Day After, Tarkanian Still Grieves

Jerry Tarkanian, Nevada Las Vegas basketball coach, takes every loss hard. But he was nearly inconsolable Sunday, the day after his biggest loss.

“It’s worse today,” Tarkanian said of the Rebels’ 79-77 loss to Duke. “I just keep replaying it over and over in my mind.”

And there is not much for Tarkanian to look forward to. He will lose four starters, and the Rebels will be banned from live television and the NCAA tournament.

“I’ll never have a group of players like this again,” Tarkanian told the Associated Press. “You only get a team like this once in your career. This was a very special group of kids.”

All-American forward Larry Johnson’s decision to pass the ball to Anderson Hunt rather than attempt a three-point shot or drive to the basket in the closing seconds sealed UNLV’s fate.

“We had the ball in the hands of our best player in the open court and he gave it up,” Tarkanian said. “Larry had a good chance to create something, but he gave the ball up. But without Larry we don’t even get here. He’s carried this team for two years.”

Would Johnson pass to Hunt again if given a second chance?

“I don’t know,” Johnson said. “I doubt it, though.”

Trivia Time: Since 1975, when the NCAA tournament was first expanded to include at-large teams other than independents, how many times has UCLA lost in the first round?

Crying to the bank: Nevada sports books were back in the college basketball betting business after UNLV’s loss.

“It was sad to see the Rebels lose, but things go on, and here we are,” said Jimmy Vaccaro, manager of the race and sports book at the Mirage Hotel and Casino. “It’s business as usual now, and betting has been good.”

It marked the first time since 1989 that Nevada sports books have taken bets on the NCAA basketball playoffs. State law prohibits race and sports books from placing bets on an event in which a Nevada team is involved.

Add title game: It’s a good bet that Marilyn Hartman of Chapel Hill, associate director of continuing education at Duke, won’t be watching tonight’s game between the Blue Devils and Kansas.

“I simply don’t understand 20,000 people packing themselves into an auditorium and watching 10 guys run down to one end of the court, and watching them run down to the other end of the court and then watching them run back to the other end of the court,” she said.

“I just don’t get it. There must be something missing in my development.”

On a roll: Bora Milutinovic is said to have a riotous sense of humor, which should come in handy in his new job as coach of the U.S. soccer team.

At a news conference last week in New York, Milutinovic deflected many of the questions with punch lines, reported Pat Calabria of Newsday.

A sampling:

Q: “What kind of style do you prefer?”

A: “Style? Winning.”

Q: “Which team will give you the most trouble in the next World Cup?”

A: “All of them.”

Q: “Do you like an attacking style?”

A: “When we have the ball, yes.”

Add Bora: Milutinovic and Alan Rothenberg, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, both said that it was the goal of the U.S. team to win the World Cup in 1994, when the United States will play host to the monthlong competition, but Rothenberg added: “I’ll admit I’m willing to settle for something less.”

Trivia Time: Only once, this season. In 1981 and 1983, when the Bruins lost their first games in the tournament, they had drawn byes into the second round.

Quotebook: Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, debunking similarities to Indiana Coach Bobby Knight, for whom he played at Army: “He likes to hunt, and I like to go to the beach.”