RAINBOW BASKETBALL
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Matt Lojeski (13 points) was one of six Rainbow Warriors to score in double figures against Fresno State last night.
|
|
Rainbows put it all together
Hawaii blows out Fresno State with a total team effort
By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com
This was truly a team effort.
Hawaii got double-figure scoring from six players and the Rainbow Warriors' balance carried them to a 83-66 rout of rival Fresno State last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Next Up vs. No. 19 Nevada tomorrow
|
A crowd of 4,460 watched the Rainbows open up a 20-point cushion at halftime and cruise to their first Western Athletic Conference win, raising their record to 10-6 overall and 1-2 in league play.
Fresno State had a four-game winning streak snapped and fell to 13-3 and 2-1.
Dominic Waters practiced with the scout team the previous two days to prepare the starters to cover Fresno State's 3-point shooters. He carried his outside touch into the game by hitting three of four shots beyond the arc to lead the Rainbow attack with a career-high 15 points.
He was followed by Bobby Nash (14), Matt Lojeski (13), P.J. Owsley (12), Riley Luettgerodt (11) and Ahmet Gueye (10) as the Rainbows dished out 20 assists on 31 made shots.
UH's starting backcourt of Lojeski and Matt Gibson combined for 11 assists and just one turnover. It was the first time since a win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi early in the 2002-03 season that UH had six double-figure scorers.
"That's just being unselfish and sharing the ball, finding the open guys and hitting shots," Waters said. "Everybody was just relaxed and shooting the ball with confidence."
"The scout team prepared us this week," Nash said, eliciting a wide grin from Waters. "We were overly prepared for these guys and it showed tonight. And that's kudos to (assistant coach) Alika (Smith) and the scout team."
The turnovers that plagued the Rainbows in two road losses last week didn't factor into last night's contest as they committed just 11.
"In our pregame talk, Coach (Bob) Nash stepped up and said we've played one complete game as far as he was concerned this year, and that was probably Oregon State, where we put them away and kept them away," Wallace said. "Tonight's as close to that as we've had."
The Rainbows close their homestand tomorrow against No. 19 Nevada (15-1, 3-0) at the Sheriff Center.
"Now we've got our work cut out," Wallace said.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Matt Lojeski of UH grabbed a rebound between Eddie Miller and Alex Blair of Fresno State.
|
|
Fresno State had been holding opponents to a league-low 61.9 points per game and 36 percent shooting. Hawaii bucked that trend by shooting 56 percent from the floor in the first half to take a commanding 44-24 lead into the break.
"They were very, very good," Fresno State coach Steve Cleveland said. "They just absolutely dominated the game from the first 20 minutes and continued in the first 5 to 10 minutes of the second half."
"They played with great energy and with a purpose and we just couldn't match them tonight. ... They were just better than we were in almost every facet of the game."
Hawaii went out to an 8-0 lead as Fresno State missed its first 10 shots, a couple on open layup attempts, and didn't score until Eddie Miller pulled up for a 3-pointer at the 14:49 mark.
While the Rainbows made 10 of their first 17 shots, the Bulldogs couldn't find the range in a 5-for-19 start and Hawaii led 25-12.
The Rainbows controlled the boards with a 27-10 rebounding advantage and added a 12-0 run late in the half to pull away from the Bulldogs, who made nine of 30 shots in the first half.
Fresno State ended up shooting 32 percent from the field and made eight of 25 3-point attempts.
"We worked the last two days on our defense, we hoped that we could go one-on-one and contain them enough times that we could stay out on their 3s," Wallace said.
The break did little to slow the Rainbows and they stretched the lead to 27 when Nash drained a 3-pointer to give UH a 56-29 lead at the 17:27 mark.
Fresno State wouldn't get back to within 20 until the final 2 minutes of the game.
Miller led the Bulldogs with 13 points off the bench, while forward Quinton Hosley and guard Kevin Bell added 12 points each.
Hawaii 83, Fresno State 66
Bulldogs (13-3, 2-1 WAC) |
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
McGuire |
1 |
8 |
7 |
10 |
31 |
6 |
2 |
9
|
Hosley |
3 |
12 |
6 |
7 |
28 |
8 |
2 |
12
|
Hernandez |
3 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
25 |
3 |
0 |
9
|
Bell |
5 |
7 |
1 |
2 |
30 |
2 |
2 |
12
|
Coleman |
2 |
9 |
1 |
3 |
29 |
4 |
2 |
6
|
Taylor |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
0
|
Riding |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
0
|
Miller |
5 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
22 |
3 |
0 |
13
|
Parker |
0 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
4
|
Blair |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
1 |
0 |
1
|
Cesar |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
|
Totals |
19 |
59 |
20 |
30 |
200 |
37 |
9 |
66 |
|
Rainbow Warriors (10-6, 1-2 WAC)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Owsley |
4 |
8 |
4 |
4 |
36 |
6 |
0 |
12
|
Nash |
6 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
31 |
3 |
1 |
14
|
Gueye |
4 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
14 |
8 |
3 |
10
|
Gibson |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
2 |
5 |
3
|
Lojeski |
4 |
7 |
4 |
6 |
27 |
4 |
6 |
13
|
Waters |
5 |
8 |
2 |
2 |
26 |
3 |
1 |
15
|
Jackson |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Luettgerodt |
5 |
10 |
1 |
2 |
20 |
3 |
1 |
11
|
Verwers |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
26 |
4 |
2 |
5
|
Follmer |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
7
|
Totals |
31 |
62 |
14 |
18 |
200 |
41 |
20 |
83 |
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 44, Fresno St. 24
3-point goals -- Fresno St. 8-25 (Hernandez 3-5, Miller 3-8, Bell 1-1, Coleman 1-4, Parker 0-1, McGuire 0-3, Hosley 0-3), Hawaii 7-19 (Waters 3-4, Nash 2-6, Gibson 1-3, Lojeski 1-4, Luettgerodt 0-2). Personal fouls -- Fresno St. 14, Hawaii 23.
Steals -- Fresno St. 6 (Bell 2, McGuire, Coleman, Miller, Blair), Hawaii 5 (Gueye, Gibson, Lojeski, Waters, Verwers). Blocked shots -- Fresno St. 4 (McGuire 3, Taylor), Hawaii 4 (Owsley, Gueye, Verwers). Turnovers -- Fresno St. 13 (McGuire 4, Hosley, Bell, Coleman, Miller, Blair, Hernandez), Hawaii 11 (Gueye 3, Verwers 3, Owsley, Lojeski, Waters, Jackson, Luettgerodt).
Officials -- Mark Reischling, Bob Staffen, Greg Burks. A-- 4,460.
WAC standings
|
WAC |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L
|
New Mexico State |
3 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
13 |
3
|
Nevada |
3 |
0 |
1.000 |
-- |
15 |
1
|
Fresno State |
2 |
1 |
.667 |
1 |
13 |
3
|
Boise State |
2 |
1 |
.667 |
1 |
8 |
6
|
Louisiana Tech |
2 |
1 |
.667 |
1 |
4 |
11
|
Hawaii |
1 |
2 |
.333 |
2 |
10 |
6
|
Utah State |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
2 1/2 |
11 |
5
|
Idaho |
0 |
3 |
.000 |
3 |
2 |
13
|
San Jose State |
0 |
3 |
.000 |
3 |
1 |
14 |
Yesterday
Hawaii 83, Fresno State 66
Boise State 82, Louisiana Tech 56
Nevada 72, San Jose State 63
New Mexico State 61, Idaho 56
Tomorrow
Nevada at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
Fresno State at San Jose State
New Mexico State at Boise State
Louisiana Tech at Utah State
Monday
Idaho at Utah State