1990 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

1990 NCAA Division I
Men's Basketball Tournament
Season	1989–90
Teams	64
Finals site	McNichols Sports Arena; Denver, Colorado
Champions	UNLV Runnin' Rebels (1st title, 1st title game,; 3rd Final Four)
Runner-up	Duke Blue Devils (4th title game,; 8th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Arkansas Razorbacks (4th Final Four); Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1st Final Four);
Winning coach	Jerry Tarkanian (1st title)
MOP	Anderson Hunt (UNLV)
Attendance	537,138
Top scorer	Dennis Scott Georgia Tech; (153 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments
«1989	1991»

The 1990 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I men's college basketball. It began on March 15, 1990, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in Denver, Colorado. A total of 63 games were played.

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 semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament, 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.

Locations

Atlanta

Indianapolis

Austin

Hartford

Richmond

Knoxville

Long Beach

Salt Lake City

1990 first and second rounds

Oakland

Dallas

New Orleans

E. Rutherford

Denver

1990 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

First and second rounds

Region	Site	Venue	Host
East	Atlanta, Georgia	Omni Coliseum	Georgia Tech
East	Hartford, Connecticut	Hartford Civic Center	Connecticut
Midwest	Austin, Texas	Frank Erwin Center	Texas
Midwest	Indianapolis, Indiana	Hoosier Dome	Butler/IUPUI
Southeast	Knoxville, Tennessee	Thompson–Boling Arena	Tennessee
Southeast	Richmond, Virginia	Richmond Coliseum	Richmond/VCU
West	Long Beach, California	Long Beach Arena	Long Beach State
West	Salt Lake City, Utah	Jon M. Huntsman Center	Utah

Regional sites and Final Four

Region	Site	Venue	Host
East	East Rutherford, New Jersey	Brendan Byrne Arena	Seton Hall
Midwest	Dallas, Texas	Reunion Arena	Southwest Conference
Southeast	New Orleans, Louisiana	Louisiana Superdome	Tulane/UNO
West	Oakland, California	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena	California
Final Four	Denver, Colorado	McNichols Sports Arena	Colorado

Denver became the 23rd host city, and McNichols Sports Arena the 26th host venue, for the Final Four, the only time it has hosted. Two new cities, Oakland, California and Richmond, Virginia, became host cities in 1990. Games had not been played in the East Bay region since 1958 when Cal's Men's Gym (now Haas Pavilion) hosted; the tournament has returned twice since. Richmond became the third city in Virginia, after Blacksburg and Williamsburg, to host tournament games; like the previous cities it has only hosted twice. Additionally, the tournament returned to Knoxville for the first time since 1983, this time at the new Thompson–Boling Arena. This year also marked the second and, to date, last appearance of the Long Beach Arena in the tournament; with newer, larger venues in Los Angeles and Anaheim, it is unlikely to return soon. Any future tournament games to be played in the San Francisco area would be played at SAP Center or Chase Center & in Denver at the Pepsi Center.

Teams

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

Bracket

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

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

CBS

Saturday, March 24

box score

#3 Duke Blue Devils 79, #1 Connecticut Huskies 78 (OT)
Pts: A. Abdelnaby 27 Rebs: A. Abdelnaby 14 Asts: B. Hurley 8		Pts: J. Gwynn, N. Henefeld 15 Rebs: N. Henefeld 6 Asts: C. Smith 5 Halftime Score: Duke, 37–30 End of Regulation: 72–72

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

Midwest Regional – Dallas, Texas

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

CBS

Saturday, March 24

box score

#4 Arkansas Razorbacks 88, #10 Texas Longhorns 85
Pts: L. Howell 21 Rebs: L. Howell, O. Miller 9 Asts: L. Mayberry 7		Pts: J. Wright, T. Mays 20 Rebs: L. Collie 14 Asts: T. Mays 5 Halftime Score: Arkansas, 43–36

Reunion Arena – Dallas, Texas
Attendance: 16,413

Southeast Regional – New Orleans, Louisiana

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

CBS

Sunday, March 25

box score

#4 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 93, #6 Minnesota Golden Gophers 91
Pts: D. Scott 40 Rebs: K. Anderson 8 Asts: K. Anderson 3		Pts: W. Burton 35 Rebs: R. Coffey 9 Asts: M. Newbern 6 Halftime Score: Minnesota, 49–47

Louisiana Superdome – New Orleans
Attendance: 17,782

West Regional – Oakland, California

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

CBS

Sunday, March 25

box score

#1 UNLV Runnin' Rebels 131, #11 Loyola Marymount Lions 101
Pts: S. Augmon 33 Rebs: L. Johnson 18 Asts: A. Hunt 13		Pts: B. Kimble 42 Rebs: B. Kimble 11 Asts: T. Lowery 6 Halftime Score: UNLV, 67–47

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

Final Four – Denver, Colorado

National Semifinals			National Championship Game


E3	Duke	97

M4	Arkansas	83
			E3	Duke	73

			W1	UNLV	103
S4	Georgia Tech	81

W1	UNLV	90

Game summaries

CBS

March 31

box score

#1 UNLV Runnin' Rebels 90, #4 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 81
Pts: S. Augmon 22 Rebs: M. Scurry 11 Asts: A. Hunt 7		Pts: D. Scott 29 Rebs: J. McNeil 9 Asts: K. Anderson 8 Halftime Score: Georgia Tech 53–46

McNichols Arena – Denver
Attendance: 17,675

CBS

March 31

box score

#3 Duke Blue Devils 97, #4 Arkansas Razorbacks 83
Pts: P. Henderson 28 Rebs: C. Laettner 14 Asts: B. Hurley 6		Pts: T. Day 27 Rebs: T. Day 7 Asts: L. Mayberry 6 Halftime Score: Duke, 46–43

McNichols Arena – Denver
Attendance: 17,675

National Championship

CBS

April 2

Box score

#1 UNLV Runnin' Rebels 103, #3 Duke Blue Devils 73
Pts: A. Hunt 29 Rebs: L. Johnson 11 Asts: S. Augmon 7		Pts: P. Henderson 21 Rebs: C. Laettner 9 Asts: C. Laettner 5 Halftime Score: UNLV, 47–35

McNichols Arena – Denver
Attendance: 17,675

Announcers

CBS broadcast all tournament games.

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
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
Tom Hammond and Gary Thompson – First Round (Georgetown–Texas Southern, Georgia–Texas) at Indianapolis, Indiana
Mick Hubert and Gary Thompson – 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
Wayne Larrivee and Bruce Larson – First Round (UNLV–Arkansas-Little Rock, Oregon State–Ball State) at Salt Lake City, Utah
John Sanders and Len Elmore – First Round (Louisville–Idaho) at Salt Lake City, Utah
Barry Tomkins and Mike Rice – First Round (Alabama–Colorado State, Michigan–Illinois State) at Long Beach, California

Tournament notes

UNLV's 103–73 win over Duke marked the first time in the history of the Final Four that 100 points were scored in the title game.
Loyola Marymount's 149–115 win over Michigan sets a new tournament record for most combined points (264).
National champion UNLV scores 571 points in the tournament setting the record for most points scored by a national champion.

NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Tournaments	1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Structure	Selection process Venues No. 1 seeds Opening Round Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game
Champions & awards	Champions Most Outstanding Player
Media & culture	Bracketology Broadcasting Tournament Final Four March Madness pools "One Shining Moment"
Records & statistics	All-time team records Bids by school Bids by school and conference Consecutive appearances Final Four appearances by school Final Four participants Final Four appearances by coach Upsets

1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments
Conference	American South ACC Atlantic 10 Big East Big Eight Big Sky Big South Big West CAA East Coast Metro MAAC MCC MEAC Mid-American Mid-Con Missouri Valley NAC Northeast Ohio Valley Pac-10 SEC Southern Southland Southwest SWAC Sun Belt TAAC WAC West Coast
National	NCAA NIT

Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Series
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1990 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

Locations

First and second rounds

Regional sites and Final Four

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

Tournament notes

See also