By KathrynBender, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Alika Smith finds his way to the basket blocked by
Oregon's Kyle Milling on this play, but the Rainbows'
guard still finished with 23 points.

Just once when it REALLY counted.

That's all Alika Smith was asking.

Just once to win the big game.

Hawaii's Heartbreak Kid played in two state tournament finals his senior year at Kalaheo High School, losing a basketball-baseball twinbill within a three-month span.

Two weeks ago, the junior guard wouldn't even come out of the locker room to say good night to his family after the Rainbows lost to Fresno State for the outright WAC Pacific championship.

There were tears in his eyes after Hawaii was eliminated by New Mexico in last week's WAC Tournament quarterfinals.

Last night, Smith would not be denied. Finally, a nice guy finished first.

"This is so much better than two weeks ago," said Smith, whose game-high 23 points sparked Hawaii to its 71-61 NIT first-round win over Oregon. "Fresno was such a disappointing loss, so tough to deal with. And then not getting into the NCAAs.

"But having the NIT at home was great. I felt it was our reward and we wanted to reward our fans with a win. I wish we could have had another (NIT game) here. Hopefully, we can show them (the NIT committee) we can win on the road, too."

The Rainbows take their Smith & Carter Show on the road to Las Vegas for a third time in as many months when they take on WAC rival UNLV in a second-round game Monday. The Runnin' Rebels, two-time losers to Hawaii this season by a total of three points, pulled away from Memphis last night, 66-62.

"UNLV is going to be mad as hornets coming at us," said Hawaii coach Riley Wallace. "We're going to need the same kind of game we got from our guards tonight if we want to keep it going.

"I thought Alika and (Anthony) Carter both played very well. A lot of our guard play came off our defense after we switched to the 2-3 zone and got our transition going. Carter and (Oregon's Kenya) Wilkins spilled their guts out there but we were home, had the crowd behind us and, when they got tired, we didn't."

Tied at 52-all with 6:13 left, Hawaii found another gear -- and a game-deciding 8-0 run over two minutes.

First there was Smith's gravity-defying left-handed reverse, followed by Michael Robinson's sweet feed to Danny Furlong. Then came Smith's behind-the-back, no-look pass to Micah Kroeger on a fast break, followed by Smith scoring again on one of Carter's 11 bullet assists.

After Tarik Brown's 3-pointer brought the Ducks to within 60-55, Carter shifted into overdrive and into the fast lane. The WAC's Pacific Division Player of the Year scored three consecutive baskets during 59 seconds, two while outracing Wilkins down the court to put the game out of reach, 66-57 with 2:02 remaining.

Carter finished with 19 points, 14 coming in the second half.

"We knew Carter was fast in the open court and we tried preventing him from getting out on the break," said Oregon guard Jamal Lawrence, who finished with 13 points. "But it was Smith who came up big and hit a lot of big shots. I give a lot of credit to him, he played his butt off tonight."

Lawrence, Oregon's leading 3-point shooter, hit just 2 of 7 from long distance, going 0-for-5 in the second half. Wilkins, the Ducks' top scorer, was 3 of 15 from the floor, 0-for-5 from 3-point range, in finishing with 10 points.

"We saw a little fatigue in their legs and that's why they didn't hit their shots in the second half," said Smith. "But you have to give us credit, too, for being out there and contesting those shots.

"AC played a great game, stepped it up big in the second half, and that's a key to why we won. He shut down Wilkins at the point. When you do that good of a job on their point guard and their leading scorer, you have a chance to win."

Smith hit his first three shots and his 14 first-half points kept Hawaii within striking distance.

"My first goal in the game is to hit my first shot and get on a roll," said Smith.

"Any shooter will tell you if you hit that first one, you keep going. That's what I did. They got me the ball when and where I wanted. Thank God that the shots went down."

For once, the prayers were answered.