1990–91 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team

The 1990–91 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in NCAA Division I men's competition in the 1990–91 season. The Runnin' Rebels, coached by Jerry Tarkanian, entered the season as defending national champions and entered the 1991 NCAA tournament unbeaten, but lost in the national semifinal to eventual champions Duke when Anderson Hunt's desperation three in the final seconds bounced off the backboard and into the hands of a Duke player, Bobby Hurley, ending a 45-game winning streak that dated back to the previous season. They had been the last team to finish the regular season unbeaten before St. Joseph's did it in 2004. They were the last team to enter the NCAA tournament unbeaten until Wichita State did it in 2014, Kentucky in 2015, and Gonzaga in 2021.

1990–91 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball
Big West tournament champions Big West Regular Season Champions
NCAA men's Division I tournament, Final Four
Conference	Big West Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	34–1 (18–0 Big West)
Head coach	Jerry Tarkanian (18th season)
Assistant coaches	Tim Grgurich (10th season) Ron Ganulin (4th season) Ron Adams (1st season)
Home arena	Thomas and Mack Center
Seasons ← 1989–90 1991–92 →

1990–91 Big West men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 UNLV	18	–	0		1.000			34	–	1		.971
No. 15 New Mexico State	15	–	3		.833			23	–	6		.793
Pacific	9	–	9		.500			14	–	15		.483
UC Santa Barbara	8	–	10		.444			14	–	15		.483
Utah State	8	–	10		.444			11	–	17		.393
Cal State Fullerton	7	–	11		.389			14	–	14		.500
Fresno State	7	–	11		.389			14	–	16		.467
Long Beach State	7	–	11		.389			11	–	17		.393
UC Irvine	6	–	12		.333			11	–	19		.367
San Jose State	5	–	13		.278			7	–	20		.259
† 1991 Big West tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The team played its home games in the Thomas & Mack Center, and was a member of the Big West Conference.

UNLV’s semi-final loss in the NCAA tournament brought an end to their astounding 45-game win streak. That is the fourth-longest consecutive-game win streak in NCAA Division 1 basketball history, and the longest win streak since the longest one ever (by UCLA) ended in 1974.^[1]

They are often called the greatest college basketball team to not win the championship.^[2]

Roster

1990–91 UNLV Runnin' Rebels men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 4 Larry Johnson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Sr Dallas, TX G 12 Anderson Hunt 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Detroit, MI G 13 Travis Bice 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Jr Simi Valley, CA G 15 Bryan Emerzian 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jr Waukegan, IL C 24 Elmore Spencer 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Jr Atlanta, GA G 30 Dave Rice 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Claremont, CA F 32 Stacey Augmon 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Pasadena, CA G/F 33 Barry Young 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Ellicott City, MD F/C 44 George Ackles 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr Pittsburgh, PA G 50 Greg Anthony 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Las Vegas, NV F 53 Chris Jeter 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr San Diego, CA G Sean Watkins — — So   F Byron Wesley — — Sr   G Dan Bisek — — Sr	Head coach Jerry Tarkanian (Fresno State) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

1990-91 UNLV Roster and Stats

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular Season
Dec 1, 1990*	No. 1	vs. UAB	W 109–68	1–0	26 – Johnson	–	–	BC Place (7,963) Vancouver, BC
Dec 7, 1990*	No. 1	at Nevada	W 131–81	2–0	–	–	–	Lawlor Events Center (11,090) Reno, NV
Dec 15, 1990*	No. 1	vs. No. 21 Michigan State	W 95–75	3–0	35 – Johnson	–	–	The Palace of Auburn Hills (21,454) Auburn Hills, MI
Dec 19, 1990*	No. 1	No. 25 Princeton	W 69–35	4–0	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (17,778) Las Vegas, NV
Dec 22, 1990*	No. 1	Florida State	W 101–69	5–0	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (17,133) Las Vegas, NV
Dec 30, 1990	No. 1	at Pacific	W 92–72	6–0 (1–0)	–	–	–	Alex G. Spanos Center (6,150) Stockton, CA
Jan 2, 1991*	No. 1	at James Madison	W 89–65	7–0	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (17,473) Las Vegas, NV
Jan 4, 1991	No. 1	Cal State Fullerton	W 98–67	8–0 (2–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (18,995) Las Vegas, NV
Jan 7, 1991	No. 1	San Jose State	W 95–63	9–0 (3–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (17,718) Las Vegas, NV
Jan 9, 1991	No. 1	Utah State	W 124–93	10–0 (4–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (18,792) Las Vegas, NV
Jan 12, 1991	No. 1	at Fresno State	W 117–91	11–0 (5–0)	–	–	–	Selland Arena (10,159) Fresno, CA
Jan 17, 1991	No. 1	at UC Irvine	W 117–76	12–0 (6–0)	–	–	–	Bren Events Center (5,005) Irvine, CA
Jan 19, 1991	No. 1	Long Beach State	W 114–63	13–0 (7–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (19,444) Las Vegas, NV
Jan 21, 1991	No. 1	at UC Santa Barbara	W 88–71	14–0 (8–0)	–	–	–	The Thunderdome (6,000) Santa Barbara, CA
Jan 26, 1991*	No. 1	at Louisville	W 97–85	15–0	–	–	–	Freedom Hall (19,465) Louisville, KY
Jan 28, 1991	No. 1	at Utah State	W 126–83	16–0 (9–0)	–	–	–	Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (9,797) Logan, UT
Jan 31, 1991	No. 1	at San Jose State	W 88–64	17–0 (10–0)	–	–	–	The Event Center (4,867) San Jose, CA
Feb 3, 1991*	No. 1	Rutgers	W 115–73	18–0	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (18,954) Las Vegas, NV
Feb 7, 1991	No. 1	Fresno State	W 113–64	19–0 (11–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (18,883) Las Vegas, NV
Feb 10, 1991*	No. 1	at No. 2 Arkansas	W 112–105^[3]^[4]	20–0	31 – Augmon	14 – Johnson	10 – Anthony	Barnhill Arena (9,640) Fayetteville, AR
Feb 14, 1991	No. 1	UC Santa Barbara	W 98–71	21–0 (12–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (19,147) Las Vegas, NV
Feb 16, 1991	No. 1	No. 12 New Mexico State	W 86–74	22–0 (13–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (18,902) Las Vegas, NV
Feb 18, 1991	No. 1	at Long Beach State	W 122–75	23–0 (14–0)	–	–	–	Long Beach Arena (12,007) Long Beach, CA
Feb 21, 1991	No. 1	Pacific	W 80–59	24–0 (15–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (19,568) Las Vegas, NV
Feb 23, 1991	No. 1	UC Irvine	W 114–86	25–0 (16–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (19,826) Las Vegas, NV
Feb 25, 1991	No. 1	at No. 15 New Mexico State	W 86–74^[5]	26–0 (17–0)	24 – Augmon	–	–	Pan American Center (13,007) Las Cruces, NM
Mar 2, 1991	No. 1	at Cal State Fullerton	W 104–83	27–0 (18–0)	–	–	–	Titan Gym (4,032) Fullerton, CA
Big West tournament
Mar 8, 1991*	(1) No. 1	at (8) Long Beach State Quarterfinals	W 49–29	28–0	–	–	–	Long Beach Arena (11,760) Long Beach, CA
Mar 9, 1991*	(1) No. 1	vs. (5) UC Santa Barbara Semifinals	W 95–66	29–0	–	–	–	Long Beach Arena (11,283) Long Beach, CA
Mar 10, 1991*	(1) No. 1	vs. (7) Fresno State Championship	W 98–74	30–0	–	–	–	Long Beach Arena (11,045) Long Beach, CA
NCAA Tournament
Mar 15, 1991*	(1 W) No. 1	vs. (16 W) Montana First Round	W 99–65	31–0	23 – Johnson	9 – Johnson	9 – Anthony	McKale Center (13,367) Tucson, AZ
Mar 17, 1991*	(1 W) No. 1	vs. (8 W) Georgetown Second Round	W 62–54^[6]	32–0	20 – Johnson	10 – Tied	4 – Anthony	McKale Center (13,497) Tucson, AZ
March 21, 1991*  CBS	(1 W) No. 1	vs. (4 W) No. 10 Utah Sweet Sixteen	W 83–66	33–0	23 – Johnson	13 – Johnson	10 – Anthony	Kingdome (22,628) Seattle, WA
March 23, 1991*  CBS	(1 W) No. 1	vs. (3 W) No. 13 Seton Hall Elite Eight	W 77–65^[7]	34–0	30 – Johnson	6 – Johnson	11 – Anthony	Kingdome (23,666) Seattle, WA
March 30, 1991*  CBS	(1 W) No. 1	vs. (2 MW) No. 6 Duke Final Four	L 77–79^[8]	34–1	29 – Hunt	13 – Johnson	6 – Anthony	RCA Dome (47,100) Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

Sources 1990-91 UNLV Schedule and Results ^[9]

Rankings

Main article: 1990–91 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Coaches	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

^[10][11]

Awards and honors

• Larry Johnson – Naismith College Player of the Year,^[12] USBWA College Player of the Year,^[13] John R. Wooden Award^[14]
• Stacey Augmon – NABC Defensive Player of the Year (3)

Team players drafted into the NBA

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA Team
1991	1	1	Larry Johnson	Charlotte Hornets
1991	1	9	Stacey Augmon	Atlanta Hawks
1991	1	12	Greg Anthony	New York Knicks
1991	2	29	George Ackles	Miami Heat
1992	1	25	Elmore Spencer	Los Angeles Clippers

^[15]

References

1. "The longest winning streaks in college basketball history | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com.
2. "'They need to go to the NBA': UNLV's 45-game win streak was historic, and its end was shocking". ESPN.com. April 2, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
3. "U.N.L.V. Perks Up To Pass a Big Test". The New York Times. February 11, 1991. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
4. "No. 1 UNLV Makes Arkansas Look 2nd-Rate". The Sun-Sentinel. February 10, 1991. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
5. "Streak Reaches 37 as UNLV Cruises By New Mexico State". Deseret News. February 26, 1991. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
6. "UNLV takes slow road past Hoyas Runnin' Rebels win, 62-54, but fast break is missing". The Baltimore Sun. March 18, 1991. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
7. "Rebels Run By Seton Hall to Final Four". Los Angeles Times. March 24, 1991. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
8. "Duke Exacts Revenge on UNLV, 79-77". The Washington Post. March 31, 1991. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
9. "1990–91 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball stats" (PDF). NCAA Career Statistics.
10. *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 987–988. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
11. "1990-91 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
12. . Archived from the original on March 2, 2009. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
13. . Archived from the original on June 11, 2008. Retrieved June 11, 2008.
14. . Archived from the original on April 13, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
15. . Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2009.