RAINBOW BASKETBALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hawaii's P.J. Owsley and Matt Lojeski battled Louisiana Tech's Harry Disy for a rebound yesterday.
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Rainbows come up empty on road
LaTech sends Hawaii home with a renewed sense of urgency after another close contest
RUSTON, La. » Louisiana Tech's spell over Hawaii continued last night in a typically tight battle with the Rainbow Warriors at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Next Up vs. FSU on Thursday
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Hawaii trailed by as many as 13 in the second half before having a late rally fall just short as Dominic Waters' 3-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out, giving Louisiana Tech a 70-67 Western Athletic Conference win and its sixth straight win in the series.
"As soon as it left I thought it was good; it just crawled out at the end," Waters said of his attempt to send the game into overtime. "It was all the way down, it was just a long crawl-out. But it hurt when it fell to the floor."
Yesterday's frantic finish was just the latest in a series of close calls between the teams, with LaTech again coming out on the winning end.
Louisiana Tech (4-10 overall, 2-0 WAC) has won the last three meetings with Hawaii by three points each time. During their six-game streak against the Rainbows, the Bulldogs have won by a total of 13 points.
The Rainbows were to make the day-long journey back to Honolulu today and will take a 9-6 record overall and 0-2 WAC mark into a tough homestand. Fresno State visits the Stan Sheriff Center on Thursday, followed by nationally ranked Nevada on Saturday.
"Now we have to come back and play, on paper, the top two teams in the league probably," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "We've got to get ourselves ready, we've got our back to the wall. We've been there before, we'll fight out of it."
The Rainbows dropped the back end of their road trip that began with a loss at New Mexico State on Thursday.
"It would have been very, very nice to get one of them," Waters said. "But it didn't fall for us, so we have to recover and recuperate and go back to the basics and be ready."
Louisiana Tech guard Trey McDowell led all scorers with a season-high 22 points on 10-for-12 shooting from the field. Forward Chad McKenzie, the team's leading scorer entering the game, added 18.
Hawaii forward Ahmet Gueye made seven of 10 shots and paced the Rainbows with 18 points. Guard Matt Lojeski added 16 and Waters finished with 12.
But the column on the stat sheet that drew Wallace's focus was turnovers. After giving the ball away a season-high 23 times against New Mexico State, the Rainbows committed 19 turnovers yesterday to just seven for Louisiana Tech.
"You can't put yourself in a hole like that," Wallace said. "You give them too many possessions back where you don't score. If you score on half of those it's your game."
Waters said the mileage the team covered in its longest road trip of the WAC season wasn't a factor in the outcome.
"We came in ready to play. In the end they had too much for us, I guess," he said. "We weren't fatigued, we weren't tired, we were very prepared to play."
The teams traded runs throughout the game, with Hawaii leading by 12 in the first half and Louisiana Tech pulling ahead by 13 in the second.
Hawaii scored the game's first nine points as LaTech started the game 0-for-9 from the field. The Rainbows took their biggest lead at 22-10 before Louisiana Tech crept back into the game.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by McDowell highlighted a 12-2 run that gave LaTech its first lead at 30-29.
Gueye was fouled just before the buzzer and his two free throws gave Hawaii a 31-30 lead at the break.
With Hawaii leading 35-30 early in the second half, La-Tech went on an 8-0 run that put the Bulldogs ahead to stay.
Leading 52-49, the Bulldogs took control with an 11-1 spurt, with McDowell contributing the final four points.
"(LaTech's offense is) constant movement and even against a zone they run motion and it's tough to cover," Wallace said. "And I think it kind of wore us down a little during that one stretch."
Hawaii then ran off the next nine points, with Lojeski hitting a 3-pointer to bring the 'Bows to within 63-59. McKenzie then made four free throws to maintain a cushion into the final seconds.
UH again closed to within three and had a chance to send the game into overtime when Terry Parker missed two free throws with 6.8 seconds left.
Waters pushed the ball upcourt and, with the defense focused on Lojeski, had an open look at the basket. But his shot refused to fall.
"Probably the only one I'd rather shoot it would be Lojeski, but they were playing for him," Wallace said. "It worked perfect, it just didn't go in."
Louisiana Tech 70, Hawaii 67
Rainbow Warriors (9-6, 0-2 WAC)
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|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Gibson |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
24 |
4 |
5 |
2
|
Lojeski |
7 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
36 |
4 |
4 |
16
|
Owsley |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
20 |
4 |
1 |
5
|
Nash |
3 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
1 |
8
|
Gueye |
7 |
10 |
4 |
6 |
38 |
8 |
0 |
18
|
Waters |
3 |
7 |
6 |
6 |
16 |
2 |
3 |
12
|
Luettgerodt |
2 |
7 |
2 |
4 |
20 |
5 |
0 |
6
|
Verwers |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
2 |
0 |
0
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
Totals |
25 |
53 |
13 |
18 |
200 |
38 |
14 |
67 |
Bulldogs (4-10, 2-0 WAC)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
McKenzie |
7 |
22 |
4 |
4 |
38 |
4 |
3 |
18
|
Washington |
1 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
20 |
3 |
4 |
2
|
McDowell |
10 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
26 |
6 |
0 |
22
|
Smith |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Disy |
5 |
10 |
1 |
2 |
38 |
7 |
0 |
11
|
Elliot |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
20 |
2 |
4 |
2
|
Richardson |
2 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
29 |
6 |
2 |
7
|
Parker |
3 |
7 |
2 |
4 |
20 |
1 |
2 |
8
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
Totals |
29 |
65 |
10 |
16 |
200 |
32 |
15 |
70 |
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 31, La. Tech 30.
3-point goals -- Hawaii 4-13 (Lojeski 2-3, Nash 2-5, Gibson 0-1, Luettgerodt 0-1, Waters 0-3), La. Tech 2-10 (Mcdowell 2-4, McKenzie 0-1, Smith 0-1, Elliot 0-2, Parker 0-2). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 15, La. Tech 20. Fouled out -- Disy.
Steals -- Hawaii 5 (Gibson 2, Lojeski 2, Nash), La. Tech 10 (Disy 2, McKenzie 2, Washington, McDowell, Smith, Elliot, Richardson, Parker). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 3 (Gueye, Gibson, Lojeski), La. Tech 4 (McKenzie 3, Elliot). Turnovers -- Hawaii 19 (Lojeski 5, Owsley 4, Gueye 3, Gibson 3, Luettgerodt 2, Waters, Nash), La. Tech 7 (Disy 2, Elliot, Parker, McKenzie, Washington, McDowell).
Officials -- Randy McCall, Martin Cota, Ronnie Hernandez. A-- 2,132.
WAC standings
|
WAC |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L
|
Fresno State |
2 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
13 |
2
|
New Mexico State |
2 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
12 |
3
|
Louisiana Tech |
2 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
4 |
10
|
Nevada |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
1/2 |
13 |
1
|
Boise State |
1 |
0 |
1.000 |
1/2 |
7 |
5
|
Utah State |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
2 |
10 |
5
|
Hawaii |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
2 |
9 |
6
|
Idaho |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
2 |
2 |
12
|
San Jose State |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
2 |
1 |
13 |
Yesterday
Louisiana Tech 70, Hawaii 67
Nevada 81, Idaho 55
New Mexico State 74, San Jose State 68
Fresno State 79, Utah State 70
Tomorrow
Boise State at Nevada