NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL FINAL : UNLV Defense Bedevils Duke : Championship: Hunt earns MVP, helps keep the pressure on with 29 points as Tarkanian wins his first NCAA title, 103-73.

Nevada Las Vegas, college basketball’s ultimate Rebels, won the NCAA championship Monday night with an overwhelming performance never before seen at high altitude, or NCAA latitude or longitude for that matter.

For UNLV, all the world’s a basketball court, which formed the coordinates where for a single stunning season, the Runnin’ Rebels were clearly superior players.

“It was just one of those games you dream about,” UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian said.

In a record-setting display of speed, defense and shooting, UNLV swamped Duke, 103-73, and won its first NCAA title. It was the biggest blowout in championship history and the first 100-point game in a final.

The Rebels etched their names on the NCAA trophy, which Tarkanian accepted on a blue carpeted stage at center court of McNichols Arena.

UNLV’s image, which has come under scrutiny this season from the NCAA investigators as well as the media, seemed to improve quickly. At least that is the way UNLV’s Larry Johnson saw it.

“You can call us bad guys, you can call us thugs, you can call us hoodlums, but in the end, now you can also call us national champions,” he said.

Johnson, the 6-foot-7, 250-pound movable mountain, backed up Anderson Hunt’s 29 points with 22 of his own. But Johnson also had 11 rebounds, four steals, two assists and a blocked shot.

Hunt made 12 of 16 shots, four of seven three-pointers, and was chosen the Final Four’s most valuable player.

Asked if this was the best game he had ever played, Hunt replied with no trace of false modesty: “No . . . this is one of ‘em.”

All told, it was a thoroughly intimidating game-long outburst by UNLV, which won the championship in its first NCAA title game and third Final Four appearance.

The end was soon in coming for Duke, winless in four title games after eight fruitless Final Four appearances. But the swiftness in which UNLV blew open the game was blinding indeed. “I think it’s the best a team has ever played against me,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I’m in awe.”

The Rebels led Duke by 12 points at the half and were still up by 10 points with 16:08 left, 57-47. Then, in a blur of red and white uniforms, it was over.

In the next 2 minutes 43 seconds, UNLV outscored Duke, 18-0. Following the play-by-play is like reading about an explosion.

16:08: Hunt makes a 12-foot jumper from the baseline: 59-47.

15:56: Johnson banks in an 11-footer from the left side after a Duke miss: 61-47.

15:09: Hunt sinks a three-pointer from 22 feet out on the right side after a Duke miss: 64-47.

14:53: Hunt scores a breakaway layup after a steal by Greg Anthony: 66-47.

14:41: Hunt scores a breakaway layup after a steal by Stacey Augmon: 68-47.

14:23: Augmon dunks on a breakaway after a missed shot: 70-47.

13:49: Johnson scores a breakaway reverse layup after a blocked shot by Augmon: 72-47.

13:17: Hunt makes a three-pointer from 22 feet at the right baseline: 75-47.

Hunt had 12 points, two assists and three-point plays in the shocking streak that even Krzyzewski had to admire. However, Krzyzewski saved his biggest praise for UNLV’s pressure defense.

“They were in control of the game throughout, whether they had the ball or not,” he said. “It was an incredible display of great basketball by UNLV.”

Krzyzewski found there was no answer for UNLV’s half-court defense, which pushed Duke’s offense far out of position and sealed off passes to big men, 6-11 Christian Laettner and 6-10 Alaa Abdelnaby.

Laettner and Abdelnaby combined for 29 points and 16 rebounds, but their height was no advantage in an all-out open court game, where sprints to the basket were no small factor. Many of those sprints resulted from the Rebels’ 16 steals--five by Greg Anthony--another record for a championship game.

Perhaps unfairly, there seemed to be little consolation for Duke in a 29-9 season. Duke lost four of its last five games against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents, finished second in the ACC, lost to Georgia Tech in the ACC tournament final and except for one game, did nothing wrong from then on.

The Blue Devils began the NCAA tournament with a victory over Richmond and continued on by defeating St. John’s, UCLA, Connecticut and Arkansas before getting blasted by UNLV.

“This morning, I thought we could win,” Abdelnaby said. “It’s your dream to win the national championship. For that not to happen . . . I feel terrible.”

Such feelings were unique to the players in blue. UNLV’s victory was its third 30-point win in six tournament games.

“When we get out on the break, we just love it,” Johnson said.

In the tournament, UNLV beat Arkansas Little Rock by 30, Ohio State by 11, Ball State by two, Loyola Marymount by 30, Georgia Tech by nine and then Duke by 30.

The Rebels’ 35-5 record is their second-best ever, surpassed only by the 1987 Final Four team which finished 37-2.

UCLA’s 78-55 victory over North Carolina in 1968 was the previous largest margin of victory in a championship game. Until Monday night, the team that had come closest to scoring 100 points in a final was UCLA, which defeated Duke, 98-83, in 1964.

Tarkanian concluded his 17th season at UNLV, where he has battled the NCAA for 12 of them. When the time came for him to accept the championship trophy, Tarkanian almost didn’t do it.

Instead, Tarkanian wanted Athletic Director Brad Rothermel to hold the trophy, but relented when NCAA officials persisted.

Afterward, Tarkanian’s familiar droopy eyes seemed to laugh out loud. “We played about as well as we’re capable of playing,” Tarkanian said. “Defensively, it was probably as good as it can be.”

Tarkanian went on to downplay the significance of his team’s triumph on his own feelings, deflecting the effect of the victory toward UNLV fans and the city of Las Vegas.

As for winning the NCAA’s biggest basketball prize while being regarded as some sort of truant, Tarkanian said he did not feel any need for vindication.

“It’s not revenge,” he said. “It’s just sweet.

“It’s just like a fairy tale.”

* MORE COVERAGE: C6

FINAL BLOWOUTS

A list of the worst losses in the NCAA championship basketball game.

Mrg Year Score 30 1990 UNLV 103, Duke 73 23 1968 UCLA 78, N. Carolina 55 21 1973 UCLA 87, Memphis St. 66 20 1969 UCLA 92, Purdue 72 20 1960 Ohio St. 75, California 55 18 1976 Indiana 86, Michigan 68 18 1940 Indiana 60, Kansas 42 17 1952 Kansas 80, St. John’s 63 16 1954 LaSalle 92, Bradley 76 16 1948 Kentucky 58, Baylor 42 15 1964 UCLA 98, Duke 83 15 1967 UCLA 79, Dayton 64 15 1942 Stanford 53, Dartmouth 38