By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Anthony Carter glides to the basket for a
layup against Nebraska in the semifinals of the
Rainbow Classic last night.
Rainbows roll into
Classic final
Hawaii guard Anthony Carter
By Cindy Luis
puts on a dazzling display
in a win over Nebraska
Star-BulletinJeff Law didn't have much time to analyze the scouting tape on Nebraska, maybe a couple of hours of rewinding and fast-forwarding through the wee hours of the morning. The University of Hawaii assistant coach did, however, have time to break it down into one simple word for yesterday's practice: Deny. Deny guard Tyronn Lue the ball. Deny Lue his first pass. Deny the junior All-America candidate the shots he likes to take.
The Rainbows were in a near-perfect state of denial last night at the Special Events Arena, holding Lue to four points below his average and handing the Cornhuskers their worst defeat since 1995. With a frustrating 1-2-2 zone defense and energized play from senior guards Anthony "AC" Carter and Alika Smith, there was no denying Hawaii a berth in tonight's championship of the 34th Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic.
The 87-62 semifinal victory says it all.
Emphatically.
"Personally, I can't say how much it means to be in the final for the first time," said Smith, who hit three of Hawaii's eight 3-pointers en route to 18 points. "All I can remember is my sophomore year, playing at 11 o'clock in the morning (for seventh place and losing). I'm looking forward to my first championship. We're in prime time finally."
It will be the first Classic final for the Rainbows since 1993, when they fell to Louisville, 85-79. Hawaii has not won its own premier tournament since 1990, when it upset nationally ranked Pitt.
Tonight at 7:37, the Rainbows (9-1) hope to pull rank again against No. 2 Kansas (16-1) in a game to be televised live on ESPN. Last night, the Jayhawks held off Vanderbilt, 89-82, in the second semifinal.
"I didn't care who we played," said Carter, who dazzled the capacity crowd and dozens of pro scouts with his game-highs of 23 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 5 steals. "I just want to go out, play hard, and try to win. Like we did tonight.
"After halftime, everybody stepped it up. Maybe Coach (Riley Wallace) thought it was going to go down to the wire, but we didn't want it that way. We had a lot more hustle in us than he thought. And when you hustle, good things happen."
Like a 21-9 run to open the second half -- punctuated by a jam by Carter after he tipped the ball away from Rue -- that had the Rainbows running out to a 59-42 lead.
Like a 16-4 spurt that put the game away with 4:38 remaining and Hawaii cruising comfortably at 75-52.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Anthony Carter chases down
a loose ball last night.
It was an especially satisfying win after the dysfunctional outing by the Rainbows two nights earlier against Brigham Young in their tournament opener. Wallace could even joke about the ugly win over the Cougars, saying, "We were just decoying the other night."The postgame analysis by Nebraska coach Danny Nee was strictly N-17.
"We got our asses kicked," Nee said following the worst loss since a 93-53 debacle at Oklahoma State in 1995. "Their guard tandem is as good as any we've played against and it's obvious their crowd loves Smith and Carter.
"Hawaii played very, very good defense and they didn't panic when we came back on them. I credit partly to their guards, partly to their defense but mostly to their 'sixth man' tonight. This was the best crowd we've played in front of on the road this year. The arena rocked."
The Rainbows again were rock-solid at the free-throw line, hitting 21 of 23. Until Mike Robinson missed his second attempt at the end of the first half, Hawaii had hit 30 in a row, dating back to Saturday's game against BYU.
There were also strong performances from Robinson (9 points, 3 blocks) and reserve guard Casey Cartwright (who hit both 3-pointers and both free throws in seven minutes of play). And senior forward Micah Kroeger gave Hawaii another threat from the perimeter, hitting six of nine shots, including three 3-pointers, for 15 points.
"You can't guard all three of us," said Kroeger, referring to himself, Smith and Carter. "I was able to get open and my teammates found me."
Hawaii began the game with a man-to-man defense but, when Lue began treating the lane as his personal freeway for 13 first-half points, the Rainbows switched to their 1-2-2.
"Lue showed us what he could do with the ball in his hands and he was going to foul everybody out with his penetration if we stayed in our man," said Wallace. "He was probably on his way to having another 36-point night so we jumped into the 1-2-2. Lue still gets 17 but he shoots 8-for-21."
It wasn't Lue's night. The guard was one of 50 candidates for the John Wooden Award, given annually to the top collegiate player. At halftime last night, the list of 30 remaining candidates was announced: Lue didn't make the cut, but Carter did.
Box Scores
Hawaii 87, Nebraska 62
Cornhuskers (9-3 overall)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Hamilton 30 3 6 3 4 5 2 9 Lue 34 8 21 0 0 2 2 17 Belcher 31 4 8 0 0 2 0 8 Piatkowski 19 0 3 2 3 1 3 2 Markowski 32 4 9 0 4 6 4 8 Florence 28 6 13 2 2 5 4 14 Johnson 8 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 Phifer 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Harriman 16 1 3 0 2 6 2 2 Team 3 Totals 200 27 64 7 15 31 17 62Rainbows (9-1 overall)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp M.Robinson 29 4 8 1 2 5 2 9 Kroeger 33 6 9 0 0 4 2 15 Smith 37 6 15 3 3 5 1 18 Carter 37 8 14 5 5 7 1 21 Ambrozich 21 2 3 3 4 2 3 7 Galloway 23 1 4 5 5 5 3 7 Hook 6 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Meyers 0+ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Cartwright 7 2 2 2 2 2 0 8 Zivanovic 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 Silva 0+ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 R.Robinson 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Penebacker 0+ 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Hall 0+ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Moeller 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Team 6 Totals 200 29 58 21 23 38 13 87Halftime score--Hawaii 38, Nebraska 33.3-point goals--Nebraska 1-13 (Lue 1-7, Florence 0-1, Belcher 0-2, Piatkowski 0-3), UH 8-14 (Kroeger 3-5, Smith 3-5, Cartwright 2-2, Carter 0-2).
Assists--Nebraska 8 (Lue 4), UH 21 (Carter 9). Turnovers--Nebraska 20, UH 20. Steals--Nebraska 11 (Hamilton, Piatkowski 3), UH 10 (Carter 5). Blocked shots--Nebraska 6 (Hamilton 4), UH 5 (M. Robinson 3). A--10,300. Officials--Bob Donato, Lonnie Dixon, Richard Ball.
Commodores (10-2 overall)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp DiSpaltro 27 5 16 0 0 8 4 10 Prater 36 4 10 2 2 1 2 12 Bates 34 12 19 2 4 7 3 26 Strong 18 4 6 1 2 5 1 9 Ford 17 1 4 0 0 1 0 2 Maddux 38 5 11 3 3 3 4 16 Cugini 0+ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Langhi 11 1 3 0 0 0 1 2 LaPointe 19 2 5 1 2 10 4 5 Team 2 Totals 200 34 74 9 13 37 19 82
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Earl 29 6 10 1 2 10 4 13 Robertson 31 4 6 1 4 4 3 10 Thomas 34 7 15 5 6 11 3 22 Pierce 35 13 23 7 11 7 3 34 Chenowith 28 2 6 0 2 6 3 4 Gregory 15 2 9 0 2 3 0 4 Bradford 16 1 5 0 0 3 0 2 McGrath 12 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Team 2 Totals 200 35 74 14 27 48 16 89Halftime score--Kansas 46, Vanderbilt 35.3-point goals--Vanderbilt 5-15 (Maddux 3-7, Prater 2-4, Ford 0-1, Langhi 0-1, LaPointe 0-1, Strong 0-1), Kansas 5-16 (Thomas 3-8, Robertson 1-2, Pierce 1-4, Gregory 0-2).
Assists--Vanderbilt 17 (Maddux, Prater 6), Kansas 16 (Thomas 6). Turnovers--Vanderbilt 15, Kansas 15.
Steals--Vanderbilt 9 (Prater, Strong 4), Kansas 4 (Earl, Pierce, Robertson, Thomas). Blocked shots--Kansas 13 (Pierce 6). A--10,300. Officials--Scott Thornley, Mark Reischling, Bruce Shapiro.
Aggies (8-4 overall)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Reid 32 7 19 0 0 3 0 19 Richardson 27 4 10 0 0 5 4 10 Leban 32 1 5 0 0 3 2 3 Ellison 26 7 14 0 0 3 1 19 Brodt 24 2 6 1 2 12 2 5 Davis 8 1 1 0 0 2 0 2 Tonella 7 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 Gosa 25 2 7 0 0 6 3 4 Noopila 15 3 8 0 0 3 1 8 Sierra 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Team 5 Totals 200 28 72 1 2 42 13 73
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Davis 24 2 5 0 0 2 0 4 Redd 35 4 17 0 3 4 0 12 Singleton 33 3 6 0 2 6 2 6 Johnson 20 2 3 1 2 6 1 5 Sanderson 29 3 7 0 0 5 1 9 Coleman 25 3 10 0 0 3 1 7 Hanna 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Wilson 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Herron 19 1 3 1 2 4 1 3 Steele 6 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Team 3 Totals 200 18 52 2 9 35 8 46Halftime score--New Mexico St. 32, Ohio St. 23.3-point goals--NMSU 16-39 (Ellison 5-9, Reid 5-13, Noopila 2-5, Richardson 2-6, Tonella 1-1, Leban 1-5), OSU 8-26 (Redd 4-11, Sanderson 3-6, Coleman 1-8, Steele 0-1).
Assists--NMSU 17 (Gosa 4), OSU 13 (Coleman 5). Turnovers--NMSU 13, OSU 22. Steals--NMSU 13 (Gosa 4), OSU 3 (Sanderson, Singleton, Steele). Blocked shots--NMSU 2 (Gosa 2), OSU 8 (Johnson 4). Officials--Larry Spaulding, Pat Tanibe, Fred Hu.
Cavaliers (7-4 overall)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Staples 39 5 14 2 2 6 4 17 Hand 27 5 7 1 3 2 2 14 Dersch 26 2 4 0 0 3 2 4 Nolan 35 10 16 4 8 10 3 24 Ducharme 19 0 1 1 2 5 4 1 Watson 14 2 3 0 0 3 0 4 Marcaccini 17 0 3 1 2 4 1 1 Metheney 16 1 1 0 0 3 1 2 Hunter 7 1 1 3 4 0 1 5 Team 2 Totals 200 26 50 12 21 38 18 72
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Dignan 22 3 4 1 2 1 2 7 Bower 12 0 3 2 2 0 0 2 Wesley 28 3 10 1 2 6 4 8 Selleaze 35 6 13 7 8 3 4 20 Br.Jepsen 17 0 5 1 1 3 2 1 Hamilton 29 1 4 3 3 1 2 6 Ba.Jepsen 22 1 2 0 0 2 1 2 Ahlbom 9 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Weidauer 26 3 6 1 3 6 1 8 Team 1 Totals 200 17 47 16 21 23 17 54Halftime score--Virginia 35, BYU 54.3-point goals--Virginia 8-20 (Staples 5-10, Hand 3-5, Watson 0-1, Dersch 0-2, Marcaccini 0-2), UH 4-16
(Wesley 1-2, Hamilton 1-3, Weidauer 1-3, Selleaze 1-5, Bower 0-3).
Assists--Virginia 14 (Hand 4), BYU 8 (Selleaze 2). Turnovers--Virginia 15, BYU 11. Steals--Virginia 5 (Hand, Staples 2), BYU 7 (Selleaze, Weidauer 2). Blocked shots--Virginia 2 (Metheney 2), BYU 1 (Wesley). Officials--Ed Ristau, Tom Yoshida, Donovan Lewis.
When to Watch
Related stories: Rainbows in final, Kansas gets its wish, Notebook, Sorry, Toto
1997-98 Rainbow Men’s Basketball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
