FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Michael Kuebler drove for the basket during last night's game vs. Nevada. Kuebler scored a team-high 23 points.
Rainbows step it up
Hawaii wins its first WAC game
of the season with a victory against
a solid Nevada squad
Two days after losing to the defending Western Athletic Conference champion, the Hawaii basketball team knocked off the squad favored to win this year's crown.
The Rainbow Warriors avoided dropping back-to-back home games to start the WAC season by defeating the Nevada Wolf Pack 60-53 last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
UH recovered from the disappointment of its loss to Fresno State on Saturday in time to improve to 9-3 overall and 1-1 in the WAC before a crowd of 4,296.
The biggest difference between the two games?
"Intensity," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "The heart is still ticking."
Nevada, the preseason favorite to win the conference, saw its five-game winning streak end and fell to 7-4 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
UH guard Michael Kuebler, who struggled through his worst shooting night of the season on Saturday, recovered to lead UH with 23 points on seven-of-14 shooting from the field.
"We came out more fired up than we've been for any game the entire year," Kuebler said. "We told ourselves going into it we had to show some pride and show how we can play."
Forwards Phil Martin and Julian Sensley had 10 points each. Sensley also grabbed 11 rebounds to record his fourth double-double of the season.
After picking up just 16 rebounds as a team against Fresno State, UH won the battle on the boards 40-31 last night.
"We just came ready to play, the intensity was there," Sensley said. "It looked like everybody was having fun, we were just feeding off each other."
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii coach Riley Wallace was called for a technical foul at the end of the first half last night after arguing with a referee at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbows beat Nevada 60-53 to improve to 1-1 in the conference.
Nevada's Kirk Snyder, the preseason WAC Player of the Year, led the Wolf Pack with 21 points and forward Nick Fazekas had 13. But no other Nevada player had more than six points.
Nevada also hurt its chances by making just five of 16 free throws in the game.
"They just wanted it more," Nevada coach Trent Johnson said. "We got outcoached, outplayed in all phases."
Snyder displayed his array of skills in scoring 11 of the Wolf Pack's first 15 points. He scored his first bucket by driving along the baseline and throwing down a dunk. A few minutes later, he took a pass on the wing and drained a 3-pointer.
Nevada used a 10-0 run to take a 25-16 lead, but UH responded with an 11-2 spurt and tied the game at 27 when Sensley drove from the left wing and soared to a two-handed slam.
"We thought we had them against the ropes," Snyder said. "They kept running their stuff and hit their shots. They pounced on us."
UH held Nevada scoreless for the final 4:55 of the first half and took a 31-27 lead into the locker room.
"We picked up the intensity on defense," Wallace said. "Instead of worrying about where they're going ... we got in the passing lanes and put pressure on."
Nevada broke a 10-minute field-goal drought with a 3-pointer by Snyder at the 15:04 mark of the second half.
With UH leading 35-28, Kuebler scored Hawaii's next eight points and the 'Bows opened up a 10-point lead on Jason Carter's reverse layup at the 10:57 mark.
Snyder's third 3-pointer of the night cut UH's lead to 49-45 with 6:19 left.
But UH guard Logan Lee poked the ball away from Nevada's Todd Okeson, and Sensley scooped up the loose ball and went in for the dunk to put the 'Bows up 53-45.
Nevada forward Nick Fazekas made his third 3-pointer of the game to bring the Wolf Pack within four with 10.3 seconds left. But a free throw by Haim Shimonovich and a dunk by Sensley at the buzzer punctuated the UH victory.
"We know what we're capable of doing, it's just a matter of coming together and winning games," Martin said. "It's nice to redeem ourselves this way."
Hitting the road: Hawaii, which played its seventh game in the last 18 days, will embark on its first trip out of the state this week. The Rainbows play at San Jose State on Saturday and travel to Southern Methodist and Louisiana Tech next week.
The only time the team left Oahu this season was to play in the Maui Invitational in Lahaina in November.
Blackburn honored: Boise State swingman Jermaine Blackburn was named the WAC Player of the Week yesterday. Blackburn scored 25 points in the Broncos' 98-94 win over UTEP on Saturday.
Kuebler was Hawaii's nominee for the award.
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WAC standings
Conference All games W L Pct. W L Pct. Fresno St. 2 0 1.000 6 5 .545 Boise St. 1 0 1.000 9 2 .818 Rice 1 0 1.000 9 3 .750 Hawaii 1 1 .500 9 3 .750 Nevada 1 1 .500 7 4 .636 Louisiana Tech 1 1 .500 7 5 .583 SMU 0 0 .000 6 4 .600 UTEP 0 1 .000 9 2 .818 Tulsa 0 1 .000 4 6 .400 San Jose St. 0 2 .000 5 7 .417
Yesterday's games (all times Hawaii time)
Rice 89, Louisiana Tech 77
Fresno State 61, San Jose State 55
Hawaii 60, Nevada 53
Today's game
Tulsa at SMU, 3 p.m.
Thursday's games
Boise State at Rice, 3:05 p.m.
UTEP at Tulsa, 3:05 p.m.
SMU at Fresno State, 5 p.m.
Louisiana Tech at Nevada, 5:05 p.m.
Saturday's games
Boise State at Tulsa, 10:05 a.m.
UTEP at Rice, 10:05 a.m.
Louisiana Tech at Fresno State, 5 p.m.
Hawaii at San Jose State, 5 p.m.
SMU at Nevada, 5:05 p.m.
Rainbows 60, Wolf Pack 53
Nevada (7-4, 1-1 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Snyder 8 18 2 8 37 5 4 21 Okeson 1 5 1 2 28 2 3 4 Pinkney 1 6 0 1 33 5 1 2 Hill-Thomas 3 6 0 0 22 4 2 6 Paul 0 1 0 0 15 3 0 0 Shiloh 1 1 0 0 9 0 0 3 Kemp 0 2 0 2 5 2 0 0 Fazekas 4 8 2 3 27 5 0 13 Washington 2 6 0 0 24 5 3 4 Team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 20 53 5 16 200 31 13 53
Hawaii (9-3, 1-1 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Martin 5 12 0 0 32 5 1 10 Shimonovich 1 4 1 2 27 9 2 3 Lee 1 4 0 1 23 3 3 2 Kuebler 7 14 7 8 37 7 2 23 Sensley 5 9 0 0 38 11 3 10 Zivanovic 1 2 0 0 13 2 0 2 Carter 2 7 0 0 17 1 3 4 Peciukas 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Nash 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 2 Blackett 1 3 2 2 8 1 0 4 Team 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 24 56 10 13 200 40 14 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--Hawaii 31, Nevada 27
3-point goals--Nevada 8-18 (Fazekas 3-5, Snyder 3-7, Shiloh 1-1, Okeson 1-3, Kemp 0-1, Washington 0-1), Hawaii 2-9 (Kuebler 2-3, Lee 0-1, Martin 0-1, Sensley 0-1, Carter 0-3). Personal fouls--Nevada 17, Hawaii 17. Steals--Nevada 9 (Washington 3, Fazekas 2, Paul 2, Hill-Thomas 1, Shiloh 1), Hawaii 8 (Carter 3, Kuebler 2, Lee 1, Sensley 1, Shimonovich 1). Blocked shots--Nevada 6 (Fazekas 4, Paul), Hawaii 6 (Sensley 3, Kuebler 2, Shimonovich 1). Turnovers--Nevada 18, Hawaii 18. Officials--Terry Christman, Charles Range, Bryan Barr. A--6,155.
