Computer says 1991 Rebels team best in UNLV’s history

Friday, April 4, 2003 | 9:36 a.m.

Anybody who saw all four of UNLV's Final Four teams would probably agree that the 1977 team was the most fun to watch.

But which Rebels team was best?

That's a question that will never be answered, although the 1977 team did whip the 1987 squad in a benefit game at the Thomas & Mack Center about 10 years ago.

"We were old men, way past our prime, and we beat up on them," said Glen Gondrezick, one of the stars of the 1977 team, which lost a one-point game to Dean Smith and North Carolina in the national semifinals. "I was embarrassed for them."

The 1990 UNLV edition that routed Duke in the national championship game in Denver was the only Rebels team to cut down the nets. But most neutral observers believe that if it were possible to bring Jerry Tarkanian's four great UNLV teams together in a fantasy Final Four, it would probably come down to the 1977 squad and the 1991 team, that somehow lost to Duke in the semifinals.

Gondrezick agrees.

"I don't think we would have blown those guys out," he said. "But honestly, I think we would have beaten them. I don't think they could have played 40 minutes the way we did, always running and pressing.

"They might have had the better players," Gondrezick said out of respect for a team that produced NBA stars Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon and Greg Anthony. "But we were the better team."

That's an argument better resolved over beers at a sports bar. The next best thing might be letting a computer help settle the score.

This is how a UNLV Fantasy Final Four, using Courtside College Basketball, a computer simulation by Lance Haffner Games of Nashville, Tenn., might have played out. It's the same company that CBS Sportsline has used to determine an NCAA football champion were there a playoff format.

But as David Letterman might say, it's only a computer simulation, not an actual competition. Please, no wagering.

1977 vs. 1990

The late arriving Thomas & Mack Center crowd is still settling into its seats when Stacey Augmon gives the 1990 Rebels an 18-13 lead with a steal and tomahawk dunk with 10:25 left in the first half. Then Eddie Owens, UNLV's all-time leading scorer, scores nine consecutive points to put 1977 ahead by two.

The game stays close, with Lewis Brown's scoop shot in the lane with 15 seconds to play holding up as the winning basket in 1977's 82-80 victory.

Owens finishes with 23 points for 1977, followed by Robert Smith with 15, Reggie Theus with 12 and Brown with 11. The 1990 Rebels are led by Johnson's 23 points and seven boards, with Anthony and Anderson Hunt adding 14 each, David Butler 13 and Augmon 12.

As Gondrezick noted, 1977's press, which forced 1990 into 26 turnovers, and relentless rebounding prove to be the difference. Gondo's 10 boards lead 1977 to a 51-32 edge.

1987 vs. 1991

Armon Gilliam, Freddie Banks, Mark Wade and Jarvis Basnight were an irresistible force in real life, until Bobby Knight's Indiana Hoosiers ended their run in the national semifinals in New Orleans.

In Cyberland, an immovable object named Larry Johnson halts the suspense early, as his 28 points and 14 rebounds lead 1991 to a 101-70 rout.

Hunt also scores 28 points while he and Anthony lock up tight on Banks, limiting the 1987 ace to a 4-of-18 shooting night, including just 2-of-11 from 3-point distance.

Basnight tops 1987 with 17 points. Gilliam finishes with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

1977 vs. 1991

The Las Vegas Convention Center is packed to the rafters, but that doesn't preclude Mike Toney, perhaps the Rebels' most zealous booster during the program's glory days, from showing up with not one, not two (as he did in 1991 at Indianapolis) but three "all access" credentials.

And three NCAA compliance officials are turned away at the door.

Once again, Larry Johnson proves to be the difference. His second consecutive 28-point, 14-rebound effort leads 1991 to a 106-93 victory and the championship it never won in real life.

Gondrezick keeps 1977 in the game with 19 points and 10 rebounds, but Theus' foul troubles and inability to find an offensive groove (he finishes with just four points on 1 of 10 FGs before fouling out) prove crucial.

Gondrezick and Owens would probably demand a rematch, reasoning that a computer can't measure intangibles such as heart, desire and referee Irv Brown's eyesight.

And of course, the NCAA would never comply. But Steven, that Dell Computers dude, might be willing to run the data from the 1977 and 1991 seasons through his laptop 10 more times in an attempt to once and for all determine the best UNLV team of all time.

UNLV 1991 beats UNLV 1977, 7 games to 3.