ByKathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Anthony Carter, right, looks to pass around
the Aztecs' Roy Kruiswyk last night.
"We got a little tired and -- bang -- there they were running down our throats and scoring easy," said the San Diego State head coach.
Hawaii came out sputtering in the first half last night, but the Rainbows roared into high gear in the second half to leave the Aztecs in the dust, 74-62, in front of 6,707 fans at the Special Events Arena.
UH improved to 19-4 overall and 11-2 in the WAC. The Rainbows crept closer to winning the Pacific Division title with three regular-season games remaining -- although an extremely tough one looms at New Mexico on Saturday.
The Aztecs (12-12 and 4-10) actually led at halftime, 33-32, taking advantage of a rusty UH man-to-man defense and 11 turnovers by the home team.
The Rainbows switched to a zone in the second half and -- despite giving up an early barrage of 3-point shots -- finally wore down the visitors.
"We hadn't played man-to-man in three games, so we wanted to establish it -- but we're a very tired ballclub," said UH head coach Riley Wallace. "That's the way we were in practice all week and that's the way we showed up for the ballgame.
"So we had to get in the zone, which is gonna give up a few threes, but we got the transition game going out of it, which we didn't have in the first half."
Alika Smith led the Rainbows with 21 points. Three other UH starters finished in double figures: Anthony Carter (15), Micah Kroeger (13) and Michael Robinson (12).
But the biggest boost of rocket fuel came from an unlikely source, back-up center Danny Furlong, who exploded at both ends of the court with about six minutes left in the game.
"Danny played the most quality time that he's played this year," Wallace said. "He really did the job and got it done for us."
Furlong had five points and seven rebounds in only 15 minutes of playing time.
"I was just trying to get all the boards I could," Furlong said. "It worked out and we won."
San Diego State shot 50 percent in the first half, but cooled off to 29 percent in the final 20 minutes.
The Aztecs did nail 10 of 30 3-point attempts on the night, though.
"We had a little talk in the locker room (at halftime) and we had to pull everybody together," said Carter, who also had a game-high six assists, but added five turnovers. "We broke down a little bit in the first half, but in the second half we went to the zone and started to make the shots we needed to make."
Smith agreed.
"It was one of our worst first halfs," he said. "I think we were overanxious to get them up and out of here.
"But when the going got tough, this team stayed together and we came out on top."
The Rainbows finished with a huge advantage on the boards, 45-24 -- but it was only a 16-10 margin in their favor at the half.
"They came out fired up and did a good job of keeping it close," Wallace said of the Aztecs. "They have some real good shooters, but just don't have the big guys inside."
Will Porter led San Diego State with a game-high 22 points, while Chad Nelson added 15 and Jason Richey 14 -- mostly from long-range.
"They ran a little harder at us in the second half and we just didn't hit the shots that we hit in the first half," Trenkle said. "We wore down a little bit and they hit the offensive boards harder.
"And they really run the floor well -- that's one of their assets."
The Rainbows now have a 21/2-game lead over Fresno State and UNLV -- both 8-4 -- in the Pacific Division.
"They're a good ballclub," Trenkle said before boarding the silent bus behind the Special Events Arena. "They have a good mix, good chemistry.
"They're 19-4 for a reason."
Hawaii 74, San Diego State 62At Special Events Arena
Hawaii 74, San Diego St. 62
Aztecs (12-12 overall; 4-10 WAC)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Richey 35 5 18 1 2 4 4 14 Betts 19 1 2 2 4 1 3 4 Trenkle 8 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 Nelson 38 5 11 2 2 4 2 15 Porter 38 8 17 2 5 2 4 22 Archie 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Salaam 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Clark 21 1 1 1 2 5 3 3 Kruiswyk 32 2 4 0 0 4 0 4 Team 2 Totals 200 22 56 8 15 24 16 62
Rainbows (19-4 overall; 11-2 WAC)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Robinson 37 6 15 0 0 9 1 12 Kroeger 40 4 8 5 6 11 3 13 Smith 40 9 17 2 2 2 3 21 Carter 35 5 11 4 5 1 2 15 Miller 6 1 3 0 0 3 0 2 Furlong 15 2 3 1 1 7 3 5 Ambrozich 27 2 7 2 2 9 1 6 Team 3 Totals 200 29 64 14 16 45 45 74Key: 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--San Diego St. 33, Hawaii 32.
3-point goals--SDSU 10-30 (Porter 4-11, Nelson 3-6, Richy 3-10, Trenkle 0-3), UH 2-9 (Carter 1-2, Smith 1-5, Kroeger 0-2).
Assists--SDSU 9 (Nelson 3), UH 16 (Carter 6). Turnovers--SDSU 13, UH 14. Steals--SDSU 7 (Richey 4), UH 5 (Robinson 2). Blocked shots--SDSU 2 (Richey 2), UH 5 (Kroeger 2).
A--7,870. Officials: Jim Danner, Bob McKendry, Randy McCall.