By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Loose ball pandemonium! The crowd includes Greg Miller,
Eric Ambrozich and Seth Sundberg from UH, and Warren Rosegreen,
Keon Clark and Mark Dickel from UNLV.
Just when it looked like Jermaine Smith's lay-up was going to send the game into overtime, the basketball suddenly found a mind of its own. It took a lap around the cylinder, stuck a toe into the white canyon of net and decided to answer the home team's prayers.
The fickle basketball gods smiled down on Hawaii last night as Smith's last-second shot skidded off the rim at the buzzer, preserving the Rainbows' 66-64 WAC win over UNLV. The victory at the Special Events Arena left Hawaii (15-4) in a two-way tie for the Pacific Division lead with Fresno State at 7-2, and kept the Rainbows unbeaten at home in conference play.
"When I saw the ball go up, I started praying," said Hawaii senior center Seth Sundberg, who turned in his third double-double game of the season (12 points, 11 rebounds). "I was so happy when it came out toward me. I tried to slap it away from everyone and then I heard the buzzer go off."
The airhorn sounded more like a loud sigh of relief by the partisan crowd of 7,207 who had watched the Rainbows squander a seven-point lead with 68 seconds remaining. The Runnin' Rebels made good on their nickname, quickly recycling two bad passes by Hawaii guard A.C. Carter into two 3-point baskets by Damian Smith in a 10-second span.
What seemingly had been a comfortable 65-58 margin turned into a 65-64 nail-biter. When Carter forced a trey of his own with 17 seconds to go that was off the mark, "I thought it was deja vu from the first time we played UNLV," said Hawaii coach Riley Wallace. "Only this time, the outcome would be a reverse of what happened up there.
"At their place, we were down by eight at the half and came back to win it on the final play of the game. We left the floor at halftime tonight with a nine-point lead and they came back."
On Jan. 11, Carter hit two free throws with one second left to lift Hawaii to a 66-65 victory in Las Vegas. Trailing 65-64 last night, UNLV needed to hit a basket to match that identical score.
Rainbow guard Alika Smith stepped in front of irony, knocking down a pass meant for Damian Smith, and started to race up the court with 5.2 seconds to go. Damian Smith grabbed the UH junior, preventing him from getting the ball off to a streaking Carter.
"I happened to get lucky and got my fingers on the ball," said Smith, whose 21-point effort included a career-high five 3-pointers. "I was thinking, 'I've got to get that ball' and stuck my arm out.
"I thought it was a intentional foul. He grabbed my jersey and prevented me from doing anything. They (the officials) said no but I still had two shots."
Smith, a 77 percent free-throw shooter, missed his first attempt. Wallace called timeout to tell his guard, who had played the entire game, to get his legs into the second shot.
Smith hit his 21st point of the game, creating a two-point cushion. UNLV, with four guards and leading scorer Tyrone Nesby on the court, elected to go for the tie.
Jermaine Smith drove through the Hawaii defense, only to watch in stunned disbelief as the ball rolled around the rim and out.
The game might have been won in the last 30 seconds of the first half. The Runnin' Rebels had cut the Rainbows' lead to 30-28 when Alika Smith hit his third 3-pointer.
After a missed UNLV free throw, Sundberg jammed home an alley-oop pass from Carter. Smith then forced a turnover on the inbounds play and, with six-tenths of a second left, Smith lobbed a touch pass to Sundberg for a basket and a 37-26 lead.
"We played hard for 39 minutes and 23 seconds," said Bayno. "This team has shown immaturity before, like those last 30 seconds of the first half. That was a lack of aggressiveness."
Wallace was happy about his team's lack of aggressiveness on the final play of the game. The last thing the Rainbow coach wanted was to give up a basket and a foul.
"This has got to be the first time that Micah Kroeger didn't reach in and foul the guy driving by," Wallace said of his junior small forward. "In practice, he is always reaching in and fouling. This is the first time I can remember he didn't pick up the foul.
"That ball laid right on that rim and then the good Lord says "Bloooop" and flicks it away. This was a big, big win for us."
Carter finished with 16 points and 10 assists.
UNLV was led by Keon Clark's 22 points and 14 rebounds, both of which tie his career highs.
Hawaii 66, UNLV 64
Rebels (13-7, 5-4 WAC)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Dickel 12 0 7 0 0 3 2 0 James 28 0 2 0 0 2 4 0 Clark 37 8 15 5 8 14 2 22 D. Smith 16 3 5 0 0 0 1 9 Ausborne 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 J. Smith 27 5 10 0 0 4 3 10 Nesby 35 5 17 3 5 6 0 13 Rosegreen 23 2 4 2 2 4 3 6 Lane 19 2 6 0 1 1 1 4 Team 6 Totals 200 25 66 10 16 40 16 64
Rainbows (15-4, 7-2 WAC)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Robinson 18 2 3 0 2 6 4 4 Kroeger 33 2 5 2 2 7 4 6 A. Smith 40 7 14 2 4 1 2 21 Carter 38 5 15 3 6 3 3 16 Miller 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Furlong 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Ambrozich 25 2 10 1 2 10 0 5 Sundberg 36 5 10 2 4 11 4 12 Team 1 1 6 2 Totals 200 24 59 10 20 44 20 66Key: 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 37, UNLV 28.
3-point goals-UNLV 4-13 (D. Smith 3-5, Clark 1-1, Dickel 0-2, J. Smith 0-2, Nesby 0-3), UH 8-16
(A. Smith 5-9, Carter 3-5, Kroeger 0-2).
Assists-UNLV 11 (James 4), UH 20 (Carter 10). Turnovers-UNLV 12 (James 4), UH 17 (Carter 5). Steals-UNLV 7 (James 3), UH 7 (Carter 3). Blocked shots-UNLV 4 (Clark 2, Nesby 2), UH 6 (Sundberg 4).
Technicals-none.
A-7,207 (turnstile) 8,325 (issued). Officials: Hunt, Ball, Smith.