RAINBOW BASKETBALL
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Matt Lojeski of Hawaii drove to the hoop against Lance Holloway of San Jose State last night. Lojeski finished with a team-high 13 points.
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Rainbows take frustrations out on Spartans
Hawaii shakes off illness and its recent record to blow out San Jose State
Hawaii vented the frustrations pent up over a three-game losing streak on San Jose State last night in blitzing the Spartans 72-52 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Next Up vs. Utah State on Monday
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Both the Rainbow Warriors and Spartans had been involved in several tight finishes in recent games, but any potential drama disappeared early last night as Hawaii raced to a 30-point lead and cruised to the Western Athletic Conference win before a crowd of 3,719.
"It was a good overall effort against a team I was fearful of because they'd played people really tough," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "It was a good win for us and a much-needed one."
Wallace had missed the previous two days of practice with the flu and the Rainbows (11-9 overall, 2-5 WAC) made it an easy night on him in earning their eighth straight win over San Jose State (2-17, 1-6) in their return from a rough road trip.
"It's nice to get a win like that," UH guard Matt Gibson said. "Coming back home makes us feel good, warm weather makes us feel good."
Matt Lojeski led four Rainbows in double figures with 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Gibson finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, while P.J. Owsley and Bobby Nash contributed 10 points each.
Wallace said he was still feeling the effects of the flu last night, and credited UH associate coach Bob Nash for getting the team ready while he was stuck in bed.
"He did a good job preparing them," Wallace said.
"I was in bed for 36 hours, so it takes the energy out of you. I'm proud of my guys and my coaches. Everybody did a good job and I appreciate that."
Hawaii pounced on a frigid shooting performance by the Spartans to take a 38-8 lead in the first half. SJSU made six of 31 attempts in the first half and ended the game shooting a season-low 26.6 percent from the field.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Carlton Spencer of San Jose State put pressure on Matt Lojeski of Hawaii after Lojeski came up with a loose ball during last night's WAC game at the Stan Sheriff Center.
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With the Spartans misfiring from the field, Hawaii center Stephen Verwers established a career high with 11 first-half rebounds and finished with 13. Ahmet Gueye posted nine points and 13 boards.
As a team, the Rainbows grabbed a season-high 53 rebounds to the Spartans' 34.
"It's really a point of pride for us to outrebound a team," Verwers said.
San Jose State made just three of its first 27 shots from the field, going about 9 minutes without a score in the first half. After the Spartans closed to 14-8 on a steal and layup by Julian Richardson, Hawaii scored the game's next 24 points.
The Rainbows' run nearly matched a 25-0 opening spurt against Oregon State back in November.
"It started with our defense," Gibson said. "In the first half we played real good help, rotation defense and I think it threw them off a little bit. And when we get to running and fast breaking the game is fun. It's fun to play, it's fun to watch."
A dunk by SJSU center Menelik Barbary at the 2:23 mark of the first half finally ended the run, drawing a cheer from the Sheriff Center crowd, and Hawaii led 40-15 at halftime. SJSU's first-half total was the fewest allowed by UH this season.
"I thought their defense was excellent," SJSU coach George Nessman said. "There's not much chance of winning a basketball game when you miss 24 of your first 27 shots. More than half of them were pretty good looks, we just didn't knock them down and it was game over."
Hawaii stretched the lead to 33 in the second half, going up 57-24 when Dominic Waters hit a 3-pointer off a feed from Gibson at the 9:54 mark.
San Jose State suddenly got hot from outside and chopped into the UH lead with a 16-0 run. Carlton Spencer, SJSU's leading scorer entering the game, hit three of the Spartans' four 3-pointers and accounted for 11 points in the run.
After the Spartans got to within 15 with 3:58 left, Hawaii outscored them 11-1 and cleared the bench in the final minutes.
Spencer and Barbary led San Jose State with 15 points each.
Hawaii closes its homestand on Monday against Utah State at the Sheriff Center.
WAC Standings
|
WAC |
Overall
|
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L
|
Nevada |
6 |
1 |
.857 |
-- |
18 |
2
|
New Mexico State |
6 |
1 |
.857 |
-- |
16 |
4
|
Utah State |
4 |
2 |
.667 |
1 1/2 |
15 |
5
|
Boise State |
4 |
3 |
.571 |
2 |
10 |
8
|
Louisiana Tech |
4 |
3 |
.571 |
2 |
6 |
13
|
Fresno State |
3 |
4 |
.429 |
3 |
14 |
6
|
Hawaii |
2 |
5 |
.286 |
4 |
11 |
9
|
Idaho |
1 |
6 |
.143 |
5 |
3 |
16
|
San Jose State |
1 |
6 |
.143 |
5 |
2 |
17 |
Yesterday
Hawaii 72, San Jose State 52
Boise State 65, Fresno State 61
Nevada 84, Louisiana Tech 67
Saturday
Boise State at Idaho
Louisiana Tech at Fresno State
Utah State at Nevada
New Mexico State at San Jose State
Monday
Utah State at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
Hawaii 72, San Jose State 52
Spartans (2-17, 1-6 WAC)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Halloway |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
32 |
7 |
0 |
2
|
Barbary |
5 |
13 |
5 |
13 |
37 |
9 |
1 |
15
|
Buggs |
0 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
23 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
Spencer |
5 |
18 |
2 |
2 |
37 |
2 |
2 |
15
|
Hill |
1 |
14 |
3 |
4 |
29 |
4 |
0 |
5
|
Richardson |
4 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
17 |
4 |
4 |
9
|
Garbutt |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Goins |
2 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
6
|
Thomas |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
Smith |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
Totals |
17 |
64 |
12 |
23 |
200 |
34 |
8 |
52 |
|
Rainbow Warriors (11-9, 2-5 WAC)
|
|
fg |
fga |
ft |
fta |
min |
reb |
a |
tp
|
Owsley |
5 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
29 |
3 |
2 |
10
|
Nash |
4 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
21 |
4 |
5 |
10
|
Gueye |
4 |
9 |
1 |
2 |
21 |
13 |
2 |
9 |
|
Gibson |
4 |
9 |
4 |
4 |
32 |
9 |
2 |
12
|
Lojeski |
6 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
30 |
4 |
3 |
13
|
Lowenthal |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Waters |
3 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
0 |
1 |
9
|
Jackson |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Dillinger |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Luettgerodt |
1 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
19 |
2 |
1 |
2
|
Verwers |
3 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
20 |
13 |
3 |
6
|
Follmer |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Veit |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0
|
TEAM |
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
Totals |
30 |
64 |
7 |
11 |
200 |
53 |
19 |
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 -- Hawaii 40, San Jose St. 15
3-point goals -- San Jose St. 6-16 (Spencer 3-5, Goins 2-3, Richardson 1-1, Buggs 0-2, Hill 0-5), Hawaii 5-20 (Waters 3-5, Lojeski 1-3, Nash 1-4, Jackson 0-1, Dillinger 0-1, Gibson 0-3, Luettgerodt 0-3). Personal fouls -- San Jose St. 16, Hawaii 18. Fouled out -- Spencer.
Steals -- San Jose St. 11 (Spencer 5, Richardson 2, Barbary, Buggs, Hill, Thomas), Hawaii 7 (Lojeski 3, Gibson 2, Gueye, Luettgerodt). Blocked shots -- San Jose St. 0, Hawaii 4 (Gueye 2, Gibson, Lojeski). Turnovers -- San Jose St. 12 (Goins 3, Spencer 3, Barbary, Buggs, Hill, Richardson, Thomas, Smith), Hawaii 19 (Gueye 5, Waters 4, Owsley 3, Gibson 3, Nash 2, Lojeski, Lowenthal).
Officials -- Terry Christman, Michael Irving, Frank Harvey III. A-- 5,938.