Sunday, February 3, 2002
[ UH BASKETBALL ]
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Carl English turned 21 yesterday, but it was Predrag Savovic who did the most celebrating, Savovic scored a career-high 32 points, 22 coming in the second half, to help the Hawaii basketball team defeat Texas-El Paso 75-60 last night at the Stan Sheriff Center. Savo, ’Bows sweep Miners
By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comA crowd of 7,596 (8,792 tickets) saw the Rainbows (19-3, 10-1) sweep the Miners for the first time during the regular season since 1994. UTEP, losing its 12th consecutive road game, fell to 9-14, 3-8 in the Western Athletic Conference.
"Savo played great," said English, who finished with 17 points. "He was unconscious tonight. He can score 50 and the rest of us just five, I don't care as long as we win.
"I had no plans for after the game. I'm not a party animal. We're 19-3. What else do you need?"
Obviously Hawaii has all it needs for the moment. It was the Rainbows' ninth straight win, and their 20th in 21 home games dating back to last season. It was also the 13th consecutive WAC win at home; the last loss was to UTEP on Jan. 11 last year, 79-71.
The Miners continued to bring out the best in Savovic. The senior guard, who scored 29 in the win at El Paso earlier this year, hit his previous career-high of 31 in that contest in January 2001.
"They played us very physical," said Savovic. "There's nothing special about UTEP, they're just another team.
"We didn't think about it (avenging last year's home loss). We just want to win."
Nursing a 34-29 halftime lead, the Rainbows adjusted their defense to halt the Miners' inside scoring success. The biggest adjustment was made by sophomore center Haim Shimonovich, who continued to step in and intercept the inside passes; he picked off five of the team's 10 steals before picking up his fourth foul with 6:32 left in the game.
A free throw by Justino Victoriano cut the Rainbows lead to 56-48. Then Savovic took over.
In the game last month at UTEP, Savovic asked the UTEP trainer for water. Last night, he left them gasping for air, scoring 10 of the team's next 12 points to put Hawaii ahead 67-54 with 3:18 to go.
UTEP could get no closer than 11 in the final minutes.
"Savovic was the difference again, he's such a great competitor," said UTEP coach Jason Rabedeaux. "Good riddance because we won't ever have to see him again unless it's in the WAC Tournament.
"I was happy at halftime -- we were close and we only had four turnovers. I think turnovers in the second half (11) was the difference."
Hawaii had only four players score in the first half and it was that way in the second until very late in the game. Senior guard Mike McIntyre was uncharacteristically cold from the outside, missing all four attempts from 3-point range and hitting a baseline jumper with 2:30 to go for his only points.
Mindaugas Burneika added two 3-pointers in the final minute to account for his six points. Hawaii hit 9 of 20 3-pointers for the game.
B.D. didn't only mean "birthday" last night, it also meant "back door" in the first half. Hawaii's 3-point shooting threat extended the UTEP defense, opening the way for several back-door feeds that the Rainbows converted into layups.
Three came off feeds by Shimonovich as Hawaii took a 34-29 lead at halftime. The Rainbows had three players in double figures in the first 20 minutes: English (11), Savovic (10) and Martin (10).
Martin scored two quick baskets and English hit the first of his three first-half 3s as the Rainbows opened up with a 7-0 lead in the first 1:25. English hit two more treys to help Hawaii to its largest lead of the half, 16-8.
The Miners stayed close behind junior forward Victoriano, who was making just his fourth start of the season. Victoriano, averaging just 2.1 points, had a team-high eight by halftime and finished with a career-high 17.
The only other Miner in double figures was Eugene Costello with 12. Leading scorer Roy Smallwood was held to nine points, five points below his average.
For the Rainbows, Martin finished with 15 points and 4 steals.
The Rainbows leave tomorrow for games Thursday at SMU (11-9, 6-4) and Saturday at Louisiana Tech (13-7, 7-3). The Mustangs and Bulldogs met yesterday afternoon in Dallas with LaTech winning its fourth in a row, 70-66.
At halftime last night, retired Hawaii baseball coach Les Murakami was inducted into the Sports Circle of Honor. The Baseball Coaches' Hall of Famer is the only inductee in this year's class.
"The circle could never be big enough to contain this one man," said UH baseball announcer Don Robbs during the ceremony.
It was only the second time that the committee decided to waive the five-year waiting period. The ceremony also included an Okinawan Lion Dance while Murakami, who is recovering from a stroke, was wheeled around the court to the applause of the fans.
Hawaii 75, UTEP 60
Rainbows (19-3, 10-1)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Savovic 10 15 9 11 39 3 3 32 Martin 6 11 3 4 33 4 1 15 Shimonovich 0 1 0 0 24 3 3 0 Campbell 1 3 0 0 29 1 5 3 English 7 15 0 2 31 4 1 17 McIntyre 1 5 0 0 20 3 1 2 Burneika 2 3 0 0 18 4 1 6 Jesinskis 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Akpan 0 0 0 0 5 2 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 27 53 12 17 200 25 15 75 MINERS (9-14, 3-8)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Smallwood 4 8 0 0 26 6 2 9 Neal 2 4 0 0 20 1 1 5 Jarrell 2 7 0 0 21 5 2 4 Costello 5 12 2 2 38 4 0 12 Victoriano 8 14 1 5 34 3 2 17 Luces 1 3 0 0 23 1 0 2 Enzweiler 2 4 0 1 2 2 2 5 Stewart 2 5 2 2 16 4 2 6 Team 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 Totals 26 57 5 10 200 31 11 60 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-UTEP 29, Hawaii 34.
3-point goals--Hawaii 9-20 (Savovic 3-4, English 3-8, Burneika 2-3, Campbell 1-1, McIntyre 0-4); UTEP 3-11 (Smallwood 1-1, Neal 1-3, Enzweiler 1-3, Jarell 0-1, Costello 0-2, Luces 0-1). Personal fouls--Hawaii 15, UTEP 17. Technical fouls--none. Steals--Hawaii 10 (Shimonovich 5, Martin 4, Burneika); UTEP 3 (Smallwood, Costello, Enzweiler). Blocked shots--Hawaii 1 (Akpan); UTEP 0. Turnovers--Hawaii 10 (Shimonovich 3, English 2, Akpan 2, Burneika, McIntyre, Martin); UTEP 15 (Victoriano 4, Smallwood 2, Neal 2, Costello 2, Luces 2, Jarrell, Enzweiler, Stewart).Officials--Sitov, Brill, Danner. A--8,792.
WAC STANDINGS
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Hawaii 10 1 .909 -- 19 3 Tulsa 9 2 .818 1 18 4 La Tech 7 3 .700 212 13 7 SMU 6 4 .600 312 11 9 Fresno St. 6 5 .545 4 14 9 Nevada 5 6 .454 5 12 9 UTEP 3 8 .273 7 9 14 Rice 3 8 .273 7 8 13 San Jose St. 3 8 .273 7 8 15 Boise St. 2 9 .182 8 8 13
UH Athletics
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