25 years later, UNLV and Duke face off with many differences

The gray atop Bobby Hurley’s head suggests a passage of time, a period of decades where basketball games and scores, glorious triumphs and devastating defeats, sort of congregate in a canyon of outlying memories.

He can’t believe it has been 25 years, can’t fathom the teams haven’t met since that impactful evening in Indianapolis.

Duke and UNLV have taken separate, very different journeys through the college landscape since that Final Four game in 1991, when Hurley as the Blue Devils point guard helped guide his team to an upset that was viewed as improbable as it was historic.

Time has proven Duke’s team back then was a far more formidable opponent to UNLV than many believed, but Hurley still insists it took a monumental effort for his side to prevail 79-77.

“Just the shock and surprise of it,” Hurley said. “As much as I believed in myself and our team that we could do it, we knew we had to be almost perfect because of how good they were. It was one of the greatest games I’ve ever been part of in terms of us having to do everything we needed to do in order to win.

“UNLV gave me some of my worst moments and some of my best moments, but it’s always exciting to play them.”

He is head coach at Arizona State now, his team having rolled over the Rebels by 24 points last week in Tempe. On Saturday, UNLV takes a far greater step up in competition when it meets No. 5 Duke in what has already been announced as a sellout of T-Mobile Arena for the venue’s first college basketball game.

There is little national significance to this matchup between the programs, nothing close to UNLV’s record 30-point win in the 1990 final and then Duke’s two-point semifinal victory the next year, which it followed by beating Kansas for the first of five national championships under head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

This is more about a program (Duke) continuing along its long and steady road of national prominence, offering yet another loaded roster capable of winning it all, and one (UNLV) merely trying to find its way back to some level of relevance.

Hurley believes college basketball — particularly out west — is better when UNLV is good, having witnessed how the program energized Las Vegas to such massive levels when winning 45 straight under Jerry Tarkanian before the Blue Devils put an end to such dominance.

Since then, UNLV has managed to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament just once.

Or, well, 16 fewer times than Duke.

“I think just because of the energy of Las Vegas back then, you would think things might have turned around faster,” Hurley said. “What they were able to accomplish and now sell with the tradition and history, you hope it would get better. It was such an entertaining team to watch, and I have so much respect for what Coach Tarkanian did there.

“I know they’re at a different stage right now and rebuilding, but it would be great for college basketball if they got all the way back, because of the city and how lively it is. It deserves to be a program that is a national contender.”

Marvin Menzies envisions such a time, sooner rather than later in his eyes, the first-year head coach at UNLV who was an assistant at Santa Monica College when the Rebels and Duke were playing those Final Four games in consecutive seasons.

He watched them, marveled at the talent and athleticism and depth and style of play of both teams, and dreamt of one day coaching a program with such history.

He does now.

The Rebels of 2016 are incredibly out-manned for a game such as this, where UNLV will be seriously challenged just to remain competitive over 40 minutes.

But crazy things happen all the time in sports, particularly in college basketball during the holiday season where conference play can be seen fast approaching. Heavy favorites have been known to lose focus every now and then, just as decided underdogs have been known to discover some level of unforeseen magic, if only for an afternoon.

It would take a heavy dose of both Saturday for Duke against UNLV to be anything different than most anticipate, which is a comfortable win for the guys from Durham.

“At the end of the day, both programs have such fantastic brands, that it draws the natural attention of folks who love the game and have been following the sport for quite some time,” Menzies said. “It’s a great opportunity for an upset. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.

“When you think about what (UNLV) could be again … A lot of loyal fans are still showing up to the games right now. We need the fans to stay engaged with the history here. I’ve been in Vegas when things were good, and there’s nothing like it. It’s one of the best college towns in America.”

It has been 25 years. Amazing.

A lot more has changed than Bobby Hurley’s hair.

Contact columnist Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.