Photos by KathrynBender, Star-Bulletin
The Rainbows' Anthony Carter put an exclamation point
on last night's win over Colorado St. with this reverse dunk.
At halftime, the Hawaii head coach was seen unloading a briefcase from an armored truck in the parking lot, then he was escorted to the UH bench by several Secret Service agents, then Wallace . . .
OK, OK. It was only a zone defense, but it sure did the trick as the Rainbows clobbered the Rams, 85-65, last night at the Special Events Arena.
"I wanted to save it for when we play up there," Wallace said afterward. "But you have to win this one first."
It looked like an easy victory from the start for the Rainbows, who improved to 11-3 overall and 3-1 in the WAC. Hawaii ran out to a 24-8 lead, but Colorado State fired back to close to within four, 46-42, at halftime.
Both teams were red-hot in the opening 20 minutes, with Colorado State hitting 65 percent (13-20) from the floor and Hawaii 60 percent (18-30).
But UH's Anthony Carter picked up three fouls in the first half and spent much of the time on the bench.
The second half was all Rainbows, though, after they went into a 1-2-2 zone. Hawaii came out of the locker room with a 12-1 burst that sent the Rams reeling.
Colorado State fell to 11-4 and 1-2 in the WAC.
"They did a great job in the zone," said Rams coach Stew Morrill. "We had seen them play that zone and knew it was a possibility, but we just didn't handle it very well.
"After shooting so well in the first half, I really thought it would be a game that went down to the wire. But we didn't execute very well in the second half and Hawaii is tough - they really hurt us in transition."
Alika Smith recovered his lost shooting touch back on the home court and finished with a game-high 22 points, hitting 6 of 15 from the floor and 4 of 9 from 3-point land.
"They just got me the ball where I wanted to shoot it," Smith said. "I just felt real relaxed and hit the shots."
Carter had another strong game for UH, with 16 points and nine assists - despite being in foul trouble.
"I really wasn't worried about the fourth foul," Carter said. "I just concentrated on playing hard defense and picking everyone up out there on the floor."
"We got our transition back when A.C went back in," Wallace said. "I think people are still underrating A.C.'s ability to orchestrate this ballclub."
Colorado State had three players in double figures - Bryan Christiansen (14), Jameel Mahmud (13) and Ryan Chilton (12) - but the Rams chilled to 31 percent (8-26) from the floor in the second half.
The Rainbows also outrebounded Colorado State, 30-24, and UH had fewer turnovers, 15-9, as well.
Michael Robinson contributed 10 points coming off the bench for the Rainbows and Micah Kroeger had eight points and seven rebounds.
"It was a good week of practice and we played hard," said Seth Sundberg, who scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds before fouling out near the end of the game. "We knew this was a game we had to win."
Hawaii 85, Colorado State 65
Rams (11-4, 1-2 WAC)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Chilton 33 4 6 4 6 5 3 12 Johnson 14 1 2 1 2 1 0 3 Palacio 33 2 4 4 4 3 0 8 Booker 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 J. Smith 10 2 2 0 0 1 1 6 Mahmud 24 4 8 3 4 1 2 13 Ware 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 Christiansen 26 4 11 2 4 3 1 14 Benson 22 2 5 0 0 2 2 5 Barnett 30 2 5 0 0 3 2 4 Ford 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Team 5 Totals 200 21 46 14 20 24 11 65
Rainbows (11-3, 3-1 WAC)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Curry 10 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 Robinson 17 5 9 0 0 4 1 10 Gallon 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 Kroeger 36 3 6 1 4 7 2 8 A. Smith 37 6 15 6 7 2 1 22 Carter 29 7 8 2 2 3 3 16 Miller 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 Anderson 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Furlong 11 2 2 0 0 1 1 4 Ambrozich 23 4 6 0 0 3 3 8 Sundberg 27 6 12 0 0 5 5 12 Team 3 Totals 200 35 62 9 13 30 17 85Key: mp-minutes played. fgm-field goals made. fga-field goals attempted. ftm-free throws made. fta-free throws attempted. reb-rebounds. pf-personal fouls. pts-points scored.
Halftime score-Hawaii 46, Colorado State 42.
3-point goals-CSU 9-21 (Christiansen 4-9, J. Smith 2-2, Mahmud 2-6, Benson 1-2, Barnett 0-2), UH 6-15 (A. Smith 4-9, Gallon 1-1, Kroeger 1-3, Curry 0-2).
Assists-CSU 15 (Chilton 3, Palacio 3, Barnett 3), UH 26 (Carter 9). Turnovers-CSU 15 (Mahmud 5), UH 9 (Carter 3). Steals-CSU 4 (Palacio 2), UH 6 (Kroeger 2). Blocked shots-CSU 2 (Chilton 1, Barnett 1), UH 1 (Ambrozich 1).
Technicals-none.
A-6,779 (tickets issued), 5,637 (turnstile). Officials: Stubing, Harris, Hernandez.