Wallace may have 1 last UH run left

OK, now I believe it. This really is the last season. It's true. The torch has been passed.

Rather, the jacket has been passed.

There was Hawaii's Riley Wallace, at the end of Saturday's nail-biter/heist at Nevada, somehow still calm. Still focused. OK, what can we do now?

There was young Nevada coach Mark Fox, losing it. Losing his jacket. Losing his mind. Did that look familiar to anyone? As Frank Costanza might say, "That's my move!"

Losing the jacket. That's a pretty good move.

At least it seemed to be Saturday, when game officials took what was estimated to be 5 minutes to come up with a stunning reversal of fortune, backtracking, taking Rainbow points off the board (without putting precious seconds back on).

Was it robbery? Well, anytime things go down the way they did that day, you leave yourself open to that interpretation. You can see the point that the officials and Fox were making, that in the end the final call was the right one. It was -- kind of. It was also revisionist history. (Does anyone believe their final call that the call they originally called was in fact that no-call that they at first refused to call? Hold on, I gotta lie down.)

And the way it all unfolded?

Ahem.

By my count I've got four things that were at least questionable about those last 8 seconds. The conspiracy theorists might have more.

But that's not the point. The point was there was no pout. Fox tossed his coat, but through it all and afterward, Wallace kept his cool. OK, what happened happened -- what can we do now?

And, yes, losing the jacket. That was a pretty good move. The tantrum worked, in the short term.

We could have expected the old Wallace to have lost it, but he's passed that torch, this is a 20-year man. He's been through those battles.

The biggest thing about that game, it turns out, wasn't the series of unfortunate events. It was that the Rainbows can play with anyone in the conference, can beat them all. It's a revelation. We saw it. They lived it.

Everyone knows it now.

What matters most is not what happened, but how Hawaii handles it. What matters most is what the Rainbows do next.

Wallace's reaction was perfect, toward that point.

Fox can have the jacket thing. After a loss like that this Hawaii team needs a different style. That Nevada game showed us this -- these 'Bows could actually win the WAC tournament. They just might. Wallace may have one last run in him yet.

Now that would be a heck of a move.

Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com