-3-1 "amoeba" zone during the big spurt at the start of the second half, it was over.
"When we went up 27, I said, `I think we can hold on.' " Tarkanian said. "It was just incredible what happened during that second half. I never expected that. I don't think anybody did."
As the clock ticked down, the celebration, which had begun with about 13 minutes to play, escalated. The players donned special championship T-shirts produced by a sportswear business Anthony had started that said "Shark Takes His Bite." UNLV had its first national team championship.
Joyce Ashenbrenner, then UNLV's sports information director, recalled the special moment.
"I was keeping the official book, and it dawned on me that it was really happening," she said. "I looked over at Bruce Meyers, my assistant, and he was crying. And then I was crying.
"The whole thing was magic. You believed everything Tark told you would happen, and it did."
Hunt finished with a game-high 29 points and earned Most Outstanding Player honors.
"Whether we won by 30 or by one, we're still national champions," he said. "It's great being the MVP, but I was concentrating on just winning the national championship."
As the team danced and hugged on the floor in Denver, Las Vegas went bonkers. Champagne flowed in the casinos. Strangers wearing red hugged each other. Euphoria swept over the town.
"It brought the entire city together," Brad Rothermel, UNLV's athletics director at the time, said.
-- -- --
You could see the relief in the faces as Tarkanian and his players walked to the podium to receive their reward. Tarkanian graciously accepted the championship trophy, proclaiming it a victory for Las Vegas and Nevada.
"It was great for the city and for the state," Tarkanian said. "We have so many fans throughout the state, and that made me feel good."
As the celebration continued into the wee hours of Tuesday morning, a worn-down Tarkanian leaned against a wall in the team hotel, a victory cigar still in his hand, and took it all in.
"Incredible. Absolutely incredible," he said.
He had run the emotional gamut. It had been quite a ride for Jerry Tarkanian and the NCAA champion Rebels.
Quotes from the Game
"THIS IS THE KIND OF GAME MIKE KRZYZEWSKI THOUGHT HE COULD GET ... AND HE HAS WHAT HE WANTED."
"HENDERSON WITH A LOT OF TIME, MISFIRING. JOHNSON OFF WITH THE REBOUND, LEAD NOW TO AUGMON IN A FOOTRACE WITH KOUBEK, HURLEY INSIDE HIM, FOUL ON THE POINT GUARD, SCORE THE BASKET!"
"HERE'S HUNT. GETS TO THE BASELINE ON HURLEY. GETS HURLEY IN THE AIR AND BANGS IN ANOTHER FIELD GOAL. THAT'S 10 POINTS IN THE FIRST HALF FOR ANDERSON HUNT."
"SCURRY OFF WITH THE REBOUND, AND THIS IS SOME SHOW BY THE RUNNIN' REBS. ... JOHNSON, AND HE'S FOULED. PUT IT ON THE BOARD!"
"IT HAS BEEN A VEGAS STORY HERE. SHARK-INFESTED WATERS IN DENVER."
"IT'LL BE JOHNSON WITH HIS SECOND 3-POINT ATTEMPT -- AND HE'S PERFECT!"
"THE DIFFERENCE IN THIS GAME FROM SATURDAY IS LAS VEGAS CAME TO PLAY DEFENSE IN THE FIRST HALF. THEY WAITED UNTIL THE SECOND HALF AGAINST GEORGIA TECH."
"WELL, THE SHARK ISN'T TAKING A BITE. ... HE SWALLOWED THE WHOLE TUNA."
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Printable version of this story
The Review-Journal revisits a trip to the top of collegiate basketball by a group of players coach Jerry Tarkanian called "a very special team."
UNLV's Larry Johnson leaps over two Duke players during the first half of the Rebels' 103-73 victory on April 2, 1990.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
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