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their first national title two nights later by beating Kansas, 72-65. The semifinal victory is considered by many to be one of the greatest upsets in modern sports history (ESPN Page 2 readers voted it the fourth greatest upset ever in a 2001 poll behind only the 1980 Miracle on Ice, Buster Douglas’ unlikely knockout of Mike Tyson in Tokyo, and wrestler Rulon Gardner’s defeat of the seemingly invincible Alexander Karelin at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney). But for years, incredulous fans and members of the media have cast doubt of the validity of Duke’s incredible upset. An analysis of the game’s final minutes and some rather damning photographic evidence suggests that the shocking victory may have been the result of UNLV shaving points or, worse, conspiring with gamblers to throw the game.

Breakdown of final two-and-a-half minutes of the game

UNLV’s uncharacteristically sloppy play and poor defending over the final two-and-a-half minutes of the game is what first draws suspicion of a fix. Here’s the play-by-play:

2:32: UNLV center George Ackles tips in his own shot, capping a 6-0 Runnin’ Rebels run. UNLV leads 76-71.

2:15: Bobby Hurley comes down court, pulls up, and sinks a three. With Anthony having fouled out at the 3:51 mark, Hurley is not particularly well-defended on the play. Duke is now down two, 76-74, at the 2:15 mark.

1:24: UNLV is called for a 45-second shot-clock violation. Duke ball.

1:02: Inexplicably, Brian Davis is poorly guarded on the in-bounds pass from half-court. He is permitted to drive the baseline and reaches the basket before he is finally encountered by Johnson, who fouls Davis as he sinks a short layup. Davis completes the three-point play, giving Duke a one-point edge at 77-76.

0:49: Augmon continues his miserable game by missing a short jumper in the lane. Augmon, who had averaged 16.5 points during the season, is held to just six points (3 for 10 shooting).

0:49: Johnson, whose thirteen points are also well below his season average, grabs the offensive rebound and is fouled by Grant Hill. Johnson misses both free throws but Duke is called for a lane violation on the second, giving Johnson another chance. He converts, tying the score at 77.

0:15: Working for a good shot, Duke takes thirty-four seconds off the clock before Thomas Hill takes and misses a short jump shot. Laettner grabs the offensive rebound and is fouled by reserve forward Evric Gray.

0:12: After UNLV calls a timeout, Laettner makes both free throws to give Duke a two-point lead at 79-77.

0:12: UNLV calls another timeout and Tarkanian draws up a final play. Larry Johnson somehow ends up handling the ball on the wing and finds himself with an open look at the basket from three-point range. Inconceivably, he passes up on the shot and skips a pass back to Anderson Hunt who throws up a despera tion three-point shot with time expiring. The shot bounces hard off the back of the iron, Hurley grabs the rebound, and time expires. Duke wins.

EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT A CONSPIRACY

If UNLV′s poor performance down the stretch of the game wasn’t enough to suggest the likelihood of a fix, A.D. Hopkins of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on May 26, 1991, that three UNLV players, Moses Scurry, Anderson Hunt, and David Butler had been entertained at the home of Richie “The Fixer” Perry, a twice-convicted sports-event fixer who had figured in both the fixing of harness races at the Roosevelt and Yonkers racetracks in New York in 1974 and the Boston College basketball point shaving scandal of 1978-79. At the time of the publication of the Review-Journal article, Perry was under consideration by Nevada state gaming investigators for inclusion in the state’s “Black Book,” the list of individuals prohibited by law from entering Nevada casinos. Perry was also a key figure in an ongoing NCAA investigation of the UNLV basketball program, which had become a popular target during Tarkanian’s years in Las Vegas. Because of violations stemming from the improper recruitment of New York playground phenom Lloyd Daniels in 1986 (in which