ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hawaii's P.J. Owsley, Jared Dillinger, Bill Amis and Gary Satterwhite watched the final seconds of yesterday's loss.
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Rainbows done in by Broncos
LAS CRUCES, N.M. » Before packing up the gear one final time, the Hawaii basketball team took one last shot at beating the odds.
But another gritty effort yesterday couldn't overcome a sterling shooting performance by Boise State in the second half and the Rainbow Warriors ended the season with an 80-74 loss to the Broncos in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament at the Pan American Center.
The Rainbows -- who fell behind by wide margins in their first two meetings with the Broncos this season -- led early and gamely stuck around after BSU charged ahead after halftime. But they eventually fell to their seventh straight loss to end a season that often tested the Rainbows' resolve.
"I don't think there's any team in the country that has had as many adverse situations as we've had with travel, injury all those things," Bob Nash said after completing his first season as UH head coach at 11-19. "But these guys never quit on me all year long. That's what I'll take away from this group."
In a final bit of pregame misfortune, guard Matt Gibson missed Wednesday's practice due to a case of food poisoning. After spending most of the day in bed, he came back to finish his career with 17 points against the Broncos. Riley Luettgerodt also posted 17 points and Jared Dillinger hit four 3-pointers to add 14.
But it wasn't enough for Hawaii to avoid its fifth straight loss in the WAC tournament quarterfinals.
"Even though we lost this game I thought we showed that as a team we stick together and fight together all the way through," Gibson said.
The Rainbows held Boise State -- which entered the tournament second in the country in shooting -- to a 6-for-18 performance in the first half and harried the Broncos into 15 turnovers to take a 35-27 lead into halftime.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hawaii's Matt Gibson tried to drive past Boise State's Anthony Thomas during the first half of the Broncos' 80-74 win in the WAC tournament quarterfinals.
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But the Broncos came back to hit 15 of 19 attempts in the second half, with forward Reggie Larry scoring 16 of his game-high 26 points after the break.
Boise State had just one field goal in the final 4:30, but went 16-for-18 from the free-throw line down the stretch to finally fend off the Rainbows.
"I thought our guys followed the game plan, we forced turnovers, we were in position to pick up loose balls, did everything we needed to do," Nash said. "Unfortunately, they play two halves and in the second we gave them too many opportunities without pressure."
Hawaii opened up a nine-point lead in the first half only to see Boise State bolt ahead with an 18-5 run to open the second half. The Rainbows hung close, tying the game four times, the last two times on Dillinger 3-pointers.
But the Broncos took the lead for good, 62-60, when Larry dropped in a short jumper while being fouled with 4:32 left.
The Rainbows, meanwhile, went a span of 4:29 without a field goal and saw Boise State inexorably inch away from the foul line.
"I thought our guys dug in in the second half and played a lot better," BSU coach Greg Graham said. "We got our shots and we made big stops when we needed to down the stretch."
Larry hit two 3-pointers, but did most of his damage in the paint, as did center Matt Nelson, who scored all 10 of his points in the second half.
"I'm sure they made the effort to go inside, that's their strength," Nash said. "Larry's a great player and he was able to get the ball in the post where he's got either a basket or he's going to get a foul. I thought that was a good adjustment that they made in the second half."
Hawaii converted the 15 first-half takeaways into 16 points. Boise State gave the ball away just seven times after the break in an efficient display on offense.
"In transition, they look to throw it ahead and throw inside and we did a good job of covering that in the first half," Gibson said. "They kind of slowed it down in setting their offense and set some screens and they really worked to try to get the ball inside, they were more patient."
The loss marked the end of an arduous road for seven Hawaii seniors as the Rainbows were left to look ahead to the trip home and next season.
"I had to say goodbye to seven quality individuals in our locker room," Nash said. "I had to say goodbye to some real good people over there, and we have to go out and reload now."
Boise State 80, Hawaii 74
Rainbow Warriors (11-19, 7-9 WAC)
|
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
a |
to |
min
|
Nash |
1-4 |
5-5 |
4 |
3 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
25
|
Amis |
5-7 |
0-0 |
2 |
5 |
10 |
1 |
0 |
24
|
Gibson |
5-12 |
5-7 |
5 |
3 |
17 |
1 |
2 |
30
|
Dillinger |
5-12 |
0-1 |
1 |
5 |
14 |
3 |
3 |
33
|
Luettgerodt |
6-16 |
3-3 |
6 |
4 |
17 |
4 |
3 |
40
|
Nitoto |
0-4 |
1-2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
16
|
Campbell |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
Mayen |
0-0 |
2-2 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
7
|
Owsley |
2-6 |
2-2 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
23
|
Veit |
0-1 |
0-0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1
|
TEAM |
|
|
2
|
Totals |
24-62 |
18-22 |
27 |
30 |
74 |
12 |
12 |
200 |
|
Broncos (23-8, 12-4 WAC)
|
fg-a |
ft-a |
rb |
pf |
pts |
a |
to |
min
|
Tiedeman |
2-5 |
8-8 |
3 |
4 |
14 |
4 |
0 |
23
|
Nelson |
3-6 |
4-6 |
3 |
3 |
10 |
2 |
3 |
26
|
Larry |
8-16 |
8-12 |
9 |
1 |
26 |
2 |
4 |
37
|
Thomas |
2-2 |
0-0 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
8 |
28
|
Bauscher |
2-2 |
3-5 |
4 |
1 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
34
|
Greene |
2-3 |
0-0 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
14
|
Garner |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2
|
Noonan |
1-1 |
6-7 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
18
|
Sanchez |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10
|
Cunningham |
1-2 |
0-0 |
7 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
8
|
TEAM |
|
|
5
|
Totals |
21-37 |
29-38 |
37 |
19 |
80 |
14 |
22 |
200 |
|
Key -- fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fould; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime -- Hawaii 35, Boise State 27
3-point goals -- Hawaii 8-26 (Dillinger 4-9, Luettgerodt 2-6, Gibson 2-7, Amis 0-1, Nitoto 0-1, Nash 0-2), Boise State 9-14 (Bauscher 2-2, Greene 2-3, Tiedeman 2-4, Larry 2-4, Thomas 1-1).
Steals -- Hawaii 6 (Gibson 2, Nash, Amis, Nitoto, Owsley), Boise State 1 (Nelson). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 1 (Nash), Boise State 2 (Larry, Cunningham).
Officials -- Winston Stith, Shawn Lehigh, Brian Sorenson.