By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Paul Pierce of the Kansas Jayhawks gets some
hang time on this dunk against Vanderbilt last night.

---

Kansas gets
the game it wanted

The No. 2-ranked Jayhawks
meet Hawaii in tonight's
championship

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

It's a good thing Paul Pierce was working the door or Vanderbilt might have crashed the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic garden party.

The Kansas forward came up big so often in the No. 2-ranked Jayhawks' 89-82 win, by game's end, the All-America candidate barely fit through the door of the Special Events Arena.

All he did was score a career-high 34 points in a variety of eye-opening ways, block six shots and pull down seven rebounds to show Vanderbilt the door for only the second time this season.

"Everybody got what they wanted," UH head coach Riley Wallace said minutes after the Jayhawks raised their record to 16-1, setting up the most-anticipated Rainbow Classic final this decade.

Earlier in the evening, the Rainbows did their part by crushing the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 87-62. Just when the Jayhawks were all set to join them, the Commodores erased a 20-point deficit to draw even at 80-80 with 2:47 left.

That's when Pierce showed up. He hit a tough bank shot from five feet away, played solid interior defense on the other end of the court and hit a pair of free throws to seal the deal.

"Paul Pierce showed everybody out there tonight why he's one of the best players in the country," Wallace said. "We've got our work cut out for us, no doubt about it."

Roy Williams wouldn't have it any other way. Flying over the Pacific Ocean after securing a 74-69 win at Southern California, the Kansas head coach longed for a true road test in a hostile environment -- something that would prepare his Jayhawks for the Big 12 road trips ahead -- and that's exactly what he got.

"Your first goal is to be in the championship game," Williams said. "And if you had it be perfect, you win the championship game.

"If you play Hawaii, it's a true road game; it's good for your team. This will be the first game we play this year that will be truly like at Missouri, at Kansas State, at Iowa State, at Nebraska, at Texas. So you have got to think this will be really helpful if we play well.

"Hopefully, it will be a great college atmosphere with people really going crazy for their team. Two teams playing as hard as they can and at the end of the game, see who wins."

Despite losing two starters to injury, the Jayhawks have a good opportunity to win their second major Hawaii tournament in as many seasons. Last year, the Jayhawks captured the Maui Invitational. They haven't won the Rainbow Classic in two previous appearances -- 1986 and 1992.

For the third time to be a charm, Williams needs Pierce and LSU transfer Lester Earle to play as well as they did last night. Earl added 13 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Billy Thomas had his second consecutive solid game. He scored 22 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out six assists.

"Billy and Paul were the two big keys, while Lester kept us in the game early," Williams said. "I loved his play early. We saw some flashes and I think we'll see more of that with each and every game.

"People have to understand Lester hasn't played in over a year. He suffered brain-lock out there a couple of times, but he and Paul were the biggest part of our defense inside."

The two combined for 10 blocks, forcing the Commodores to the perimeter in the second half. Vanderbilt's Austin Bates scored the first dozen of the game for the Commodores en route to 26 points and seven rebounds.

Drew Maddux finally came to life in the second half. His big 3 from the top of the key tied the game at 80-80 to erase a 20-point (59-39) deficit. He launched another a minute later, but this time it rattled in and out. The Commodores would come no closer.

"I know the Hawaii fans wanted Kansas to win," Maddux said. "But I think they appreciated what we did and showed it with their applause. I wish it could have been us playing Hawaii for the championship. But give Kansas credit. They came up big in the end."

New Mexico State romps Associated Press Donminic Ellison and Denmark Reid each scored 19 points as New Mexico State pulled away from Ohio State, 73-46, in a consolation round game of the Rainbow Classic yesterday. The Aggies (8-4) trailed early as Michael Redd hit a pair of 3-pointers to give the Buckeyes (7-5) a quick 14-6 lead. But Louis Richardson and Nikko Noopila each scored five points during a 16-2 spurt that helped New Mexico State to a 32-23 lead at the midway point. Reid carried most of the New Mexico State early scoring load with 11 points Ellison took over in the second half as the Aggies built up their lead. Over the final 20 minutes, Ellison scored 16 points. For the game, Ellison and Reid each had five 3-pointers as New Mexico State rained in 16 3-pointers. Virginia 72, Brigham Young 54: Norman Nolan scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the first half and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers (7-4) over the cold-shooting Cougars (3-9) in the other consolation round game of the Rainbow Classic. Curtis Staples added 17 points and Donald Hand 14 for Virginia.

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