April 2, 1990, is a night that will go down as the most lopsided NCAA title game in college basketball history.
Not only did the UNLV Runnin' Rebels win their lone national title, they put themselves in the record books with a 103-73 victory against Duke. The 30-point margin of victory still stands as the largest in championship game history.
Jerry Tarkanian, the program's legendary former coach who guided the Rebels to four Final Fours in 19 years as coach, went 509-105 in his tenure and had the highest winning percentage of any college coach. But it was the 1990 national championship that solidified his legacy.
The Rebels shot 61 percent from the field that night at McNichols Arena and scored the most points in the history of the title game. The crew of Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, Anderson Hunt and others cemented their place in college basketball lore forever.
"I wouldn't have played for North Carolina, Kentucky or Michigan," said Hunt, who scored 28 points in the win. "I only wanted to play for Vegas and be a Rebel. We couldn't be stopped in that game. We wanted to win for our coach, the city and each other."
The Rebels won 34 consecutive games by an average margin of victory was a gaudy 27.3 points. Critics pointed out a watered-down conference schedule from playing in the Big West, but the results were similar against top teams from major conferences. The Rebels beat Michigan State (95-75) and Florida State (101-69), a pair of NCAA Tournament teams that season by a combined 52 points.
