UNLV Players Sue to Go On : College basketball: They seek a permanent injunction that could allow them to obtain an NCAA at-large berth.

Nevada Las Vegas basketball players filed suit Friday in an attempt to overturn NCAA sanctions that prevent the Rebels from participating in the NCAA tournament.

The suit, filed in state district court in Las Vegas, seeks to strike down separate agreements between the NCAA and UNLV, and the NCAA and UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian, that allowed the Rebels to play in last year’s tournament, but prevent them from playing in the tournament this year.

The agreements were reached in November of 1990 after the NCAA Committee on Infractions had barred the Rebels, defending national champions at the time, from competing in the 1991 tournament as a final penalty stemming from the 1977 infractions case that prompted Tarkanian to take the NCAA to court.

District Court Judge Donald Mosley granted a temporary restraining order on behalf of the players that will allow them to practice until a hearing can be held Wednesday to consider their request for a permanent injunction. Such an injunction could allow them to obtain an at-large berth in the 64-team field.

The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee is due to announce the tournament pairings and seedings March 15.

The Rebels finished the season with a 26-2 record, including victories in their last 23 games. They have been barred by the Big West from competing in the conference tournament next week in Long Beach because of the NCAA sanctions.

The players’ suit lists the NCAA, UNLV and Tarkanian as defendants.

According to the suit, the 1990 agreements were the result of an unfair process in which the university willingly took part. The suit also claims that the ruling delaying the tournament sanction until this season was granted for the financial benefit of the NCAA, UNLV and Tarkanian.

The Rebels reached last year’s Final Four, where they lost to Duke in the semifinals.

UNLV President Robert Maxson said the school intends to fight any effort to overturn its agreement with the NCAA.

“The university made an agreement with the NCAA not to play (in the tournament) this year in exchange for playing last year,” he said. “Jerry Tarkanian made the same agreement independently (of UNLV). I’m going to tell you that the university plans to keep its word.”

The courts have rejected similar attempts by college athletes to gain postseason competition twice in the last nine years. One case involved an attempt by University of Arizona football players to overturn NCAA sanctions in 1983; the other involved an effort by Bradley University basketball players in 1987.

The NCAA’s Las Vegas attorney, Peggy Leen, says that the UNLV players do not have much of a case.

“In short, these are Rebels without a cause of action,” she said.