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Friday, February 9, 2001
Nevada negates RENO, Nev. -- Altitude schmaltitude.
Ostler’s 30
The Wolf Pack deal the
'Bows another road killStaff & wire reports
Hawaii basketball coach Riley Wallace was in no mood last night to let the 4,500-foot elevation of Lawlor Events Center be an excuse for UH's 73-60 loss at the hands -- and legs -- of Nevada.
Nor did he blame an itinerary that went awry due to flight delays; the Rainbows arrived in Reno a scant 9 hours before game time, rather than the planned day-and-a-half.
"It was a matter of effort," Wallace said. "It can't be being tired if you make a better effort in the second half than the first half."
The Wolf Pack led, 42-28, at halftime, but UH closed to 51-47 with 10:04 left before fading badly down the stretch.
Nevada improved to 2-8 in the WAC and 9-12 overall. Hawaii fell to 4-6 and 10-11.
It would have been an even worse example of Rainbow road kill -- UH is now 0-6 away from the Stan Sheriff Center -- if not for Troy Ostler's incredible performance. He scored 30 points, making 14-of-17 shots from the floor.
But he had precious little help, while the Wolf Pack got balanced scoring, led by Joao Santos with 17 points.
Hawaii shot 57.8 percent from the field compared to 49.1 for Nevada. But that stat was somewhat warped by Ostler's accuracy.
The numbers that meant more were dominated by the Wolf Pack: rebounding (30-22), turnovers (11-16), 3-pointers made (5-2) and free throws made (16-6).
"If we played defense we would've had a chance," Wallace said.
"We didn't get back. We played no defense in the first half."
UH guard Predrag Savovic failed to hit double-figures for only the second time this season. He scored six points on 3-of-7 shooting, including 0-of-3 on treys.
He was no better on defense as Santos and Andre Hazel (13 points, five assists) shot over him or whizzed by him.
"Savo was not there," Wallace said. "He had the worst game in his two years with us. We needed him to step up tonight."
The Rainbows had lots of time to think about the loss, or to sleep it off, as they bussed to Fresno this morning. They play No. 23 Fresno State on Sunday, 10 days after they bushwhacked the Bulldogs, 91-73, at the Stan Sheriff Center.
"I don't know," Wallace said when asked if he could revive his team in time. "We're always better on the second game of a road trip. It will be a different atmosphere, everything will be different."
He hopes everything -- except for Ostler -- will be different.
Nevada 73, Hawaii 60
Rainbows (10-11, 4-6 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb tp Savovic 3 7 0 0 26 2 6 Martin 4 5 1 2 21 3 9 Hilton 0 4 0 1 27 1 0 Puida 3 4 0 0 40 4 7 Ostler 14 17 2 2 33 7 30 McIntyre 1 3 1 3 22 0 4 Burneika 1 5 2 2 25 3 4 English 0 0 0 1 5 1 0 O’Connor 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Totals 26 45 6 11 200 22 60 Wolf Pack (9-12, 2-8 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb tp Hazel 5 9 0 0 37 3 13 Santos 5 13 6 6 30 1 17 Hill-Thomas 4 8 3 5 28 3 11 Stirgus 4 5 1 4 37 10 9 Paul 5 6 2 3 18 5 12 Green 2 9 0 0 18 1 5 McCullough 1 1 4 4 27 1 6 Jackson 0 2 0 0 5 4 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Totals 26 53 16 22 200 30 73 Key--fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime-Nevada 42, Hawaii 28.
3-point goals--UH 2-13 (Puida 1-2, McIntyre 1-3, Burneika 0-1, Savovic 0-3, Hilton 0-4); UN 5-9 (Hazel 3-4, Santos 1-2, Green 1-3). Personal fouls--UH 18, UN 16. Fouled out--None. Technical fouls-None. Assists--UH 24 (Hilton 7, Puida 6, Savovic 4, Burneika 3, Martin 2, McIntyre 2); UN 16 (Hazel 5, Stirgus 4, Hill-Thomas 3, Paul 2, McCullough 2). Steals--UH 3 (Savovic 2, Puida), UN 6 (Hazel 4, Stirgus, Paul). Blocked shots--UH 3 (Ostler 3), UN 0. Turnovers--UH 16 (Savovic 5, Hilton 4, Ostler 4, Puida 2, Burneika), UN 11 (Hill-Thomas 3, Paul 2, Jackson 2, Hazel, Stirgus, Green, McCullough). Officials--Harrington, White, Harris. A-5,674.
UH Athletics
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