UNLV Retains No. 1 Spot in Basketball Poll

L.A. Times Archives

Dec. 3, 1990 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

UNLV, which got the news it wanted last week when the Runnin’ Rebels learned they could defend their national championship, remained the No. 1 team in the college basketball poll today.

The Runnin’ Rebels, who opened their season Saturday night with a 109-68 victory over Alabama-Birmingham just two days after learning the NCAA shifted their probation from this year’s tournament to next season, received 45 first-place votes and 1,579 points from the nationwide panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Arizona (6-0), the only other school to receive first-place votes, and Arkansas (5-1) held second and third, while Syracuse (4-0) and Duke (5-1) each jumped three places to fourth and fifth, respectively. UCLA moved up from 12th to eighth.

Three teams joined the Top 25 this week--No. 21 South Carolina, No. 24 Temple and No. 25 Kentucky.

Arizona, which was No. 1 on 19 ballots, had 1,555 points, while Arkansas, which lost to the Wildcats in the preseason NIT championship game, had 1,435. Syracuse had 1,312, 80 more than the Blue Devils, whose only loss was to Arkansas in the NIT semifinals.

Georgetown (3-0) and Indiana (4-1) each jumped three places to sixth and seventh, respectively, while UCLA, Ohio State and North Carolina rounded out the Top Ten.

UCLA (4-0), which has set the school’s single-game scoring record twice this season--most recently last night in a 149-98 win over Loyola Marymount--had 1,097 points.

THE TOP 25 The top 25 teams in the AP college basketball poll; first-place votes in parentheses. 1. UNLV (45) 1-0

2. Arizona (19) 6-0

3. Arkansas 5-1

4. Syracuse 4-0

5. Duke 5-1

6. Georgetown 3-0

7. Indiana 4-1

8. UCLA 4-0

9. Ohio State 3-0

10. North Carolina 3-1

11. Pittsburgh 4-0

12. Alabama 2-1