1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

UNLV, coached by Jerry Tarkanian, won the national title with a 103–73 victory in the final game over Duke, coached by Mike Krzyzewski. In doing so, UNLV set the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament record for largest margin of victory in a championship game. UNLV's win marks the last time a school from a non-power conference has won the championship game. Anderson Hunt of UNLV was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

This tournament is also remembered for an emotional run by Loyola Marymount in the West regional. In the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference tournament against the Portland Pilots, Lions star forward Hank Gathers collapsed and died due to a heart condition. The WCC tournament was immediately suspended, with the regular-season champion Lions given the conference's automatic bid. The team defeated New Mexico State, then laid a 34-point thrashing on defending national champion Michigan, and defeated Alabama in the Sweet Sixteen (the only game in which Loyola Marymount did not score 100 or more points in the tournament) before running into eventual champion UNLV in the regional final. Gathers' childhood friend Bo Kimble, the team's undisputed floor leader in the wake of the tragedy, paid tribute to his friend by attempting his first free throw in each game left-handed despite being right-handed. (Gathers was right-handed, but struggled so much with free throws that he tried shooting them left-handed for a time.) Kimble made all of his left-handed attempts in the tournament.

The tournament employed a new timing system borrowed from FIBA & the NBA: when the game was played in an NBA arena, the final minute of the period is measured in tenths-seconds, rather than whole seconds as in previous years.

Atlanta

Indianapolis

Austin

Hartford

Richmond

Knoxville

Long Beach

Salt Lake City

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1990 first and second rounds

Oakland

Dallas

New Orleans

E. Rutherford

Denver

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1990 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1990 tournament, and their host(s):

First and Second Rounds

March 15 and 17
- East Region
  - Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut)
- Midwest Region
  - Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas at Austin)
- Southeast Region
  - Thompson–Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee (Host: University of Tennessee)
- West Region
  - Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah)
March 16 and 18
- East Region
  - Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Tech)
- Midwest Region
  - Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: Butler University, Midwestern Collegiate Conference)
- Southeast Region
  - Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia (Hosts: University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University)
- West Region
  - Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, California (Host: Long Beach State University)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

March 22 and 24
- East Regional, Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey (Hosts: Seton Hall University, Big East Conference)
- Midwest Regional, Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas (Host: Southwest Conference)
March 23 and 25
- Southeast Regional, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana (Hosts: Tulane University, University of New Orleans)
- West Regional, Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena, Oakland, California (Host: University of California, Berkeley)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

March 31 and April 2
- McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado (Hosts: University of Colorado Boulder, Big 8 Conference)

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Conference	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	1	Connecticut	Jim Calhoun	Big East	Elite 8	3Duke	L 79–78
East	2	Kansas	Roy Williams	Big Eight	Round of 32	7UCLA	L 71–70
East	3	Duke	Mike Krzyzewski	Atlantic Coast	National Runner Up	1UNLV	L 103–73
East	4	La Salle	Speedy Morris	Metro Atlantic	Round of 32	5Clemson	L 79–75
East	5	Clemson	Cliff Ellis	Atlantic Coast	Sweet Sixteen	1Connecticut	L 71–70
East	6	St. John's	Lou Carnesecca	Big East	Round of 32	3Duke	L 76–72
East	7	UCLA	Jim Harrick	Pacific-10	Sweet Sixteen	3Duke	L 90–81
East	8	Indiana	Bob Knight	Big Ten	Round of 64	9California	L 65–63
East	9	California	Lou Campanelli	Pacific-10	Round of 32	1Connecticut	L 74–54
East	10	UAB	Gene Bartow	Sun Belt	Round of 64	7UCLA	L 68–56
East	11	Temple	John Chaney	Atlantic 10	Round of 64	6St. John's	L 81–65
East	12	BYU	Roger Reid	Western Athletic	Round of 64	5Clemson	L 49–47
East	13	Southern Miss	M.K. Turk	Metro	Round of 64	4La Salle	L 79–63
East	14	Richmond	Dick Tarrant	Colonial	Round of 64	3Duke	L 81–46
East	15	Robert Morris	Jarrett Durham	Northeast	Round of 64	2Kansas	L 79–71
East	16	Boston University	Mike Jarvis	North Atlantic	Round of 64	1Connecticut	L 76–52
Midwest
Midwest	1	Oklahoma	Billy Tubbs	Big Eight	Round of 32	8North Carolina	L 79–77
Midwest	2	Purdue	Gene Keady	Big Ten	Round of 32	10Texas	L 73–72
Midwest	3	Georgetown	John Thompson	Big East	Round of 32	6Xavier	L 74–71
Midwest	4	Arkansas	Nolan Richardson	Southwest	National semifinals	3Duke	L 97–83
Midwest	5	Illinois	Lou Henson	Big Ten	Round of 64	12Dayton	L 88–86
Midwest	6	Xavier	Pete Gillen	Midwestern	Sweet Sixteen	10Texas	L 102–89
Midwest	7	Georgia	Hugh Durham	Southeastern	Round of 64	10Texas	L 100–88
Midwest	8	North Carolina	Dean Smith	Atlantic Coast	Sweet Sixteen	4Arkansas	L 96–73
Midwest	9	Southwest Missouri State	Charlie Spoonhour	Mid-Continent	Round of 64	8North Carolina	L 83–70
Midwest	10	Texas	Tom Penders	Southwest	Elite 8	4Arkansas	L 88–85
Midwest	11	Kansas State	Lon Kruger	Big Eight	Round of 64	6Xavier	L 87–79
Midwest	12	Dayton	Jim O'Brien	Midwestern	Round of 32	4Arkansas	L 86–84
Midwest	13	Princeton	Pete Carril	Ivy League	Round of 64	4Arkansas	L 68–64
Midwest	14	Texas Southern	Robert Moreland	Southwest Athletic	Round of 64	3Georgetown	L 70–52
Midwest	15	Northeast Louisiana	Mike Vining	Southland	Round of 64	2Purdue	L 75–63
Midwest	16	Towson State	Terry Truax	East Coast	Round of 64	1Oklahoma	L 77–68
Southeast
Southeast	1	Michigan State	Jud Heathcote	Big Ten	Sweet Sixteen	4Georgia Tech	L 81–80
Southeast	2	Syracuse	Jim Boeheim	Big East	Sweet Sixteen	6Minnesota	L 82–75
Southeast	3	Missouri	Norm Stewart	Big Eight	Round of 64	14Northern Iowa	L 74–71
Southeast	4	Georgia Tech	Bobby Cremins	Atlantic Coast	National semifinals	1UNLV	L 90–81
Southeast	5	LSU	Dale Brown	Southeastern	Round of 32	4Georgia Tech	L 94–91
Southeast	6	Minnesota	Clem Haskins	Big Ten	Elite 8	4Georgia Tech	L 93–91
Southeast	7	Virginia	Terry Holland	Atlantic Coast	Round of 32	2Syracuse	L 63–61
Southeast	8	Houston	Pat Foster	Southwest	Round of 64	9UC Santa Barbara	L 70–66
Southeast	9	UC Santa Barbara	Jerry Pimm	Big West	Round of 32	1Michigan State	L 62–58
Southeast	10	Notre Dame	Digger Phelps	Independent	Round of 64	7Virginia	L 75–67
Southeast	11	UTEP	Don Haskins	Western Athletic	Round of 64	6Minnesota	L 64–61
Southeast	12	Villanova	Rollie Massimino	Big East	Round of 64	5LSU	L 70–63
Southeast	13	East Tennessee State	Les Robinson	Southern	Round of 64	4Georgia Tech	L 99–83
Southeast	14	Northern Iowa	Eldon Miller	Mid-Continent	Round of 32	6Minnesota	L 81–78
Southeast	15	Coppin State	Ron Mitchell	Mid-Eastern	Round of 64	2Syracuse	L 70–48
Southeast	16	Murray State	Steve Newton	Ohio Valley	Round of 64	1Michigan State	L 75–71
West
West	1	UNLV	Jerry Tarkanian	Big West	Champion	3Duke	W 103–73
West	2	Arizona	Lute Olson	Pacific-10	Round of 32	7Alabama	L 77–55
West	3	Michigan	Steve Fisher	Big Ten	Round of 32	11Loyola Marymount	L 149–115
West	4	Louisville	Denny Crum	Metro	Round of 32	12Ball State	L 62–60
West	5	Oregon State	Jim Anderson	Pacific-10	Round of 64	12Ball State	L 54–53
West	6	New Mexico State	Neil McCarthy	Big West	Round of 64	11Loyola Marymount	L 111–92
West	7	Alabama	Wimp Sanderson	Southeastern	Sweet Sixteen	11Loyola Marymount	L 62–60
West	8	Ohio State	Randy Ayers	Big Ten	Round of 32	1UNLV	L 76–65
West	9	Providence	Rick Barnes	Big East	Round of 64	8Ohio State	L 84–83
West	10	Colorado State	Boyd Grant	Western Athletic	Round of 64	7Alabama	L 71–54
West	11	Loyola Marymount	Paul Westhead	West Coast	Elite 8	1UNLV	L 131–101
West	12	Ball State	Dick Hunsaker	Mid-American	Sweet Sixteen	1UNLV	L 69–67
West	13	Idaho	Kermit Davis	Big Sky	Round of 64	4Louisville	L 78–59
West	14	Illinois State	Bob Bender	Missouri Valley	Round of 64	3Michigan	L 76–70
West	15	South Florida	Bobby Paschal	Sun Belt	Round of 64	2Arizona	L 79–67
West	16	Little Rock	Mike Newell	Trans America	Round of 64	1UNLV	L 102–72

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

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First round			Second Round			Regional semifinals			Regional Final

1	Connecticut	76

16	Boston University	52
			1	Connecticut	74
Hartford
			9	California	54
8	Indiana	63

9	California	65
						1	Connecticut	71

						5	Clemson	70
5	Clemson	49

12	BYU	47
			5	Clemson	79
Hartford
			4	La Salle	75
4	La Salle	79

13	Southern Miss	63
									1	Connecticut	78

									3	Duke	79*
6	St. John's	81

11	Temple	65
			6	St. John's	72
Atlanta
			3	Duke	76
3	Duke	81

14	Richmond	46
						3	Duke	90

						7	UCLA	81
7	UCLA	68

10	UAB	56
			7	UCLA	71
Atlanta
			2	Kansas	70
2	Kansas	79

15	Robert Morris	71

* – denotes overtime period

Regional Final summary

edit

CBS

Saturday, March 24

box score

#3 Duke Blue Devils 79, #1 Connecticut Huskies 78 (OT)
Pts: A. Abdelnaby27 Rebs: A. Abdelnaby14 Asts: B. Hurley8		Pts: J. Gwynn, N. Henefeld15 Rebs: N. Henefeld6 Asts: C. Smith5 Halftime Score: Duke, 37–30 End of Regulation: 72–72

Brendan Byrne Arena – East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 19,546

Midwest Regional – Dallas, Texas

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First round			Second Round			Regional semifinals			Regional Final

1	Oklahoma	77

16	Towson State	68
			1	Oklahoma	77
Austin
			8	North Carolina	79
8	North Carolina	83

9	SW Missouri State	70
						8	North Carolina	73

						4	Arkansas	96
5	Illinois	86

12	Dayton	88
			12	Dayton	84
Austin
			4	Arkansas	86
4	Arkansas	68

13	Princeton	64
									4	Arkansas	88

									10	Texas	85
6	Xavier	87

11	Kansas State	79
			6	Xavier	74
Indianapolis
			3	Georgetown	71
3	Georgetown	70

14	Texas Southern	52
						6	Xavier	89

						10	Texas	102
7	Georgia	88

10	Texas	100
			10	Texas	73
Indianapolis
			2	Purdue	72
2	Purdue	75

15	Northeast Louisiana	63

Regional Final summary

edit

CBS

Saturday, March 24

box score

#4 Arkansas Razorbacks 88, #10 Texas Longhorns 85
Pts: L. Howell 21 Rebs: L. Howell, O. Miller9 Asts: L. Mayberry7		Pts: J. Wright, T. Mays20 Rebs: L. Collie 14 Asts: T. Mays5 Halftime Score: Arkansas, 43–36

Reunion Arena – Dallas, Texas
Attendance: 16,413

Southeast Regional – New Orleans, Louisiana

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First round			Second Round			Regional semifinals			Regional Final

1	Michigan State	75*

16	Murray State	71
			1	Michigan State	62
Knoxville
			9	UC Santa Barbara	58
8	Houston	66

9	UC Santa Barbara	70
						1	Michigan State	80

						4	Georgia Tech	81*
5	LSU	70

12	Villanova	63
			5	LSU	91
Knoxville
			4	Georgia Tech	94
4	Georgia Tech	99

13	East Tennessee State	83
									4	Georgia Tech	93

									6	Minnesota	91
6	Minnesota	64*

11	UTEP	61
			6	Minnesota	81
Richmond
			14	Northern Iowa	78
3	Missouri	71

14	Northern Iowa	74
						6	Minnesota	82

						2	Syracuse	75
7	Virginia	75

10	Notre Dame	67
			7	Virginia	61
Richmond
			2	Syracuse	63
2	Syracuse	70

15	Coppin State	48

* – denotes overtime period

Regional Final summary

edit

CBS

Sunday, March 25

box score

#4 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 93, #6 Minnesota Golden Gophers 91
Pts: D. Scott40 Rebs: K. Anderson8 Asts: K. Anderson3		Pts: W. Burton35 Rebs: R. Coffey9 Asts: M. Newbern6 Halftime Score: Minnesota, 49–47

Louisiana Superdome – New Orleans
Attendance: 17,782

West Regional – Oakland, California

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First round			Second Round			Regional semifinals			Regional Final

1	UNLV	102

16	Arkansas–Little Rock	72
			1	UNLV	76
Salt Lake City
			8	Ohio State	65
8	Ohio State	84*

9	Providence	83
						1	UNLV	69

						12	Ball State	67
5	Oregon State	53

12	Ball State	54
			12	Ball State	62
Salt Lake City
			4	Louisville	60
4	Louisville	78

13	Idaho	59
									1	UNLV	131

									11	Loyola Marymount	101
6	New Mexico State	92

11	Loyola Marymount	111
			11	Loyola Marymount	149
Long Beach
			3	Michigan	115
3	Michigan	76

14	Illinois State	70
						11	Loyola Marymount	62

						7	Alabama	60
7	Alabama	71

10	Colorado State	54
			7	Alabama	77
Long Beach
			2	Arizona	55
2	Arizona	79

15	South Florida	67

* – denotes overtime period

Regional Final summary

edit

CBS

Sunday, March 25

box score

#1 UNLV Runnin' Rebels 131, #11 Loyola Marymount Lions 101
Pts: S. Augmon33 Rebs: L. Johnson18 Asts: A. Hunt13		Pts: B. Kimble42 Rebs: B. Kimble11 Asts: T. Lowery6 Halftime Score: UNLV, 67–47

Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena – Oakland, California
Attendance: 14,298

Final Four – Denver, Colorado

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National semifinals			National Championship Game

E3	Duke	97

MW4	Arkansas	83
			E3	Duke	73

			W1	UNLV	103
SE4	Georgia Tech	81

W1	UNLV	90

Game summaries

edit

CBS

March 31

box score

#1 UNLV Runnin' Rebels 90, #4 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 81
Pts: S. Augmon22 Rebs: M. Scurry11 Asts: A. Hunt7		Pts: D. Scott29 Rebs: J. McNeil 9 Asts: K. Anderson8 Halftime Score: Georgia Tech 53–46

McNichols Arena – Denver
Attendance: 17,675
Referees: Jim Bain, Dick Paparo, Jim Stupin

CBS

March 31

box score

#3 Duke Blue Devils 97, #4 Arkansas Razorbacks 83
Pts: P. Henderson28 Rebs: C. Laettner14 Asts: B. Hurley6		Pts: T. Day27 Rebs: T. Day7 Asts: L. Mayberry6 Halftime Score: Duke, 46–43

McNichols Arena – Denver
Attendance: 17,675
Referees: Gerry Donaghy, Jim Burr, Frank Bosone

National Championship

edit

CBS

April 2

Box score

#1 UNLV Runnin' Rebels 103, #3 Duke Blue Devils 73
Pts: A. Hunt29 Rebs: L. Johnson11 Asts: S. Augmon7		Pts: P. Henderson21 Rebs: C. Laettner9 Asts: C. Laettner5 Halftime Score: UNLV, 47–35

McNichols Arena – Denver
Attendance: 17,675
Referees: Ed Hightower, Richie Ballesteros and Tim Higgins

CBS and NCAA Productions broadcast all tournament games. CBS

Jim Nantz and James Brown served as hosts for the first-round games, while Mike Francesca served as analyst for the remaining rounds of the tournament.
Brent Musburger and Billy Packer – First round (Ohio State–Providence) at Salt Lake City, Utah; Second Round at Austin, Texas and Richmond, Virginia; West Regional at Oakland, California; Final Four at Denver, Colorado. Musburger's final games for CBS.
Dick Stockton and Hubie Brown – Second Round at Atlanta, Georgia; East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey
James Brown and Bill Raftery – Second Round at Hartford, Connecticut and Indianapolis, Indiana; Midwest Regional at Dallas, Texas
Greg Gumbel and Quinn Buckner – First round (New Mexico State–Loyola-Marymount) and Second Round at Long Beach, California; Southeast Regional at New Orleans, Louisiana
Brad Nessler and Tom Heinsohn – Second Round at Knoxville, Tennessee
Tim Brant and Len Elmore – Second Round at Salt Lake City, Utah

ESPN/NCAA Productions

edit

This would be the last year that ESPN would be involved in broadcasting games of the tournament, as CBS took over exclusive coverage of the tournament the following year.

Bob Carpenter and Clark Kellogg – First round (Indiana–California, Clemson–Brigham Young) at Hartford, Connecticut
Mike Gorman and Ron Perry – First round (La Salle–Southern Mississippi) at Hartford, Connecticut
Fred White and Larry Conley – First round (St. John's–Temple, Kansas–Robert Morris) at Atlanta, Georgia
Ralph Hacker and Dan Belluomini – First round (UCLA–UAB) at Atlanta, Georgia
Ron Franklin and Bob Ortegel – First round (North Carolina–SW Missouri State, Arkansas–Princeton) at Austin, Texas
Frank Fallon and Jack Corrigan - First Round (Dayton-Illinois) at Austin Texas
Tom Hammond and Gary Thompson – First round (Georgetown–Texas Southern, Georgia–Texas) at Indianapolis, Indiana
Mick Hubert and Jim Gibbons – First round (Xavier–Kansas State) at Indianapolis, Indiana; First round (Arizona–South Florida) at Long Beach, California
Mike Patrick and Dan Bonner – First round (Missouri–Northern Iowa, Syracuse–Coppin State) at Richmond, Virginia
Bob Rathbun and Bucky Waters – First round (Minnesota–UTEP) at Richmond, Virginia
Bob Rathbun and Mimi Griffin – First round (Virginia–Notre Dame) at Richmond, Virginia
John Sanders and Bruce Larson – First round (UNLV–Arkansas-Little Rock, Oregon State–Ball State) at Salt Lake City, Utah
John Rooney and Bob Weltlich - First Round (Michigan St-Murray State, LSU-Villanova) at Knoxville, Tennessee
Brad Nessler and Jack Givens - First Round (USCB-Houston, Georgia Tech-East Tennessee State) at Knoxville, Tennessee
John Sanders and Len Elmore – First round (Louisville–Idaho) at Salt Lake City, Utah
Barry Tompkins and Mike Rice – First round (Alabama–Colorado State, Michigan–Illinois State) at Long Beach, California

Loyola Marymount's Jeff Fryer made 11 three-point field goals against Michigan to set the NCAA tournament record which still stands as of 2023. He took 15 three-point attempts.
Loyola Marymount's 149–115 win over Michigan set a new tournament record for most combined points (264).
UNLV at the time had the largest accumulated victory margin (112 points), over the entire tournament by a championship team that played 6 games. To date it is the fifth-largest.^[1]
UNLV's 103–73 win over Duke marked the first, (and to date, only), time in the history of the tournament that at least 100 points were scored in the championship game.^[2]
UNLV's 571 points over six games set the record for most points scored by a single team in any one year of the tournament.^[3]
UNLV is the only team in tournament history to average more than 95 points per game, over six games. In six tournament games, they won three by exactly 30 points, while scoring more than 100 points in each 30-point victory.^[4]
UNLV and UCLA in 1965 are the only teams in tournament history to win three games all while scoring at least 100 points in each win. (Loyola Marymount also scored at least 100 points in three games in the 1990 tournament, but lost their last game, where they scored 101 points, to UNLV, by 30 points. UNLV also scored at least 100 points in three victories in the 1977 tournament, but their last one was in the Final Four consolation game.)^[3]
UNLV's 30-point margin of victory in the championship game is also a tournament record.^[5] ESPN called it the 36th “worst blowout in sports history.”^[6]
To date, UNLV remains the last team from a non-power conference (AAC, ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC) to win the national championship, since Louisville in 1986.^[2] (Louisville was in The Metro Conference in 1986, which was considered a major basketball conference throughout its history, 1975 - 1995.)
The championship game was UNLV's eleventh-consecutive win. They would eventually run the win streak to an astounding 45 games. That is the fourth-longest win streak in NCAA Division 1 basketball history, and the longest win streak since the longest one ever, by UCLA, ended in 1974.^[7]

1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

Contents

Schedule and venues

Teams

Bracket

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

Regional Final summary

Midwest Regional – Dallas, Texas

Regional Final summary

Southeast Regional – New Orleans, Louisiana

Regional Final summary

West Regional – Oakland, California

Regional Final summary

Final Four – Denver, Colorado

Game summaries

National Championship

Announcers

ESPN/NCAA Productions

Tournament notes

See also

References

Languages