1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
The 1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the NCAA Division I men's basketball national champion for the 1989-1990 season. The 52nd annual edition of the tournament began on March 15, 1990, and ended with the championship game on April 2 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. A total of 63 games were played.
[1989–90 1989–90 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team|UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team|UNLV] won the national title with a 103–73 victory in the final game over [1989–90 1989–90 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team|Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team|Duke]. 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 championship win marks the last time a school from a non-power conference has won the tournament. Anderson Hunt of UNLV was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
This tournament is also remembered for an emotional run by the Loyola Marymount Lions in the West region. 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 and LMU, the regular-season champion, was given the conference's automatic bid to the tournament. The team defeated New Mexico State, then laid a 34-point thrashing on defending national champion [1989–90 1989–90 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team|Michigan], and defeated Alabama in the Sweet Sixteen 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 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.
Schedule and venues
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1990 tournament, and their host:First and Second Rounds
- March 15 and 17
- * East Region
- ** Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut
- * Midwest Region
- ** Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
- * Southeast Region
- ** Thompson–Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee
- * West Region
- ** Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
- March 16 and 18
- * East Region
- ** Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia
- * Midwest Region
- ** Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana
- * Southeast Region
- ** Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
- * West Region
- ** Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, California
- March 22 and 24
- * East Regional, Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey
- * Midwest Regional, Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas
- March 23 and 25
- * Southeast Regional, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
- * West Regional, Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena, Oakland, California
- March 31 and April 2
- * McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado
Announcers
CBS
CBS and NCAA Productions broadcast all tournament games.- 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 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 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
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 at Hartford, Connecticut
- Mike Gorman and Ron Perry – First round at Hartford, Connecticut
- Fred White and Larry Conley – First round at Atlanta, Georgia
- Ralph Hacker and Dan Belluomini – First round at Atlanta, Georgia
- Ron Franklin and Bob Ortegel – First round at Austin, Texas
- Frank Fallon and Jack Corrigan – First Round at Austin, Texas
- Tom Hammond and Gary Thompson – First round at Indianapolis, Indiana
- Mick Hubert and Jim Gibbons – First round at Indianapolis, Indiana; First round at Long Beach, California
- Mike Patrick and Dan Bonner – First round at Richmond, Virginia
- Bob Rathbun and Bucky Waters – First round at Richmond, Virginia
- Bob Rathbun and Mimi Griffin – First round at Richmond, Virginia
- John Sanders and Bruce Larson – First round at Salt Lake City, Utah
- John Rooney and Bob Weltlich – First Round at Knoxville, Tennessee
- Brad Nessler and Jack Givens – First Round at Knoxville, Tennessee
- John Sanders and Len Elmore – First round at Salt Lake City, Utah
- Barry Tompkins and Mike Rice – First round at Long Beach, California
Tournament notes
- Loyola Marymount's Jeff Fryer made 11 of his 15 three-point attempts against Michigan to set the NCAA tournament record.
- Loyola Marymount's 149–115 win over Michigan set a new tournament record for most combined points.
- UNLV at the time had the largest accumulated victory margin, over the entire tournament by a championship team that played 6 games. To date, it is the fifth-largest.
- UNLV's 103–73 win over Duke marked the first time in the history of the tournament that at least 100 points were scored by one team in the championship game.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- UNLV's 30-point margin of victory in the championship game is also a tournament record. ESPN called it the 36th “worst blowout in sports history.”
- , UNLV remains the only team from a non-power conference
- The championship game was UNLV's eleventh consecutive win. They would eventually run the win streak to 45 games. That is the fourth-longest win streak in NCAA Division I basketball history, and the longest win streak since the longest ever, by UCLA from 1971 to 1974.