Columnist Dean Juipe: LV marveled as Rebels won 45 in a row

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2004 | 9:37 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Anyone who lived here in 1991 and followed sports was all but immersed in a sense of euphoria. The city's unquestioned focal point -- its defending national champion UNLV men's basketball team -- was in the process of going undefeated during the regular season and emotions were surging right through the Thomas & Mack Center roof.

Game after game the Rebels withstood challenges to their perfect record and extended a winning streak that dated from March 1, 1990. The '90 Rebels won their last 11 games -- after losing Feb. 26 at UC Santa Barbara -- including the national championship game with Duke, and next season's team picked up without missing a beat.

In fact, UNLV would get to 34-0 in 1991 before losing the national semifinal game in a rematch with Duke.

That 45-game winning streak was laden with blowouts as a 1990-91 team that featured a starting lineup of Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony, Stacey Augmon, George Ackles and Anderson Hunt obliterated even the most spirited of challengers. A seven-point victory at No. 2 Arkansas stood as the closest of calls, and even then UNLV was most assuredly in charge.

It was an absolutely thrilling time in the history of the city and the school, a heretofore unsurpassed peak for each that may stand forever.

It's still very much preliminary, but the good people of Stanford, Calif., and Philadelphia are starting to realize how exciting an undefeated season can be. They are, no doubt, probably obsessing about it already, much as we in Las Vegas couldn't get it off our collective minds 13 years ago.

Stanford, of the Pacific-10, and St. Joseph's, of the Atlantic 10, are the only remaining undefeated men's basketball teams in Division I, with the No. 2 Cardinal 16-0 and the No. 3 Hawks 17-0. Just as important, both teams have favorable schedules and one or both could become the first team since UNLV in 1991 to enter the NCAA tournament with a perfect record.

Indiana, in 1976, was the last team to complete an entire season without a loss.

Stanford, which was ranked 13th when it defeated UNLV 86-71 back on Dec. 13, has beaten a ranked team (in Arizona) and survived an upset threat (last Saturday when it rallied from six back at the half to knock off Southern Cal). It plays at Oregon State on Thursday and could get through its conference schedule unscathed, although a rematch with Arizona and critical games at Oregon and UCLA are among those that await.

St. Joe's plays at Temple on Saturday, but its most dangerous remaining games would seem to be at crosstown rival Villanova, 11-6, Feb. 2, and vs. Dayton, 16-3, a week later. The Hawks already have set a school record for consecutive wins.

But even at an impressive 17, that winning streak isn't the 34 in one season and 45 spread over two that made UNLV a household name and the Rebels major stars in a city of celebrities. That '91 UNLV squad mercilessly pounded every team it played, including Montana, Georgetown, Utah and Seton Hall in the NCAA tournament before running into Duke.

So have fun, fans in Stanford and Philly, as your teams toy with history. We can appreciate your enthusiasm.