[ RAINBOW BASKETBALL ]
Rainbows blow out
Golden HurricaneHawaii enjoys a rare chance
at garbage time in a rout
of WAC rival Tulsa
For a little more than 16 minutes, last night's matchup between Hawaii and Tulsa shaped up to be another tight battle between the Western Athletic Conference rivals.
What emerged after that was Hawaii's most lopsided victory of the 18-game series, as the Rainbow Warriors turned a close game into a 92-62 blowout before 5,063 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.
After Tulsa took a 28-27 lead with 3:33 left in the first half, Hawaii blew past the Golden Hurricane with a 33-9 outburst to put the game away.
Every player on the Hawaii roster scored as the Rainbows (18-8, 10-5 WAC) broke a three-game losing streak and moved into a tie with Nevada for third place in the conference standings.
"Any time everyone on our team scores, it's going to be a good game," Hawaii guard Michael Kuebler said. "That's just what makes it fun."
Hawaii, which reached double figures in WAC wins for the fifth time in UH coach Riley Wallace's 17 years as head coach, hosts second-place Rice tomorrow afternoon in its home finale.
Tulsa lost its eighth straight game to fall to 7-18 overall and 3-12 in the WAC. The streak began with a double-overtime loss to UH last month in Oklahoma.
Kuebler led all scorers with 21 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the field. Julian Sensley added 14 points and Jason Carter scored 11 off the bench. Sensley also posted a game-high seven assists and seven rebounds.
As a team, Hawaii committed only six turnovers while locating each other for 24 assists.
"If we had been on the road it would have been tough to get them out of it," Riley Wallace said of the team's slow start. "After that we just energized and took off."
After hanging close in the first half, a young Tulsa squad struggled to put anything together in the second as Hawaii shot 53.8 percent from the field after halftime. Sophomore center Anthony Price led the Golden Hurricane with 17 points. Guard Jason Parker, who hit for 26 points in the first meeting this season, was held to 12 last night.
Tulsa was hampered by its free-throw shooting, as the Golden Hurricane made only four of 10 shots from the line in the first half and were 9-for-19 in the game.
Hawaii's bench powered the Rainbows to a 41-32 halftime lead. UH had four reserves on the floor for much of the half who combined for 20 points, led by Carter's eight.
"It was a combination of things," Carter said of Hawaii's win. "We got a couple of stops in a row and came down and scored. Kuebs hit some shots and Julian started to hit his shots. When people score and the defense is really working, it can break a team down."
"I have complete confidence in the bench, and whenever they come in and help, it makes us a better team," Kuebler said.
Carter entered the game midway through the first half and knocked down two 3-pointers. His trey from the right wing put the Rainbows up 30-28. Hawaii would not trail again.
Carter hit his second 3-pointer with 48 seconds left and capped the half by zipping to the basket for a layup as Hawaii outscored Tulsa 14-4 in the final 3:17.
The Rainbows maintained the momentum in the second half with a 17-3 run. Kuebler started the spurt with a 3-pointer and finished it with a fast-break layup.
After Jarius Glenn hit two free throws, Hawaii pulled away even further by scoring the game's next 11 points to a 73-43 lead.
Although the outcome had long since been decided, one of the loudest ovations of the night came in the final minute when walk-on Garland Gantt hit a 3-pointer with 19.5 seconds left for his first basket as a Rainbow Warrior. He capped the night by feeding Paul Jesinskis for a dunk.
"Everyone was cheering for me to shoot even if I was at the other foul line or half court," Gantt said. "Everybody on the team supports me so it's a good feeling."
WAC standings
Yesterday
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Pct. UTEP 12 4 .750 21 5 .808 Rice 11 4 .733 20 7 .741 Hawaii 10 5 .667 18 8 .692 Nevada 10 5 .667 17 8 .680 Boise St. 10 6 .625 18 8 .692 Fresno St. 8 7 .533 12 13 .480 Louisiana Tech 7 8 .467 13 12 .520 SMU 4 11 .267 10 15 .400 Tulsa 3 12 .200 7 18 .280 San Jose St. 1 14 .067 6 19 .240
Rice 61, San Jose St. 55
Hawaii 92, Tulsa 62
Today (All times HST)
Boise State at Louisiana Tech, 3 p.m.
UTEP at SMU, 3 p.m.
Nevada at Fresno State, 4 p.m.
Hawaii 92, Tulsa 62
golden hurricane (7-18, 3-12 wac)
Warriors (18-8, 10-5 wac)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Glenn 2 4 4 5 25 5 2 8 Blankenship 1 3 0 0 20 1 2 3 Parker 4 12 3 4 34 3 1 12 Teichmann 3 4 1 4 20 5 1 7 Price 8 14 1 1 27 4 2 17 Wallace 2 2 0 0 15 1 0 5 Kelley 0 5 0 0 15 1 3 0 Collins 3 6 0 1 19 2 1 8 Ramsdell 0 1 0 2 7 1 0 0 Cardwell 1 3 0 2 18 4 0 2 Team 2 Totals 24 54 9 19 200 29 12 62
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 Martin 1 2 1 2 5 0 0 3 Shimonovich 1 6 0 0 22 5 1 2 Lee 1 1 0 0 15 3 1 3 Kuebler 9 16 0 0 20 5 0 21 Sensley 4 8 6 8 33 7 7 14 Sottos 2 7 1 2 17 4 2 6 Zivanovic 1 2 0 0 5 1 0 2 Carter 4 8 1 3 21 3 5 11 Gantt 1 2 0 0 2 0 1 3 Peciukas 3 5 1 2 18 3 3 8 Nash 2 5 0 0 7 3 1 4 Blackett 4 5 1 2 18 4 2 9 Jesinskis 2 3 2 2 17 3 1 6 Team 3 Totals 35 70 13 21 200 44 24 92
Halftime -- Hawaii 41, Tulsa 32
3-point goals -- Tulsa 5-14 (Collins 2-5, Blankenship 1-2, Wallace 1-2, Parker 1-4, Kelley 0-1), Hawaii 9-25 (Kuebler 3-6, Carter 2-5, Lee 1-1, Peciukas 1-1, Gantt 1-2, Sottos 1-6, Sensley 0-2, Nash 0-2). Personal fouls -- Tulsa 17, Hawaii 17.
Steals -- Tulsa 2 (Parker, Kelley), Hawaii 5 (Sensley 2, Shimonovich, Carter, Blackett). Blocked shots -- Tulsa 2 (Price, Collins), Hawaii 1 (Nash). Turnovers -- Tulsa 14 (Parker 5, Glenn 2, Teichmann 2, Cardwell 2, Blankenship, Price, Kelley), Hawaii 6 (Kuebler, Sensley, Zivanovic, Carter, Peciukas, Blackett). Officials -- Kennedy, Bannowsky, Wells. A -- 7,780.
