By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Alika Smith, who scored a team-high 23 points,
dives for a loose ball as Kendric Brooks
puts on the pressure.
Especially the 'Bow tie.
Just when Hawaii thought it might RSVP its acceptance at next week's WAC Basketball Tournament as the Pacific Division champion, things got a little hot under the collar. That tie needed to gain entrance into the exclusive top-seed club suddenly tightened, with Fresno State turning it into a 98-80 noose that choked the Rainbows' hopes of their first-ever outright division title.
Last night's marquee game at the Special Events Arena spotlighted the other top guard tandem in the WAC: the Bulldogs' Chris Herren and Kendric Brooks, who combined for nine 3-pointers and 48 points. Hawaii's touted duo of Alika Smith and Anthony Carter lived up to Dick Vitale's billing of the "best backcourt you'll never see" when their magic all but disappeared against the quicker, deeper and more talented Bulldogs.
Fresno State took away the things Smith and Carter like to do best: feed their teammates and feed off each other. What the Bulldogs didn't do to stifle Hawaii's half-court offense, the four fouls that hampered Carter most of the second half did.
And the night started out with so much promise as Hawaii raced to an 11-0 lead. Just as suddenly, the magic carpet that the Rainbows have been riding most of the season got pulled out from under them.
"They started hitting them from way deep," Carter said of Fresno State's 11 3-pointers. "We tried to defend them far enough out where they couldn't get past us on the drive. They were still making those long shots.
"It's hard to trade 2s for 3s and I was just straight up missing my shots. I don't know what it was other than I just missed the shots. After halftime, we were ready to come out and have really good defensive intensity like we did to start the first half. When we didn't, they jumped out on us quick."
Hawaii's game-opening run was 11-0 in the first 2:46. Fresno State's opening surge after halftime was 11-0 in the first 1:28.
That's where the similarity ended. The Bulldogs' second-half spurt was punctuated by Carter picking up his third and fourth fouls within 10 seconds, coinciding with the Rainbows going without a field goal for the first five minutes.
Carter returned from his brief exile with 16:23 left but had to tone down his defensive intensity for fear of fouling out. The other Rainbows couldn't pick up the slack.
"We haven't been giving our guards the support they deserve all season and it showed tonight," said UH forward Mike Robinson, who finished with 13 points but had just four field-goal attempts. "We didn't have our heads in the game the way we've had our heads in it all year long. For whatever reason, we went off the deep end tonight."
And it left Hawaii struggling to hold onto a share of the division title. The Rainbows (19-6, 11-4) must win against San Jose State tomorrow night in order to finish the regular season as co-champs. A UH loss combined with wins by UNLV (19-7, 11-4) at Colorado State and Fresno State (18-10, 11-4) at San Diego State means Hawaii would finish third.
"It won't be hard to come back Saturday," said Carter, who finished with 12 points, his second lowest point-total of the year. "We need to get in a good practice (today), come back and be ready to play.
"We were hyped and ready to play tonight but we got worn down. It's a tough loss but we'll bounce back."
"It's the first time we've been here (in title contention) and we're still there with a win Saturday," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "We'll go from champs to co-champs but we'll still get our 20-win season. It's not like life is over."