[ RAINBOW BASKETBALL ]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hawaii's Michael Kuebler went up for a shot during the first half against San Jose State last night in San Jose, Calif.
Blackett breaks
SJSU spell
SAN JOSE, Calif. >> Spurred by the play of its reserves, the Hawaii basketball team opened its first conference road trip of the season by holding off San Jose State 83-76 last night.
UH forward Jeff Blackett came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points and guard Jason Carter had 14, one short of his career best, as the Rainbow Warriors won in San Jose for the first time since 2001.
HAWAII 83 SJSU 76
NEXT UP
at SMU on Thursday
UH dropped both of its games with SJSU last year and had lost four of its previous five road games against the Spartans.
"It's a good way to start the road trip and just break that curse," Carter said.
Michael Kuebler, the leading scorer in the Western Athletic Conference, finished with 16 points as UH (10-3 overall, 2-1 WAC) won for the ninth time in 10 games. Julian Sensley added 13 points and posted team highs with seven rebounds and five assists.
Hawaii shot 51 percent from the field and was 9-for-18 beyond the 3-point line. Ten of the 11 UH players who played in the game scored.
"Everybody did their part and just played to win," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "They prepared for it, so it's their victory; they worked hard for it."
With starting center Haim Shimonovich in foul trouble most of the night and forward Phil Martin hampered by back spasms, Blackett and Paul Jesinskis gave the Hawaii front court needed energy off the bench.
"I think tonight was a really good team effort," Blackett said. "Everyone was setting picks and I just got the ball in places where I was able to score."
Eric Walton scored 19 points to lead the Spartans (5-8, 0-3), who lost their fifth straight. Demetrius Brown added 15 points and Brett Lilly had 12.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hawaii's Julian Sensley grabbed a rebound before getting fouled by San Jose State's Bim Okunrinboye during the second half of yesterday's game in San Jose, Calif. Hawaii won 83-76.
The Spartans trailed by 12 at halftime, but whittled the UH lead to three late in the game. But UH was able to answer every time SJSU made a charge.
"They're a pretty tough team, they've got some feisty players and had that never-say-die attitude," Carter said. "I give them a lot of respect; it's a tough road win. We really had to play hard to win it."
UH made nine of its first 11 shots in the game and shot 60 percent from the field in the first half to open up a 40-28 advantage. The 'Bows made six of their eight 3-point attempts before halfime.
Martin's first 3-pointer of the season, and just the second of his UH career, gave the Rainbows a 35-25 lead. Freshman Bobby Nash later hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the half.
But San Jose State kept the game close and cut the UH lead to 72-69 when Brown made a pair of free throws with 1:52 to play. UH answered with a layup by Kuebler and two free throws by Sensley.
The Spartans got back to within three points again with less than a minute left, but Blackett converted a three-point play with 29 seconds remaining to give UH a 79-73 lead.
Lilly then banked in a 3-pointer to keep the Spartans in contention, but Kuebler and Blackett combined to make four free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the UH win.
"We answered every run they had -- that shows a lot," Wallace said. "We used our bench and in the end we had enough energy."
UH, the only WAC team to win a road game yesterday, leaves for Dallas today and will play Southern Methodist on Thursday. The 'Bows conclude the road trip against Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
WAC Standings
Thursday's games
Conference All games W L Pct. W L Pct. Fresno St. 4 0 1.000 8 5 .615 Rice 3 0 1.000 11 3 .786 Nevada 3 1 .750 9 4 .692 Hawaii 2 1 .667 10 3 .769 Texas-El Paso 1 2 .333 10 3 .769 Boise St. 1 2 .333 9 4 .692 SMU 1 2 .333 7 6 .538 Louisiana Tech 1 3 .250 7 7 .500 Tulsa 1 3 .250 5 8 .385 San Jose St. 0 3 .000 5 8 .385
San Jose State at Louisiana Tech, 3 p.m.
Hawaii at SMU, 3 p.m.
Nevada at UTEP, 4:05 p.m.
Fresno State at Boise State, 4:30 p.m.
Hawaii 83, San Jose State 76
WARRIORS (10-3, 2-1 WAC)
SPARTANS (5-8, 0-3 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Martin 2 4 2 2 28 3 3 7 Sensley 4 7 3 4 27 7 5 13 Shimonovich 1 4 0 0 21 2 3 2 Lee 1 2 1 2 25 1 3 4 Kuebler 6 14 2 2 32 0 2 16 Zivanovic 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Carter 6 9 0 0 15 0 1 14 Peciukas 1 2 0 0 4 2 1 2 Nash 1 2 0 0 8 0 1 3 Blackett 5 8 9 11 23 4 1 19 Jesinskis 1 3 1 2 15 2 2 3 Team 6 Totals 28 55 18 23 200 27 22 83
Key -- fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Lilly 4 8 0 0 30 2 0 12 Brown 4 7 7 10 30 4 3 15 Walton 6 11 7 8 30 9 1 19 Okunrinboye 2 2 4 5 22 3 0 10 McFadden 1 6 0 0 17 1 1 2 Moore 1 3 0 0 5 0 1 2 Holloway 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 Wilson 1 4 0 0 13 2 3 2 Guilbeaux 2 7 0 0 30 0 4 4 Calvert 4 5 1 2 15 2 0 10 Chandler 0 0 0 0 3 1 1 0 Team 2 Totals 25 53 19 25 200 26 14 76
Halftime -- Hawaii 40, SJSU 28.
3-point goals -- Hawaii 9-18 (Sensley 2, Carter 2, Kuebler 2, Martin, Lee, Nash), SJSU 7-14 (Lilly 4, Okunrinboye 2, Calvert). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 17, SJSU 19. Steals -- Hawaii 4 (Lee 2, Sensley 2), SJSU 4 (Guilbeaux 3, Brown). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 3 (Blackett, Sensley, Shimonovich), SJSU 1 (Walton). Turnovers -- Hawaii 10 (Shimonovich 3, Sensley 2, Lee 2, Kuebler, Nash, Blackett), SJSU 9 (Okunrinboye 2, Walton 2, Brown, McFadden, Moore, Wilson, Guilbeaux).
A -- 1,354.
