In 1991, Jerry Tarkanian’s UNLV team was still riding high after putting on an awesome blitz against Duke in the 1990 national championship game.
Behind Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Anderson Hunt, and Greg Anthony, the Rebels were a burgeoning dynasty. Everyone knew that team was going to repeat, and the performance at Arkansas on February 10 just reinforced that perception.
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Arkansas is a tough place to play, and UNLV was actually down four at the half.
The second half was a different matter altogether.
Vegas roared back and built a 23-point lead before taking the air out of the ball late. The Rebels won 112-105, and while that’s not exactly a blowout, there was no question which was the better team. They just punked the Razorbacks in the second half, and on the road, too.
UNLV was nearing all-time greatness, but as history closed in, the pressure started to take its toll. They got a tight game from New Mexico State on February 25, winning by just 12, then somehow, Long Beach State managed to keep the score to 49-29.
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Things really began to tighten up in the NCAA tournament. The #8 seed, Georgetown lost by just 62-54, and just before the Duke-UNLV epic, #13 seed Seton Hall lost 77-65.
Georgetown had Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo, but look at this roster and see if you remember a single name. The decline was about to set in for the Hoyas.
Seton Hall had Terry Dehere and Anthony Avent, but not much else, at least not in comparison to what Tark brought to the court.
UNLV was an immensely talented team, but one that ultimately could not handle the heat, and there was a lot of that: when Vegas walked out for warmups in the Hoosier Dome before the Duke game, 3/4 of the stadium just…hissed. It wasn’t even boos. It was absolute contempt, and it registered, culminating with Johnson losing his nerve on the final shot for the Rebels, passing instead to Hunt, who missed a long three.
Still, at its peak, this was one of the great teams of the last 50 years.
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