ByKathrynBender, Star-Bulletin
Senior center Danny Furlong of Hawaii makes it rough for
Oregon's Jamar Curry during action of last night's
NITopening-round game, won by the Rainbows, 71-61.
"He was like Mike Tyson," said UH head coach Riley Wallace of the senior center. "We kept putting stuff on it to stop the bleeding during the game."
But it was the Rainbows who knocked out the Oregon Ducks like they were Peter McNeeley with feathers.
Hawaii went on a wicked second-half run for a 71-61 victory over Oregon in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament in front of a roaring capacity crowd last night at the Special Events Arena.
The Rainbows improved to 21-7 and will head back to play UNLV -- which rallied to beat Memphis, 66-62, last night -- at the Thomas and Mack Center Monday at 5:30 p.m.
UH has beaten the Rebels by a total of three points in their two WAC matchups this season.
Oregon, which ended its season at 17-11, looked like it would win the free trip to Vegas after running out to a 40-30 halftime lead.
But the Rainbows blasted out of the intermission with a 22-7 run to lead 52-47 with 8:27 to play.
"They outhustled us and outworked us here at home in the first half," Wallace said. "But we had a great crowd behind us and they wouldn't let us die.
"Then I thought our guys showed a lot of guts for the umpteenth time this year. Some of them looked so tired they could barely get down the floor, but they found a way to reach down and get a little bit more."
The Rainbows really turned up the heat on the defensive end in the final 20 minutes, switching from a 1-2-2 zone to a more-stationary 2-3 zone.
It turned Oregon into sitting Ducks as they shot a miserable 18.9 percent (7-for-37) from the field in the second half -- and were outscored 41-21 by UH, which shot 66.7 percent (18-for-27).
Alika Smith led all scorers with 23 points, while Anthony Carter came alive in the second half to finish with 19.
The Rainbows nearly gave it away at the line, hitting only 8 of 21 free-throw attempts (38.1 percent) on the night. They were also outrebounded by Oregon, 47-33.
Kyle Milling led the Ducks with 22 points, while Jamal Lawrence added 13 and Kenya Wilkins scored 10.
"We matched up better with their guards in the 2-3," Smith said of UH's second-half success. "This team showed a lot of heart after being down by 10 at halftime. But that's been the scenario for us all year and hopefully it will continue."
Hawaii used only seven players, with reserve Quentin Gallon playing just two minutes. Smith and Micah Kroeger played the entire 40 minutes, with Carter in for 38 and Furlong 37.
"Our defense was better in the second half, but they got a lot of open looks and just didn't hit them," said Kroeger. "We bothered them, but it was a combination of both."
Oregon head coach Jerry Green was disappointed with the season-ending collapse, especially for his seniors.
"In the first half, we did the things against the zone that we wanted to do," Green said. "I was really surprised that they stayed in a zone in the second half, as well as we played against it -- I anticipated that they would make a change.
"We couldn't make a shot in the second half and I thought they really did shoot the ball well. But I'm especially disappointed for our five seniors, who have done so much for our program."
Meanwhile, the soft-spoken Furlong just shrugged off the nasty cut -- and he's glad that his college career is still alive.
"I just got hit with an elbow when I went for a rebound," he said. "It was good to get another home game in front of the fans and hopefully we'll have a couple of more games ahead."
The next Hawaii fight card is in Las Vegas.
Ducks (17-11)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Madden 23 2 8 1 4 8 3 5 Larry 6 1 5 0 0 2 0 2 Wilkins 39 3 20 4 4 3 3 10 Milling 36 8 13 6 10 16 2 22 Brown 16 2 15 0 0 0 1 3 Lawrence 30 7 18 1 2 3 2 13 Curry 21 2 13 0 0 2 1 4 McShane 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Ramaker 21 1 4 0 0 3 4 2 Carson 6 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Team 6 Totals 200 26 96 12 20 47 17 61
Rainbows (21-7)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Robinson 17 1 4 0 4 3 2 2 Gallon 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Kroeger 40 5 9 2 5 3 2 12 Smith 40 12 18 2 2 3 2 23 Carter 38 8 21 3 6 5 3 19 Furlong 37 3 5 0 3 9 3 6 Ambrozich 26 4 7 1 1 5 4 9 Team 4 Totals 200 33 64 8 21 33 16 71Key: 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--Oregon 40, Hawaii 30.
3-point goals--Oregon 3-25 (Madden 0-2, Larry 0-1, Wilkins 0-5, Brown 1-7, Lawrence 2-7, Curry 0-3), UH 3-9 (Kroeger 0-1, Smith 3-4, Carter 0-4).
Assists--Oregon 9 (Wilkins 3), UH 23 (Carter 11). Turnovers--Oregon 15, Hawaii 16. Steals--Oregon 7 (Madden, Wilkins, 2)), Hawaii 9 (Carter 4). Blocked shots--Oregon 1 (Milling), Hawaii 4 (Carter, Furlong 2).
A--10,124 (paid), 9,184 (turnstile). Officials: Fred Carbone, Mike Partlow, Bill Vinovich.