clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

YouTube Gold: 40 Minutes Of Heck

Duke blew past the Razorbacks then ran into a UNLV buzzsaw in the 1990 championship game

By JD King
Clarkson NCAA Archive
DENVER, CO - MARCH 31: Darrell Hawkins #21 of the Arkansas Razorbacks defends Phil Henderson #3 of the Duke Blue Devils during a semifinal game in the 1990 NCAA Men’s Final Four held at McNichols Arena on March 31, 1990 in Denver, Colorado. Duke defeated Arkansas 97-83 to advance to the championship game.
Photo by Rich Clarkson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

The Duke-UNLV game in 1990 is the best remembered game of the Final Four because UNLV just destroyed Duke in the Final Four. But the other games were pretty good too: Georgia Tech gave Vegas a tough game, losing 90-81 and Duke took on Arkansas in the other semifinal, after listening to a certain amount of woofing about 40 Minute of Hell.

Didn't quite end up that way.

Duke ended up winning 97-83. Arkansas did force 16 turnovers, six by freshman Bobby Hurley, but had 14 of their own.

Duke shot 57.7 percent overall to Arkansas’s 44.2 percent. Duke’s front court combined to shoot 21-29.

Arkansas’s May-Day backcourt, with Lee Mayberry and Todd Day, combined to hit just 14-35.

There had been some woofing from Arkansas prior to the game about Nolan Richardson’s 40 Minutes Of Hell defense, but Duke shredded that.

The teams would get a rematch in 1994 when Arkansas added Corliss Williamson and Scottie Thurman, who hit a crucial shot that just barely cleared the fingertips of Antonio Lang to secure Richardson’s sole national championship.

More From Duke Basketball Report