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RAINBOW BASKETBALL

Hawaii’s foes have
been tough

With Oregon (15-3) finally cracking the Associated Press Top 25 at No. 23, Hawaii can now lay claim to having played three teams that have been in the polls this season.

Hawaii beat Oregon, 66-63, on Dec. 30 to win the Rainbow Classic title. The Rainbows (14-5, 3-3 Western Athletic Conference) lost to Tulsa (No. 17 AP, No. 16 ESPN/USA Today) on Jan. 22 and lost to USC, which fell out of the AP poll this week, on Dec. 8.

"Oregon should've been in there before," said Hawaii coach Riley Wallace.

The quality of Hawaii's homecourt loss to Bowling Green on Nov. 21 is also looking better as the Falcons lead the Mid American Conference and sport a 15-4 record.

The combined record of the teams that have beaten Hawaii is now 75-24.

The Rainbows, picked to finish seventh, are currently fourth in the WAC.

Hawaii in the RPIs

In duplicated versions of the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), CNN/SI has Hawaii 80th, while CollegeRPI.com has the Rainbows 79th.

The NCAA uses the RPI to decide which 64 teams make it into the Big Dance. It is arrived at by combining Division I winning percentage (25 percent), schedule strength (50 percent) and opponents' schedule strength (25 percent). The NCAA does not release its official RPI.

But the Sagarin Rating, which uses a formula that differs somewhat from the RPI, has Hawaii down at 96th.

Rebounding woes

Hawaii has outrebounded opponents 10 times in 19 games. But the Rainbows have been outrebounded in six of their last seven.

Even in Saturday's 84-75 overtime homecourt win over San Jose State, the Rainbows lost the glass, 31-30.

"We shoot the ball well (47 percent, third in the WAC) and that helps a little, but it would be easier if we were a better rebounding team," said Wallace.

He said the problem is the 1999-2000 team just isn't blessed with natural rebounding talent.

"There's no true leaper on this team. We'd have to execute our defense on the boards by boxing out, reacting, working as a team. All five have never gotten that mentality at the same time even though it's taught every day.

"Savo (Predrag Savovic) and Nerijus (Puida) aren't jumpers. They have to play smart and box out. Johnny (White) has never gone to the boards and gotten any as a point guard, which some guards do. Troy (Ostler) is a guy who can get boards if they come near him, but he doesn't go up and get them.

"Marquette (Alexander) is the only guy with big-time rebounding potential, but he has to concentrate to get it done. He got 10 the other night because he wanted it."

Status quo on defense

Wallace said he won't make any changes in defensive assignments against Texas-El Paso (11-8, 2-4 WAC) here on Thursday night.

The Miners beat Hawaii in El Paso, 95-83, on Jan. 8.

The 6-8 Alexander will once again guard 6-9 Brandon Wolfram, the WAC's leading scorer (20.3 points per game), who got 23 points against him last month. White will take on point guard Eggie McRae, who got 23 points against him (17 in the second half).

Ostler will try again to contain surprising 6-6 freshman, Roy Smallwood, who had 18 points. Puida will match up against guard Jarvis Mullahon, who had 16 points.

And Savovic, who's done well with most of his assignments this season, will get another chance to harass guard William Smith. Smith, UTEP's second leading scorer (14.5 points per game), had only seven points against Hawaii.

Letdown against UTEP

Hawaii had a 19-11 lead on the Miners in the road loss but fell behind with eight minutes to go in the first half and never recovered.

"We had too many help situations where we didn't get back and cover, we let them penetrate the seams too much and then we'd reach out and foul the point guard (McRae) and he made like 10 or 11 free throws," said Wallace.

UTEP got 18 points off Hawaii's 16 turnovers and the Rainbows shot themselves in the foot at the line (16-for-25).

Tulsa tamed

Fresno State (14-7, 4-1 WAC) cooled off visiting Tulsa Saturday night, ending the Golden Hurricane's 13-game win streak. Is Wallace worried that the Bulldogs, who will be in town to play his Rainbows on Saturday, will be on a roll?

"Actually, I was thinking they might be a little lax going into San Jose State (Thursday) and San Jose State can beat them like they did a year ago," he said. Wallace said how well the Bulldogs play at the Spartans' arena will tell a lot about how good a team they are this season.

McIntyre works at 3s

Sophomore guard Mike McIntyre, who is fourth in the WAC in 3-point percentage (just under 47 percent), spends up to an hour each day after practice shooting, shooting and shooting some more.

"It's all repetition," said McIntyre. "You have to think you're going to make it every time you shoot it and you have to be ready to shoot it."

McIntyre said stability and strength are critical to hitting the 3-pointer.

"You can't be too loose," he said. "I have kind of a stiff body makeup so that helps. And weightlifting is very important. It helps me because it conditions my body."

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By Pat Bigold, Star-Bulletin