RAINBOW BASKETBALL
’Bows can’t hold big lead
UH runs out of steam and loses its fourth road game
By Geoff Grammer
Special to the Star-Bulletin
LAS CRUCES, N.M. » On the back end of a two-game, cross-country road trip, Hawaii basketball coach Riley Wallace could not have asked for much more than his Rainbow Warriors gave last night.
A 56 percent shooting performance, a season high in assists and points, and a career-best 32 points from Julian Sensley probably should have been enough.
It wasn't.
A relentless and aggressive New Mexico State team had too much energy down the stretch, beating Hawaii 87-84 in the first Western Athletic Conference meeting between the schools.
"Quicks beat size tonight," Wallace said. "If you're small, that's your concern. If you're big, that's your concern."
The Aggies (7-8, 3-1 WAC) used a lineup of three 6-foot and under guards the majority of the night and tried to push the tempo throughout the game. For about 27 minutes, the Rainbows' razor-sharp shooting stalled the Aggies. Instead of rebounding and outletting on the fast break, the 63 percent first-half shooting of Hawaii (8-6, 2-2) gave NMSU little chance to run and Hawaii held a 41-40 advantage at the intermission.
"Coach (Reggie) Theus told us they weren't going to shoot 63 percent again in the second half," Aggie forward David Fisher said. "We knew that being down only one, we were in pretty good shape if our defense held strong."
Leading 61-49 with less than 14 minutes remaining in the game, the travel seemed to catch up with Hawaii. The Aggies went on runs of 11-0 and 12-0 and hit 19 of 23 free throws in the game's final 13:51 to seal the victory.
"We just didn't have any energy left," Sensley said. "We couldn't execute anything we were trying to do there at the end."
While the team as a whole may not have been executing down the stretch, Sensley never quite cooled off. His 32 points (12-for-21 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free-throw line) kept Hawaii in the game throughout as the Aggies never led by more than seven points.
But fatigue eventually got the best of the Rainbow Warriors.
"Second game of a road trip, and then playing in a little bit of altitude, you don't want to get in a running game late in the game like we did and I think that got to us," Wallace said.
The 'Bows seemed a step slower than the Aggies in the game's final minutes and never had an answer for forward Tyrone Nelson, who finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds and sank 14 of his 16 free-throw attempts.
"He's got game," Wallace said of Nelson. "He's quick as hell and can take you off the dribble."
Helping Nelson was a 21-point performance from Aggie point guard Elijah Ingram, who was 9-for-11 from the free-throw line. The Aggies were 30-for-37 from the charity stripe to Hawaii's 8-for-13.
The 'Bows have now lost 18 of their last 20 road games dating back to the 2003-04 season and are 0-4 on the road this season.
With five starters averaging more than 30 minutes coming into the game, Wallace said he tried using his bench more last night and six players saw 16 minutes or more of floor time.
Matt Lojeski was second for Hawaii in scoring with 12 points. Three Rainbows had eight points apiece.
NMSU outrebounded UH 34-26 and countered the 'Bows' shooting performance with a 50 percent shooting night of its own.
Hawaii returns home to host Fresno State on Saturday and Boise State on Jan. 23 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
WAC standings
|
WAC |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L
|
Louisiana Tech |
4 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
11 |
6
|
New Mexico State |
3 |
1 |
.750 |
1 |
7 |
8
|
Nevada |
3 |
1 |
.750 |
1 |
13 |
3
|
Utah State |
3 |
2 |
.600 |
1 1/2 |
11 |
4
|
Hawaii |
2 |
2 |
.500 |
2 |
8 |
6
|
Fresno State |
1 |
2 |
.333 |
2 1/2 |
8 |
6
|
Boise State |
1 |
3 |
.250 |
3 |
8 |
7
|
San Jose State |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
2 1/2 |
4 |
11
|
Idaho |
0 |
4 |
.000 |
4 |
3 |
11 |
Yesterday
New Mexico St. 87, Hawaii 84
Louisiana Tech 73, Fresno St. 54
Utah St. 83, Idaho 58
Nevada 81, Boise St. 67
New Mexico St. 87, Hawaii 84
Rainbow Warriors (8-6, 2-2 WAC)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Gipson |
4 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
38 |
7 |
2 |
8
|
Sensley |
12 |
21 |
6 |
7 |
33 |
5 |
3 |
32
|
Gueye |
4 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
21 |
3 |
1 |
8
|
Lojeski |
4 |
10 |
2 |
3 |
35 |
3 |
4 |
12
|
Tatum |
2 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
25 |
2 |
7 |
4
|
Wilder |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
2
|
Waters |
2 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
12 |
1 |
0 |
6
|
Thompson |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
13 |
0 |
1 |
4
|
Botez |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
3 |
4 |
8
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
Totals |
35 |
63 |
8 |
13 |
200 |
26 |
22 |
84
|
Aggies (7-8, 3-1 WAC)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Fisher |
5 |
11 |
5 |
6 |
30 |
7 |
1 |
15
|
Nelson |
7 |
14 |
14 |
16 |
34 |
11 |
0 |
28
|
Mitchell |
4 |
7 |
0 |
2 |
40 |
3 |
2 |
11
|
Ingram |
5 |
10 |
9 |
11 |
37 |
2 |
4 |
21
|
Knauber |
1 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
18 |
2 |
0 |
5
|
Davis |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
0 |
0 |
4
|
Caston |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
3
|
Jegede |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Ford |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
3 |
0 |
0
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
4
|
Totals |
25 |
50 |
30 |
37 |
200 |
34 |
7 |
87 |
Key -- fg: field goals made; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws made; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes played; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime -- Hawaii 41, New Mexico St. 40
3-point goals -- Hawaii 6-18 (Waters 2-3, Lojeski 2-6, Sensley 2-7, Gipson 0-1, Wilder 0-1), NMSU 7-14 (Mitchell 3-4, Ingram 2-4, Caston 1-1, Knauber 1-5). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 25, NMSU 14. Fouled out -- Gueye.
Steals -- Hawaii 4 (Gipson 2, Sensley, Wilder), NMSU 8 (Fisher 2, Nelson 2, Ingram, Knauber, Davis, Caston). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 2 (Gueye, Botez), NMSU 1 (Fisher). Turnovers -- Hawaii 16 (Gipson 4, Thompson 3, Botez 3, Sensley 2, Lojeski, Tatum, Waters, TEAM), NMSU 16 (Fisher 4, Mitchell 3, Davis 3, Nelson 2, Ingram, Knauber, Caston, Ford). Officials -- Christman, Shelley, Sorenson. A -- 5,021.