Thursday, February 11, 1999

’Bows fall

The UH men have little
hope now of reaching the WAC
basketball tournament

Star-Bulletin staff

PROVO, Utah -- The wheels finally came off Hawaii's rickety basketball wagon last night with an 81-68 loss to Brigham Young.

The seventh-place Rainbows are now 5-17 overall and 2-8 in the Western Athletic Conference Pacific Division.

Sixth-place BYU (9-12, 4-5) opened with a 17-5 run and the Cougars led, 41-21, at the half.

Asked if he holds any more hope of his team making it into sixth place and the WAC tournament next month, coach Riley Wallace replied, ''There's not much chance."

The fatal loss follows by five days Hawaii's stunning 72-68 OT win at home over nationally ranked New Mexico.

It's the worst season for Wallace since his first season at the helm in Manoa (1987-88), when he went 4-25.

''Now, it's just for pride,'' said Wallace.

''We're going up the road to Utah (19-4, 9-0), the 14th ranked team in the country, the best defense in the WAC, and they just won by 46 or 48 tonight (86-38 over San Diego State yesterday). Somewhere along the line, you have to get ready to play 40 minutes of basketball."

Wallace said the defense has kept Hawaii in many games, but that wasn't the case last night.

''The defense went down in the first half and there was absolutely no offense,'' he said.

Mike Robinson was 1-for-7 in the first half and 6-for-9 in the second half. He had 20 points.

Asked if renewal of any current scholarships hinge on performances in Hawaii's remaining four games, Wallace said, ''No, you can't put that against these kids."

Wallace repeated that he has enjoyed coaching this team because he likes the character of the players.

''They worked for me -- they worked hard," he said. ''It's just that we're short on ability in areas we had to have. We just misjudged recruiting. You've got to be able to score points."

Assistant coach Jackson Wheeler has been on the mainland recruiting and Wallace said he will join him as soon as the season ends.

Brigham Young 81, Hawaii 68

At Provo, Utah

Rainbows (5-17 overall; 2-8 WAC)

		mp	fgm	fga	ftm	fta	reb	pf	tp
M. Robinson	32	7	16	5	7	5	4	20
Czernin		16	2	2	4	4	4	3	8
Galloway	15	1	2	0	0	2	1	2
White		40	6	10	0	2	1	3	12
Cartwright	21	2	3	0	0	1	5	4
McIntyre	21	0	4	2	2	0	2	2
Gillman		22	3	3	1	3	4	4	7
Alexander	33	5	9	3	4	8	4	13
	Team						2
	Totals	200	26	49	15	22	27	26	68

Cougars (9-12 overall; 4-5 WAC)

		mp	fgm	fga	ftm	fta	reb	pf	tp
Wesley		29	5	12	2	2	6	1	13
Rivers		36	6	13	6	13	9	4	18
Bigelow		28	2	6	5	5	7	2	9
Christensen	22	4	7	2	2	1	3	13
Dignan		24	1	4	6	6	4	3	8
Vranes		15	3	7	0	0	0	2	8
Bower		4	1	2	0	0	0	0	3
Chappell	9	0	1	0	0	2	0	0
Hawkins		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cooper		18	2	4	5	6	3	4	9
Michaelis	9	0	1	0	0	1	1	0
Jepsen		5	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
	Team						4
	Totals	200	24	58	26	34	38	20	81

Key: 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--BYU 41, UH 21.

3-point goals--UH 1-8 (M. Robinson 1-3, White 0-1, Cartwright 0-1, McIntyre 0-3, BYU 7-16 (Christensen 3-6, Vranes 2-3, Wesley 1-1, Bower 1-2, Bigelow 0-2, Dignan 0-2).

Assists--UH 14 (Gillman 6), BYU 13 (Dignan 3, Chappell 3). Turnovers--UH 14 (White 5, Alexander 5), BYU 11 (Cooper 3). Steals--UH 7 (White 3), BYU 8 (Cooper 3). Blocked shots--UH 5 (M. Robinson 2), BYU 1 (Rivers 1).

Technical--Cartwright.

A--6,513. Officials: Ruischling, Staffen, Ristau.