Monday, January 25, 1999
’Bows finally finish
By Pat Bigold
what they start
Star-BulletinHawaii coach Riley Wallace would love to keep his basketball team home this week after Saturday's slump-ending win at the Stan Sheriff Center.
But alas, the road beckons again. The Rainbows (1-4 WAC, 4-13 overall) must play at San Jose State (9-9, 2-3 WAC) on Thursday and at Fresno State (13-6, 3-1 WAC) in a nationally televised game (ESPN2) on Saturday.
Hawaii finally managed to put together 40 minutes of cohesive basketball in an emphatic 87-67 weekend win against the only team with a worse record in the Western Athletic Conference's Pacific Division, San Diego State (2-15, 0-5 WAC).
"I think they (the Rainbows) were talking to themselves," Wallace said. "I think they were tired of (losing). They just went out and attacked the zone like I told them and shot the ball."
The Rainbows did it with a stunning 50 percent shooting from 3-point range (they had been averaging 31 percent).
They also got career highs from senior guard Casey Cartwright (22 points, 5 treys), junior point guard Johnny White (12 assists), senior center Bryan Moeller (10 rebounds), and freshman guard Mike McIntyre (3 treys, 3 steals).
Moeller, who played a career-high 25 minutes, has earned more playing time, Wallace said.
Wallace said he reviewed the tape of starting center Marquette Alexander's elbow to the head of Aztec freshman guard Jeffrey Berokoff in the second half and found it was not as flagrant a foul as it was called.
Alexander, who'd also received a technical in the first half, was ejected from the game with eight minutes left.
Wallace said he was encouraged by McIntyre's performance.
"He's young, but he's our best shooter and he's probably our best one-on-one defender," he said.
Wallace said the Rainbows still need to work on getting to the free throw line more often. San Diego State shot 26 free throws Saturday to just seven for Hawaii.
The blame doesn't lie with the refs, Wallace said.
"Most teams we play put the ball on the floor and break you down, one on one," he said. "We don't do a lot of that. We don't have the slashing, penetrating perimeter people. And our post-up guys are jump-shooters. We just don't initiate enough contact to get the calls."
But Wallace said he's happy with the starting lineup he's been using: White at point guard, Cartwright at shooting guard, Alexander at center, Philipp Czernin at small forward and Mike Robinson at strong forward.
He said 6-8 senior forward Erin Galloway continues to battle the flu and is still not ready to play.
"Galloway is really hurting," said Wallace. "He's pretty weak, and he's lost a lot of weight. We'll see what happens this week."
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