By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Erin Galloway grabs a rebound against
Illinois State during the Rainbows' win last night.
Subs shoulder
the load for UH
But the Rainbows hope
By Dave Reardon
injured Anthony Carter will be back
for Friday's game against LIU
Special to the Star-BulletinIf Anthony Carter's arm is back in a sling again soon, a different part of the University of Hawaii basketball team's collective anatomy could be in one, too. Still, the Rainbows showed over the weekend that they could win without their star player -- at least against the Tulanes and Southern Illinoises of the college basketball world. Last night, they also showed they weren't the same without Carter -- for the first 20 minutes, anyway.
"He's the leader and catalyst," forward Micah Kroeger said. "It was a positive that other guys stepped up. When he comes back, we'll be that much better."
Hawaii (4-0) needed an inspired second half to beat the Salukis (2-4), 80-66, last night in the championship of the PowerBar Invitational at the Special Events Arena.
Alika Smith, the other half of the Rainbows' talented senior guard duo, scored 14 of his 18 points after a miserable first half (1-for-9 shooting).
"Alika showed no leadership (in the first half)," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "He was floating on his shot. Shooting it from here and landing there."
With Southern Illinois hitting five of eight from 3-point country, the score was tied at 38 at intermission.
"The first half was as bad a basketball team as I've put on the floor in a long time. We were just dead. Flat," Wallace said. "There was no energy offensively or defensively. We looked like we were playing at altitude."
Altitude was a reference to the problems the Rainbows have had on the road in the thin air of the more mountainous regions of the Western Athletic Conference.
Last night, two substitutes played at a higher level, helping Hawaii salvage the win. Casey Cartwright, making his first start, had a game-high 19 points, and Chad Hook looked like a Division I point guard for the first time with nine points, eight assists and only one turnover in 26 minutes.
The Rainbows will need all the ballhandling skills they can muster when they host wild and crazy, pressing and running Long Island University Friday.
So in one sense, Wallace was happy that Cartwright and Hook got lots of playing time in the weekend victories.
But he isn't too thrilled about the reason they were forced into action -- a re-dislocation of Carter's left shoulder during Saturday's 76-63 win over Tulane. Carter initially hurt the shoulder in practice before the season started.
The good news is that X-rays showed no severe damage, and Carter will probably be able to return to practice Wednesday and play against LIU. The Blackbirds are 1-4 after losing, 102-99, to No. 14 Mississippi on Friday, despite forcing 30 turnovers. Long Island averages 107.4 points a game.
"They trap all over the court and go after it with good athletes," Wallace said. "It's good that the guys (Cartwright and Hook) gained more confidence, but we'll need (Carter) back to break that press and get easy shots."
Last night, Carter came into the arena with his arm in a sling. He left without it.
"I'm not going to be babying the shoulder," said Carter, who has been told the injury could continually recur. "If it happens, it happens. It won't change my game at all."
Fortunately for the Rainbows last night, they were able to change their game at intermission.
After the break, they helped each other on defense. On their halfcourt offense, they were patient and accurate, and they were devastating on the fast break -- just the opposite of the first half.
"It showed a lot of character," Smith said. "We can win without AC. If I go down, we can win without me. We stayed together."
They'll need to do the same against the wild gunners and pressers from Long Island.
"We'll have to dictate the pace against them," Kroeger said. "Play our game on offense and play good defense."
With or without Carter.
Long Beach St. 57, Tulane 55: D'Cean Bryant scored nine points down the stretch lead Long Beach State over turnover-plagued Tulane in the third place game.
The 49ers (2-4) jumped to a 12-point lead midway through the first half, but fell behind by seven points with 6:47 left before Bryant, who finished with 15 points, touched off a 14-6 run with his scoring.
His basket with two minutes left gave the 49ers the lead for good.
Tulane (3-4) staggered in the first half. The Green Wave went 6-for-18 from the floor -- including an opening five-minute stretch where they failed to score a point -- and committed 16 turnovers.
At Special Events Arena Box score
Hawaii 80, Souther Illinois 66
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Tucker 32 5 13 2 4 8 4 13 Thunell 26 5 7 0 0 5 4 12 Jackson 29 4 8 0 0 8 1 8 Jenkins 28 2 10 1 2 1 2 5 Hawkins 32 4 12 2 2 2 0 13 Cross 6 1 1 0 0 1 1 2 J. Wright 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brown 9 2 2 0 0 1 2 5 Hammer 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 C. Wright 5 1 3 2 2 0 0 5 N. Topouzis 2 0 0 1 2 2 0 1 Schrader 16 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 T. Topouzis 11 0 2 0 1 1 2 1 Team 4 Totals 200 25 59 8 13 34 17 66
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Galloway 21 3 4 2 2 4 2 8 Robinson 25 3 8 0 0 6 3 6 Kroeger 22 4 6 0 0 7 4 9 Smith 40 5 16 7 8 3 3 18 Cartwright 33 6 10 7 7 3 1 19 Ambrozich 32 5 8 1 2 5 1 11 Hook 26 3 7 2 2 3 1 9 Moeller 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Team 2 Totals 200 29 59 19 21 33 16 80Halftime score--Hawaii 38, Southern Illinois 38.3-point goals--SIU 8-21 (Hawkins 3-7, Brown 1-1, C. Wright 1-3, Tucker 1-4, Jenkins 0-3), UH 3-7 (Kroeger 1-1, Hook 1-2, Smith 1-4).
Assists--SIU 14 (Tucker 8), UH 20 (Hook 8). Turnovers--SIU 16 (Tucker, Hawkins 3), UH 10 (Galloway, Smith, Cartwright 2). Steals--SIU 5 (Jenkins 3), UH 9 (Smith 3). Blocked shots--SIU 3 (Jenkins, Jackson, N. Topouzis 1), UH 2 (Galloway, Ambrozich 1).
Technicals--None.
Officials: Smith, McKendry, Tanibe.
Long Beach St.: Lee 3-10 1-2 9, Bryant 5-6 4-7 14, Egans 4-13 0-0 8, Stone 2-7 1-1 5, Nuckles 4-10 4-5 12, Gradney 0-1 0-0 0, Bradley 1-5 2-3 5, Frey 1-3 2-2 4. Totals: 20-55 14-20 57.
Tulane: Jordan 0-0 3-4 3, Mouton 6-9 3-3 18, Owens 1-6 5-7 8, Nelson 1-2 0-2 2, Osean 2-4 2-2 7, Billingsley 0-1 0-0 0, Kritza 4-7 0-2 8, Franklin 3-7 0-0 8, Davis 0-2 0-0 0, Harris 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 17-39 14-22 55
Halftime--Long Beach St. 26, Tulane 20. 3-Point goals--Long Beach St. 3-10 (Lee 2-4, Bradley 1-1, Stone 0-1, Nuckles 0-2, Egans 0-2). Tulane 7-18 (Mouton 3-6, Franklin 2-5, Osean 1-2, Owens 1-4, Davis 0-1). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--Long Beach St. 23 (Bryant 7), Tulane 40 (Jordan, Kritza 7). Assists--Long Beach St. 10 (Lee, Stone 3), Tulane 7 (Franklin 2). Total fouls--Long Beach St. 16, Tulane 18. A--8,013.
1997-98 Rainbow Men’s Basketball
Schedule and Recordhttp://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
