GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Julian Sensley and the Rainbow Warriors play at Nevada tomorrow. A win keeps alive UH's WAC title hopes.
’Bows’ goals
still in sightHawaii's hopes of sharing
a WAC title and winning
20 games are still within reach
The Hawaii basketball team has endured its share of highs and lows since taking the floor at Midnight Ohana in October. Through it all, the Rainbow Warriors have managed to keep two of their primary objectives in sight.
UH at Nevada
When: Tomorrow, 5:05 p.m.
Where: Lawlor Events Center
TV: None
Radio: Live, KKEA 1420 AM
Internet: uhathleticshawaii.edu
The Rainbows begin the final week of the regular season with a Western Athletic Conference showdown with Nevada tomorrow in Reno. A victory will keep their hopes of sharing the WAC regular-season title alive and give them 20 wins for the 10th time in school history.
"There are a lot of goals out there, we want to be a 20-plus (win) team," UH guard Jason Carter said before the 'Bows departed on their final WAC road trip of the season. "There's a lot of perks if we just play hard and win."
Hawaii (19-8), Nevada (18-8) and Rice are deadlocked at 11-5 and in WAC play entering tomorrow's games. Texas-El Paso already clinched a share of the regular-season title at 13-4.
The Miners can win outright and secure the top seed in next week's WAC tournament by winning at Boise State on Saturday, leaving Hawaii among four teams scrambling for second through fifth place.
For the Rainbows to have any shot at sharing the title, they need to be the first visiting team to win at the Lawlor Events Center this season.
Nevada's 13-0 record at home includes victories over Kansas in December and UTEP on Feb. 14 in the Wolf Pack's last appearance at home.
"It's a whole different show up there," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "They're undefeated at home, they've got decent crowds and they're playing for a championship right now."
Hawaii went 0-3 on its last road trip, but departed Honolulu yesterday morning with the momentum generated by wins over Tulsa and Rice in the team's final homestand of the season.
"The most important thing is we're having fun," UH forward Julian Sensley said. "Let's just hope it carries with us on the road." Nevada is coming off a 64-55 win at Fresno State last Saturday and ranks second in the WAC in scoring with 76.5 points per game. In their meeting on Jan. 5, Hawaii kept Nevada to its lowest point output of the season in a 60-53 victory.
Tomorrow's matchup features the WAC's top two scorers in Nevada junior Kirk Snyder (18.7 points per game) and Hawaii senior Michael Kuebler (18.4).
"They're a lot like us," said Sensley, who will likely share defensive duties on Snyder with UH forward Phil Martin. "They've got a go-to guy in Snyder like we have in Kuebs and they have a whole bunch of good role players."
Since the first meeting between the squads, Nevada center Nick Fazekas has emerged as one of the WAC's top newcomers. The 6-foot-11 freshman averages 13.4 points and 7.5 rebounds and is tied with UH's Haim Shimonovich for second in the WAC in blocked shots with 35. He can also hurt opponents from the 3-point line.
"They put the big freshman in there and that seems to have turned their chemistry around," Wallace said. "He gives them a little more scoring and stretches your defense a little bit."
Fazekas had 13 points and five rebounds off the bench in the first meeting with Hawaii and was put into the starting lineup the following week. He wowed the home crowd with 32 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks in Nevada's win over UTEP.
