1988–89 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team

The 1988–89 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team represented the University of Nevada Las Vegas as a member of the Big West Conference during the 1988–89 college basketball season. Led by head coach Jerry Tarkanian, the team played its home games in the Thomas & Mack Center. The Runnin' Rebels won conference regular season and tournament titles, reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament, and finished with an overall record of 29–8.

1988–89 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball
Big West tournament champions Big West regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big West Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
AP	No. 15
Record	29–8 (16–2 Big West)
Head coach	Jerry Tarkanian (16th season)
Assistant coaches	Tim Grgurich (8th season) Keith Starr (3rd season) Ron Ganulin (1st season)
Home arena	Thomas & Mack Center
Seasons ← 1987–88 1989–90 →

1988–89 Big West men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 15 UNLV †	16	–	2		.889			29	–	8		.784
New Mexico State	12	–	6		.667			21	–	11		.656
UC Santa Barbara	11	–	7		.611			21	–	9		.700
Cal State Fullerton	10	–	8		.556			16	–	13		.552
Long Beach State	10	–	8		.556			13	–	15		.464
Utah State	10	–	8		.556			12	–	16		.429
Fresno State	9	–	9		.500			15	–	14		.517
UC Irvine	8	–	10		.444			12	–	17		.414
Pacific	3	–	15		.167			7	–	21		.250
San Jose State	1	–	17		.056			5	–	23		.179
† 1989 Big West tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Roster

1988–89 UNLV Runnin' Rebels men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown C 00 David Butler 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Washington, D.C. G 5 Stacey Cvijanovich 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Oxnard, California G 12 Anderson Hunt 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 176 lb (80 kg) Fr Detroit, Michigan G 15 Bryan Emerzian 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Waukegan, Illinois F 32 Stacey Augmon 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 206 lb (93 kg) So Pasadena, California F 33 Barry Young 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 223 lb (101 kg) So Ellicott City, Maryland C 34 James Jones 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Cincinnati, Ohio F 35 Moses Scurry 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Brooklyn, New York F/C 44 George Ackles 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania G 50 Greg Anthony 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Las Vegas, Nevada F 53 Chris Jeter 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 216 lb (98 kg) So San Diego, California G John Smith 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — So	Head coach Jerry Tarkanian (Fresno State) Assistant coach(es) Tim Grgurich Ron Ganulin Cleveland Edwards Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 25, 1988*	No. 8	vs. DePaul Maui Invitational	W 86–77	1–0	–	–	–	Lahaina Civic Center (3,700) Lahaina, HI
Nov 26, 1988*	No. 8	vs. No. 4 Oklahoma Maui Invitational	L 81–83	1–1	–	–	–	Lahaina Civic Center (4,200) Lahaina, HI
Nov 27, 1988*	No. 8	vs. Memphis State Maui Invitational	W 90–86	2–1	–	–	–	Lahaina Civic Center (3,700) Lahaina, HI
Dec 10, 1988*	No. 9	at No. 10 Arizona	L 75–86	2–2	–	–	–	McKale Center (13,624) Tucson, AZ
Dec 15, 1988	No. 13	UC Irvine	W 100–85	3–2 (1–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (17,453) Las Vegas, NV
Dec 21, 1988*	No. 13	Rhode Island	W 88–69	4–2	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (16,517) Las Vegas, NV
Dec 22, 1988*	No. 13	Texas A&M	W 110–67	5–2	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (17,437) Las Vegas, NV
Dec 28, 1988*	No. 12	Pepperdine	W 88–56	6–2	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (18,024) Las Vegas, NV
Dec 29, 1988	No. 12	San Jose State	W 101–68	7–2 (2–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (17,535) Las Vegas, NV
Jan 3, 1989	No. 12	at Long Beach State	W 97–76	8–2 (3–0)	–	–	–	The Gold Mine (1,889) Long Beach, CA
Jan 5, 1989	No. 12	New Mexico State	W 79–58	9–2 (4–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (17,971) Las Vegas, NV
Jan 9, 1989	No. 12	Pacific	W 83–61	10–2 (5–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (17,463) Las Vegas, NV
Jan 11, 1989	No. 11	at Fresno State	W 83–77	11–2 (6–0)	–	–	–	Selland Arena (10,159) Fresno, CA
Jan 16, 1989	No. 11	Cal State Fullerton	W 66–63	12–2 (7–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (18,405) Las Vegas, NV
Jan 19, 1989	No. 10	Utah State	W 102–80	13–2 (8–0)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (18,732) Las Vegas, NV
Jan 22, 1989*	No. 10	at No. 4 Louisville	L 74–92	13–3	–	–	–	Freedom Hall (19,632) Louisville, KY
Jan 25, 1989	No. 13	at Utah State	W 94–68	14–3 (9–0)	–	–	–	Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (10,024) Logan, UT
Jan 30, 1989*	No. 13	No. 4 Oklahoma	L 88–90	14–4	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (19,000) Las Vegas, NV
Feb 4, 1989	No. 16	at UC Irvine	L 98–99	14–5 (9–1)	–	–	–	Bren Events Center (5,000) Irvine, CA
Feb 6, 1989	No. 19	UC Santa Barbara	W 77–61	15–5 (10–1)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (18,683) Las Vegas, NV
Feb 9, 1989	No. 19	at Cal State Fullerton	L 92–93	15–6 (10–2)	–	–	–	Titan Gym (4,000)
Feb 12, 1989*	No. 19	at No. 17 NC State	W 89–80	16–6	–	–	–	Reynolds Coliseum (12,400) Raleigh, NC
Feb 16, 1989	No. 18	at San Jose State	W 95–66	17–6 (11–2)	–	–	–	San Jose Civic Auditorium (2,454) San Jose, CA
Feb 19, 1989*	No. 18	Temple	W 62–60	18–6	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (19,020) Las Vegas, NV
Feb 20, 1989	No. 18	Long Beach State	W 104–74	19–6 (12–2)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (17,191) Las Vegas, NV
Feb 23, 1989	No. 18	Fresno State	W 75–71	20–6 (13–2)	–	–	–	Thomas & Mack Center (19,000) Las Vegas, NV
Feb 25, 1989*	No. 18	at LSU	L 87–88	20–7	25 – Augmon	–	–	Maravich Assembly Center (13,581) Baton Rouge, LA
Feb 27, 1989	No. 18	at UC Santa Barbara	W 84–75	21–7 (14–2)	–	–	–	The Thunderdome (6,000) Santa Barbara, CA
Mar 2, 1989	No. 18	at Pacific	W 81–71	22–7 (15–2)	–	–	–	Alex G. Spanos Center (4,477) Stockton, CA
Mar 5, 1989	No. 18	at New Mexico State	W 75–73	23–7 (16–2)	–	–	–	Pan American Center (12,839) Las Cruces, NM
Big West tournament
Mar 9, 1989*	No. 18	vs. UC Irvine Big West tournament Quarterfinal	W 102–82	24–7	–	–	–	Long Beach Arena (7,242) Long Beach, CA
Mar 10, 1989*	No. 18	vs. Cal State Fullerton Big West tournament Semifinal	W 99–83	25–7	–	–	–	Long Beach Arena (8,153) Long Beach, CA
Mar 11, 1989*	No. 18	vs. New Mexico State Big West tournament championship	W 68–62	26–7	–	–	–	Long Beach Arena (7,034) Long Beach, CA
NCAA Tournament
Mar 16, 1989*	(4 W) No. 15	vs. (13 W) Idaho First round	W 68–56[1]	27–7	17 – Augmon	14 – Scurry	4 – Hunt	BSU Pavilion (12,241) Boise, ID
Mar 18, 1989*	(4 W) No. 15	vs. (12 W) DePaul Second Round	W 85–70[2]	28–7	23 – Butler	11 – Augmon	7 – Hunt	BSU Pavilion (12,428) Boise, ID
Mar 23, 1989*	(4 W) No. 15	vs. (1 W) No. 1 Arizona Regional semifinal	W 68–67[3][4]	29–7	21 – Hunt	6 – Tied	11 – Anthony	McNichols Sports Arena (16,813) Denver, CO
Mar 25, 1989*	(4 W) No. 15	vs. (3 W) No. 11 Seton Hall Regional final	L 61–84[5]	29–8	16 – Anthony	14 – Scurry	4 – Anthony	McNichols Sports Arena (16,813) Denver, CO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Source ^{[6][7] [8]}

Rankings

Main article: 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	10	8	9	9	13	13	12	12	11	10	13	16	19	18	18	18	18	15
Coaches	7	7^	8	8	13	14	10	12	11	10	16	17	19	17	18	17	19	14

^Coaches did not release a week-1 poll.

Awards and honors

• Stacey Augmon – NABC Defensive Player of the Year, Big West Conference Player of the Year