COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : Georgetown Won’t Throw In the Towel, but UNLV Wins

Well, well. For an interesting change of pace, UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian had to use his world-famous game towel for something other than a mobile water fountain.

On Sunday, Georgetown actually forced Tarkanian to dab the sweat from his brow. Remember, moisture hasn’t formed there since NCAA investigators started asking for show tickets.

But not to worry--Tarkanian didn’t dab long.

Breaking a personal five-game losing streak against John Thompson’s Hoyas, the No. 1-ranked and still undefeated Rebels beat Georgetown, 62-54, in the second round of the West Regional.

It wasn’t their most artistic performance, but it may have been their most impressive. And sweetest, too.

“A really tough game,” Tarkanian said. “One of the toughest games I can remember being in.”

The victory was good enough to advance UNLV into the regional semifinal game against Utah, an 85-84, double-overtime winner against Michigan State earlier in the day. UNLV, seeded No. 1, will play the Utes, seeded fourth, Thursday at Seattle’s Kingdome.

As the score indicates, this wasn’t your typical UNLV victory. Fast breaks were few and far between. Larry Johnson, the Rebels’ All-American forward, had to play 40 minutes. A UNLV opponent actually closed within four points--and midway through the second half, no less.

Yet it didn’t seem to matter.

When Thompson instructed his Hoyas to slow the pace to a crawl, UNLV responded with scoring spurts of 10-0 and 13-2. Take that, Mr. Stall Ball.

When the Hoya twin telephone poles, 6-foot-10 Alonzo Mourning and 7-2 Dikembe Mutombo, pushed Johnson out toward the perimeter, he responded with nine points in 90 seconds. He finished with 20 points--17 in the second half--and 10 rebounds.

When UNLV starting center George Ackles, hobbled by a foot injury and three quick fouls, left the game, Tarkanian simply inserted 7-foot backup Elmore Spencer. Spencer only scored two points, but he blocked six shots and grabbed five rebounds in 27 minutes.

In short, Georgetown did everything it needed to do--control the tempo, move Johnson from the inside, force Tarkanian to go to his bench--and still the Hoyas could do no better than an eight-point loss.

“We’re not in the moral victory business at Georgetown,” Thompson said.

A moral victory is all the Hoyas have today. They return to campus with a 19-13 record, their first sub-20 victory season since 1976, and thoughts of what could have been.

Who knows what might have happened had Mourning not picked up his third foul--a silly one at that--with only nine seconds remaining in the first half . . . or his fourth with 17 minutes left to play. The foul trouble forced Thompson to use him carefully and sparingly (Mourning played only 24 minutes) for the remainder of the game.

During one prolonged Mourning absence, UNLV extended a 33-27 second-half lead to 44-29. Nor was it a coincidence that Mourning’s return sparked an 8-0 Georgetown run and cut the Rebels’ margin to 44-37 with 11:24 remaining. Three minutes later, the Hoyas only trailed, 46-42.

UNLV was terrified, right?

“No, we were never concerned,” said UNLV guard Anderson Hunt, who scored 14 points. “We knew what was going to happen.”

Here’s what transpired:

Hunt sank a three-pointer. Hunt dunked. Stacey Augmon dunked.

A close game became an afterthought.

The Hoyas managed to reduce the lead to five points with 2:33 remaining. However, when Mourning was whistled for his fifth foul 10 seconds later, that was that.

“I think they did a fabulous job,” said a sarcastic Mourning of the officials. “I think they did a spectacular job.”

As Mourning walked toward the Georgetown bench, Johnson began waving farewell. Then he leaned toward Mourning and said, “Bye.”

The taunt earned Johnson a technical foul, as if he cared.

“I kind of knew the technical was coming,” he said.

At game’s end, neither player would exchange handshakes. Mourning muttered a naughty word, and Johnson muttered something in return. When asked about it later, Thompson intervened on behalf of Mourning.

“That was a hell of a basketball game,” he bellowed. “You talk a lot of. . . . Let’s not make a good basketball game into a . . . contest.”

For the record, Johnson and Mourning were back on speaking terms when they met at the postgame news conference. “Just the heat of the battle,” Johnson said.

Of course, Mourning had said the game against UNLV (32-0) wouldn’t be any harder than one against a Big East Conference team. Guess which team saw that quote? “He’s been mouthing off a lot,” Hunt said. “That’s one of the differences. They talked a lot off the court. Alonzo’s been running off at the mouth, but he didn’t (back the talk up) because we’re advancing.”

So UNLV’s 43-game winning streak lives, as does its hopes of winning a second consecutive national championship. Georgetown, with its unique lineup, with Thompson’s expertise, with the Hoya aura, was supposed to give the Rebels the game of the year--perhaps even an upset.

At least, that’s what Tarkanian kept saying.

“Ah, he’s 0-5 against Georgetown teams in the ‘80s,” Hunt said. “This is the ‘90s. We’re going to start a new trend.”

If nothing else, Tarkanian and UNLV have the support of Thompson, who had nothing but praise for the Rebels.

“That’s a great team Las Vegas has,” he said, “and in all probability, they will win (the championship).

No one disagreed.

* OTHER GAMES: Additional regional coverage appears on C8 and C10-12.