RAINBOW BASKETBALL PLAYBOOK
Texas-El Paso Miners
Coaches: UTEP's Don Haskins (38th year, 715-349);Hawaii's Riley Wallace (12th year, 180-167)
Season: UTEP 12-8 (4-3 WAC); Hawaii 4-15 (1-5 WAC)
Top players: Sharif Fajardo, 6-9 senior center (14.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg); Brandon Wolfram, 6-9 sophomore forward (12.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg); William Smith, 6-2 junior forward (10.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg).
Interesting facts: Since UTEP beat Hawaii (66-53) in the WAC Pacific Division season opener at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, the Miners have gone 3-3, but that includes 67-49 home court upset of No. 17 New Mexico ... With seven games left on the schedule, Hawaii is two games out of sixth place ... Haskins is 10th on the all-time career coaching list ... UTEP leads the series with Hawaii, 27-11. The Miners are 10-7 in Hawaii.
Keys to the game: Fajardo has been hitting at 46.6 percent from the field ... 6-9 center Marquette Alexander leads Hawaii in scoring (12.9 ppg) and is second in rebounding (5.2 rpg) ... Hawaii is averaging 45.2 percent from the field as a team while UTEP is averaging 44.6 percent ... But Hawaii is averaging 17.9 turnovers per game ... Hawaii's record while leading at halftime is 4-6 ... Hawaii has been outrebounded in 15 of 19 games this season.
Tipoff: 7:07 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
On the air: Live on KFVE (Ch. 5) and KCCN (1420 AM) radio.
WAHINE BASKETBALL PLAYBOOK
Texas-El Paso Miners
Coaches: UTEP's Sandra Rushing (9th season, 106-129). UH, Vince Goo (12th season, 236-104).
Season: UTEP, 8-11 (2-5 WAC). UH, 12-7 (4-3 WAC).
Top players: Senior Kristi Lattin, 6-0 center, 14.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game; Senior Kim Daniel, 5-8 guard, 12.8 ppg; Senior DaTechia Specht, 6-1 forward, 7.8 rpg.
Interesting facts: UH's Raylene Howard continues to lead the WAC in field goal percentage (126-for-224, .563) ... UH leads the series, 2-0 ... UH has a three-game winning streak, UTEP a three-game losing streak ... Goo watched tape of recent UTEP at New Mexico game. "There were five bads calls against UTEP at the end. The Miners should have won," Goo said ... The Wahine are 40th nationally in attendance with an average of 1,886 per game.
Keys to the game: The Wahine raced to a 31-14 halftime lead, then held UTEP to one basket in the first five minutes of the second half in the first meeting in January ... Same scenario not likely in El Paso where the Miners are 5-1 (2-0 WAC) this season ... Wahine know falling behind early is a no no ... Looking ahead to the New Mexico game also is a no no ... Stopping Lattin and Daniel will be a priority ... Neither team shoots 3-pointers well. UH makes 31 percent, UTEP 28 percent ... The team with the better inside game and better rebounding, especially on the offensive boards, should prevail ... Wahine have a slight edge in free throw percentage, but did not shoot well from the charity stripe on Utah road trip.
Tipoff: 3 p.m., today, at the Don Haskins Center.
On the air: Live on KCCN radio (1420 AM).
RAINBOW BASEBALL PLAYBOOK
Cal State Sacramento Hornets
Coaches: CSS, John Smith (21st season, 608-509). UH, Les Murakami (29th season, 1,020-522-4).
Season: CSS, 1-1. UH, 6-0.
Probable starting pitchers: CSS, right-hander Pat Edwards (0-1, 9.00); right-hander Dustin Tubb (0-0, 40.50); left-hander Chad Elliott (1-0, 4.50). UH, left-hander Jamie Aloy (2-0, 2.03); left-hander Randon Ho (2-0, .000); left-hander Troy Yoshimasu (1-0, 3.38).
Top players: Shortstop Brandon Marshall (.444), hit .398 a year ago, had 99 hits, scored 70 runs and knocked in 52; outfielder Aurelio Jackson (.250), led team in stolen bases (12) a year ago; second baseman Jesse Krebs (.571); Elliott, earned CSS's win with four innings of three-hit, shutout relief last Saturday.
Interesting facts: UH leads the series, 23-10, and has defeated the Hornets six consecutive times ... CSS battled through the losers' bracket of the Big West Conference tournament last spring before losing title game to Long Beach State ... Hornets are a veteran team with five juniors and three seniors in the probable starting lineup ... UH's six consecutive wins over Pacific 10 teams to start the season surprised many followers ... The 1979 team won seven straight from Pacific 10 teams (six vs. Oregon State early in the season and one from Southern Cal late in the season before the Trojans broke the streak with an 11-inning, 9-8 victory.
Series keys: Hornet pitchers walked 12 in season-opening loss, then eight more in outslugging USF, 11-10, in 10 innings ... USF was successful on 10 of 11 steal attempts vs. CSS ... Rainbows have swiped 10 bases in 12 tries ... UH bullpen has yet to allow a run in 18 innings ... Wade Taguchi starts in place of injured Michael Dartt at second base for UH.
First pitch: Today, 6:35 p.m.; tomorrow, 6:35 p.m.; Saturday, 1:05 p.m.
On the air: Today, live on KCCN radio (1420 AM), tomorrow live on KHNL TV (Channel 5), KCCN, Saturday, live on KHNL and KCCN.
NCAA DIVISION II NOTEBOOK
Three teams from
Hawaii ranked
By Jerry Campany
Special to the Star-Bulletin
Hawaii bias? Not this time.
Three of Hawaii's four NCAA II men's tennis teams are ranked in the top 20 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's national preseason poll.
Hawaii Pacific is ranked No. 11, followed closely by Brigham Young-Hawaii at No. 13 and Hawaii-Hilo at No. 17. Chaminade is unranked.
"They have recognized the strength of the western region," Hawaii Pacific head coach Henry Sommerville said. "It is a great compliment, but it is only preseason."
The national championship tournament will be seeded regionally, meaning that Hawaii's three powerhouses will battle each other for a trip to the championships in Pomona, Calif. in May.
Sommerville is already counting on staying home for the regionals and looking at Turtle Bay as a sight to host if his team earns the right.
"The Hawaii teams are so good that I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be here," Sommerville said. "If we don't win it (the region), it almost has to be BYUH or Hilo."
Sommerville suggests that one reason why Hawaii is so strong in NCAA II tennis is the state's natural lure to international talent.
"International students want to come to Hawaii," Sommerville said. "The best players are international and Hawaii seems to have more of them than anyone else."
Only two of the top 30 players in Division II - and none of the top 10 - are from the United States.
Although the Seasiders are behind HPU in the rankings, their two top players reside in the top 15. Brigham Young's top player, Wei-Yu Su from Taiwan, begins the season ranked No. 7 after shocking HPU's Erik Sandblom in last season's regional championship. Sandblom, a Swede, dropped to No. 23.
Seasider second fiddle Toshi Matsui, from Japan, begins the season at No. 15 while Hilo's Carsten Eisenbarth, from Germany, is 27th.
BYUH WOMEN IN INDOORNATIONALS:Karin Ptaszek and Petra Gaspar will compete in doubles competition at the National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in Dallas, Texas, Feb. 4-7.
The Brigham Young-Hawaii duo earned a spot in the 16-team tournament by winning the National small college championships in October.
Gaspar will also compete in the singles tournament. The freshman from Hungary is on top of the NCAA II women's rankings in singles and teams up with Ptaszek to begin the season No. 1 in doubles.
The Seasider women are ranked second in the nation.
