RAINBOW BASKETBALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Matt Lojeski of Hawaii tried to drive past Patrick Christopher of California last night at the Great Alaska Shootout.
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Cal ends Hawaii’s run at Great Alaska Shootout
The Rainbows have trouble coming all the way back from a large first-half deficit
By Matt Nevala
Special to the Star-Bulletin
ANCHORAGE, Alaska » The Rainbows Warriors entered last night's Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout semifinal as the only ones capable of keeping the tournament title game from turning into an all-Golden State affair.
It only took a few minutes for the California basketball team to tell Hawaii to keep dreaming.
Cal scored 16 of the evening's first 20 points and cruised past the Rainbows 72-56 at Sullivan Arena.
"That exhibition wasn't the true us, not the real Rainbow Warriors," said Hawaii assistant coach Bob Nash. "We came up a little short tonight in our effort, but certainly we'll correct those things and be ready (today)."
Cal of the Pac-10 Conference improved to 12-1 against Hawaii in the first neutral-court meeting between the programs and moved into tonight's Shootout championship against Loyola Marymount. The Lions advanced with an 88-85 double-overtime win over Pacific in the day's first semifinal.
The Rainbows, who had their three-game winning streak snapped, meet Pacific today at 5 p.m. Hawaii time for third place. Hawaii finished third in its first Shootout appearance in 1989.
Cal seldom missed in the game's first 5 minutes, 30 seconds. Meanwhile, the Rainbows struggled just to create shots and fell into a cavernous hole.
Hawaii made only two of its first seven shots from the floor and committed three turnovers to Cal's zero in the first minutes. The Bears jumped out to a 16-4 lead when 6-foot-10 freshman Ryan Anderson capped a 14-0 run with a pair of free throws. Omar Wilkes, a Cal junior and the son of former NBA great Jamaal Wilkes, scored eight points during the run.
Every time Hawaii pieced together something resembling a run, Cal countered with more points of its own. Anderson finished a 6-0 jaunt with a basket and the Bears owned a 25-13 edge with about 7 minutes left in the half.
The Rainbows didn't completely fade away before intermission. Dominic Waters hit his second 3-pointer down the stretch and sophomore reserve Todd Follmer scored the final four points of the period to cut Cal's lead to 37-24 at the break.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
California's Ayinde Ubaka got a shot off against Hawaii's Stephen Verwers last night.
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Waters, the 2005-06 Western Athletic Conference freshman of the year, watched his minutes diminish each game since playing 29 in Hawaii's season-opening loss at UNLV. The sophomore from Portland, Ore., played a paltry 3 minutes in Thursday's 80-79 win over Hofstra in the Shootout's opening round.
But when starting point guard Matt Gibson suffered a sluggish start, Hawaii coach Riley Wallace called Waters into action.
He played 10 minutes in the first half and stroked a pair of 3-pointers. Waters finished the game with 10 points, four assists and two of Hawaii's season-low 14 turnovers.
"(Thursday) was a weird night, I don't know, it was the Coach's decision," Waters said. "But I'm always ready. When I was called on to come in and provide, I did it. And that's my job."
Rainbows senior Matt Lojeski averaged 18.3 points per game in the Rainbows' first four games. But he didn't crack the scoring column in the first half and wasn't heard from until he jammed home Waters' pass with 16:48 left in the second half.
Lojeski's first points cut the deficit to 41-28. The Rainbows scored eight of the next 10 points and trailed 43-35 with 14:51 left to play.
"Lojeski is a great player and a great scorer," Cal coach Ben Braun said. "We did a good job getting out to their shooters. We did an even better job in the second half."
Lojeski finished with seven points and a game-high 10 assists.
Cal tossed in a pair of long-range daggers to reclaim momentum for good. Ayinde Ubaka and Anderson sank three-pointers 29 seconds apart and Wilkes scored off a steal to grow the Bears' lead back up to 51-35 with 13:38 remaining.
"We made some good adjustments in the second half, but Ubaka hit a big 3, Anderson followed with a 3 and we never recovered from that," Nash said.
Anderson led Cal with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Ubaka added 12 points and Devon Hardin 11 and Wilkes 10.
Ahmet Gueye finished with 14 points and six rebounds for Hawaii. Follmer chipped in a career-high 10 points, matching Waters' performance.
"I like to provide energy and try to stabilize everyone and I think I did some of that in the first half," Waters said. "I did my part with a couple of turnovers (in the second half) and they kind of jumped back on us.
"We just didn't take it to them. Cal kind of took it to us. At home, we don't mind knocking guys on their butts on the road it seems like we kind of sit back."
Hawaii recovered from its early poor shooting to finish a respectable 24 of 59 (40.7 percent) from the floor.
California 72, Hawaii 56
Rainbow Warriors (3-2)
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|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Nash |
1 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
31 |
2 |
2 |
3
|
Gueye |
7 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
39 |
6 |
3 |
14
|
Verwers |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
5 |
0 |
2
|
Gibson |
2 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
5 |
1 |
5
|
Lojeski |
3 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
38 |
5 |
10 |
7
|
Lowenthal |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Wilder |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
Waters |
3 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
24 |
3 |
4 |
10
|
Jackson |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Dillinger |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Luettgerodt |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Owsley |
1 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
1 |
0 |
2
|
Follmer |
5 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
15 |
1 |
0 |
10
|
Veit |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
Totals |
24 |
59 |
3 |
5 |
200 |
31 |
20 |
31 |
Bears (4-1)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Robertson |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
32 |
5 |
3 |
3
|
Anderson |
7 |
15 |
2 |
2 |
34 |
11 |
1 |
18
|
Hardin |
4 |
8 |
3 |
4 |
23 |
7 |
0 |
11
|
Ubaka |
4 |
10 |
2 |
2 |
34 |
3 |
6 |
12
|
Wikes |
5 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
22 |
2 |
1 |
10
|
Randle |
2 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
17 |
3 |
3 |
5
|
Vierneisel |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Christopher |
4 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
1 |
2 |
9
|
Pribble |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
2
|
Harrison |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
2
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
Totals |
27 |
60 |
12 |
13 |
200 |
37 |
16 |
72 |
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 -- California 37, Hawaii 24
3-point goals -- Hawaii 5-15 (Waters 2-4, Wilder 1-1, Gibson 1-3, Lojeski 1-4, Nash 0-3), California 6-15 (Ubaka 2-4, Anderson 2-6, Christopher 1-1, Robertson 1-2, Wilkes 0-1, Randle 0-1). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 14, California 12.
Steals -- Hawaii 3 (Owsley 2, Lojeski), California 5 (Robertson 2, Anderson 2, Wilkes). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 5 (Gueye 2, Nash, Owsley, Follmer), California 2 (Hardin, Christopher). Turnovers -- Hawaii 14 (Gueye 3, Gibson 3, Lojeski 3, Waters 2, Verwers 2, Nash), California 12 (Christopher 3, Hardin 3, Randle 2, Anderson, Ubaka, Vierneisel, TEAM).
Officials -- Rick Batsell, Bobby McRoy, Gabby Lujan. A -- 6,061.