The Hawaii men's basketball team had little chance on paper against UNLV last night, despite their two previous victories over the Rebels.
Seth Sundberg was gone and so was the team's depth. UNLV was playing its final home game of the season in front of 12,820 raucous fans at the Thomas and Mack Center.
And even the referees called a game that favored the home team, whistling the Rainbows for 28 fouls, compared to 13 for the Rebels -- and four UH players fouled out.
But when it was over, when the last drops of energy and emotion had been spilled in the 89-80 overtime loss last night, the disappointed but proud Rainbows made no excuses.
''We had our chances, but they played a great game,'' UH guard Alika Smith said in a broken voice, as he sat slumped in the visitors' lockerroom. ''They beat us fair and square. We played together and showed a lot of heart, but we just came up short.''
Smith scored 16 points and played all 45 minutes, despite a knee injury that will likely require arthroscopic surgery.
Anthony Carter finished his outstanding season with 12 points and a game-high nine assists before fouling out on a charging call with 3:35 left in overtime.
He also sat out about five minutes of the second half after picking up his fourth foul with 12:21 remaining.
''It was a tough loss, but we just have to deal with it,'' Carter said softly. ''It will take a little while to get over it. Now we have to keep it together to get ready for next year.''
The junior transfer, an honorable-mention All-American and WAC Pacific Division player of the year -- who continually fired up the team with his all-around game -- praised his teammates.
''We always do a lot of things together,'' he said. ''I'm really proud of this team.''
A bizarre sequence just before the first half ended resulted in a five-point swing that went in the Rebels' favor.
With 4.3 seconds left on the clock, Carter launched a long 3-pointer that swished, but it was waved off after he was called for traveling.
Then the longest four seconds of the season allowed UNLV to get off three shots, the last a tip-in by Damian Smith dropping through to give the Rebels a 44-43 halftime lead.
UH head coach Riley Wallace exploded and TV replays looked like the game clock was started a second late.
Wallace, however, refused to use the late first-half episode or his team's foul trouble as excuses.
''That didn't beat us.'' Wallace said. ''We have no excuses of any kind.''
The game see-sawed back and forth in the second half, despite the foul trouble.
Carter, Eric Ambrozich, Micah Kroeger and Danny Furlong fouled out of the game.
Ambrozich broke out of a shooting slump to score a team-high 22 points, along with 10 rebounds.
''It was a tough game,'' said the junior forward. ''But we played hard and just came up short.''
Ambrozich also paid tribute to his teammates.
''It's a great bunch of guys,'' he said. ''Everybody stays together. Everybody likes each other a lot.''
Micah Kroeger, who played 44 minutes on a bad knee that will also have to be repaired in the off-season, scored eight points, with eight rebounds and five assists.
''I think it will only hurt for a little while,'' said Kroeger, as he gingerly unwrapped the thick layers of bandages from his swollen knee.''Once this little period of hurt is over, the whole big picture will look a lot better.
''Staying in this game didn't surprise me because we've been doing it all year. No one in this locker room is surprised.''
The Rainbows shot 53.1 percent (33-for-57) from the floor -- compared to UNLV's 42 percent (26-for-62).
UH held its own on the boards against the bigger Rebels, with UNLV grabbing 39 rebounds to the Rainbows' 37.
Hawaii did turn the ball over more, though, by a 20-12 margin.
UNLV head coach Bill Bayno said he was impressed by both teams. The Rebels improved to 22-9 by beating UH for the first time in three tries this season.
The Rebels will advance to the third game of the NIT at Arkansas tomorrow, with a trip to the NIT Final Four in New York City on the line.
''I knew this was going to be another war,'' Bayno said. ''Hawaii is a tough team and they have nothing to be ashamed of. I knew they weren't going to give up, but I'm glad my kids found a way to win it.
''They're a great team and Riley has done a tremendous job. They are a team that Honolulu can be proud of and I hate to have to play them twice next year.''
UNLV outscored Hawaii, 13-4, in overtime as the Rainbows ran out of scholarship players and put walk-on Luke Meyers in the lineup to play out the final seconds of OT.
Backup forward Greg Miller also played 11 minutes and Ales Zivanovic was pressed into service late in the game.
''I don't know how we kept it close, especially with the foul trouble,'' said volunteer assistant Len Scaduto, a longtime basketball coaching veteran. ''It's a real tribute to these kids.''
Kroeger summed it up: ''We never give up. We keep going every single game. We never quit all year. Never.''
Nevada-Las Vegas 89, Hawaii 80 Rainbows (21-8)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Kroeger 44 4 8 0 0 8 5 8 Ambrozich 36 9 16 4 6 10 5 22 Furlong 31 4 7 0 0 8 5 8 A.Smith 45 7 13 1 1 1 3 16 Carter 34 5 9 0 0 0 5 12 Robinson 24 3 8 2 2 5 3 8 Zivanovic 0+ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Miller 11 2 3 2 2 1 2 6 Meyers 0+ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 Totals 225 34 64 9 11 37 28 80
Runnin' Rebels (22-9)
mp fgm fga ftm fta reb pf tp Nesby 44 8 21 5 6 4 1 26 Rosegreen 35 3 5 6 8 8 2 12 Lane 20 1 3 1 1 3 2 3 Dickel 24 1 3 0 2 2 2 3 J.Smith 32 4 11 4 6 3 0 13 James 27 0 3 0 0 2 1 0 Clark 29 8 16 6 13 15 4 22 D.Smith 14 4 7 0 0 2 1 10 Team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 225 29 69 22 36 39 13 89Key: mp-minutes played. fgm-field goals made. fga-field goals attempted. ftm-free throws made. fta-free throws attempted. reb-rebounds. pf-personal fouls. pts-points scored.
Halftime score--Nevada-Las Vegas 44. Hawaii 43.
3-point goals--UH 3-8 (Carter 2-3, A. Smith 1-3, Kroeger 0-2), UNLV 9-22 (Nesby 5-9, D. Smith 2-4, Dickel 1-1, J. Smith 1-5, James 0-1, Clark 0-2).
Assists--UH 24 (Carter 9), UNLV 20 (James 8). Turnovers--UH 20, UNLV 12. Steals--UH 6 (Kroeger 2), UNLV 6 (James, J. Smith 2). Blocked shots--UH 2 (Ambrozich 2), UNLV 5 (Clark 3).
A--12,820. Officials: McJunkin, Scyphers, Scott.
Florida St. 68, Michigan St. 63Florida St.: Thompson 2-8 3-4 9, Jackson 6-10 4-8 16, Greer 4-9 1-4 11, Collins 2-6 2-3 7, Luchman 4-6 3-3 11, Hale 0-1 2-2 2, Deas 1-3 0-0 2, Brower 1-2 0-0 3, Louis 2-2 3-4 7. Totals 22-47 18-28 68.
Halftime--Michigan St. 39, Florida St. 38.
3-point goals--MSU 5-16 (Weathers 4-9, Kelley 1-4, Cleaves 0-3), FSU 6-16 (Greer 2-3, Thompson 2-5, Brower 1-2, Collins 1-5, Deas 0-1). Fouled out--Cleaves. Rebounds--MSU 33 (Smith 8), FSU 32 (Jackson 11). Assists--MSU 8 (Cleaves 3), FSU 12 (Thompson 7). Total fouls--MSU 22, FSU 16. A--6,362.
West Virginia 76, No. Carolina St. 73North Carolina St.: Strong 8-17 0-2 20, Benjamin 5-12 1-4 13, Gainey 4-8 0-0 10, Hyatt 3-9 1-2 7, Harrison 8-16 3-3 23, Buffum 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-62 5-11 73.
Halftime--West Virginia 33, No. Carolina St. 32.
3-point goals--WVU 4-13 (Jefferson 4-9, West 0-1, Jones 0-1, Owens 0-2), NCSU 12-34 (Harrison 4-8, Strong 4-13, Gainey 2-4, Benjamin 2-7, Hyatt 0-2). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--WVU 41 (Owens 11), NCSU 25 (Strong 8). Assists--WVU 19 (Jefferson 7), NCSU 18 (Hyatt 7). Total Fouls--WVU 11, NCSU 15. A--12,400.
Arkansas 76, Pittsburgh 71Arkansas: Alexander 4-8 3-4 11, Hood 6-10 1-2 13, Davis 2-7 3-5 7, Reid 6-11 1-4 15, Bradley 4-8 1-2 12, Wallace 2-8 2-2 8, Thompson 3-11 3-6 9, Williams 0-0 1-2 1, Walker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-63 15-27 76.
Halftime--Arkansas 31, Pittsburgh 27.
3-point goals--Pittsburgh 4-15 (Maile 3-10, Taylor 1-3, Cummings 0-2), Arkansas 7-17 (Bradley 3-5, Reid 2-3, Wallace 2-7, Alexander 0-2). Fouled Out--Cummings, Hood. Rebounds--Pittsburgh 38 (Jordan 13), Arkansas 36 (Davis 8). Assists--Pittsburgh 15 (Cummings, Maile 4), Arkansas 17 (Reid 10). Total fouls--Pittsburgh 25, Arkansas 17. A--17,068.