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RAINBOW BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

Tough Tulsa next for UH

Hawaii faces its biggest homecourt challenge of the season tonight in the midst of a three-game losing streak.

Will the Rainbows' slump extend to four games or will Hawaii rally to stage the kind of upset last season's 6-20 team pulled here against New Mexico in the month of February?

A surprise victory over nationally ranked Western Athletic Conference-leading Tulsa would restore hope for a post-season berth in the National Invitation Tournament.

The Rainbows (15-8, 4-6 WAC) have won 13 of their last 15 games at the Stan Sheriff Center, including a 66-63 Rainbow Classic win over Oregon. The Ducks, who lost to Riley Wallace's team after having beaten Gonzaga and Wake Forest on consecutive nights, went on to be nationally ranked.

Those facts have not eluded Tulsa head coach Bill Self, whose Golden Hurricane whipped Hawaii, 100-78, at Tulsa on Jan. 22.

Tulsa (23-2, 8-1 WAC) is now ranked No. 13 in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls.

It's not easy traveling across four time zones from Oklahoma to Hawaii and it's never easy to play in front of the Rainbows' home crowd within the intimate confines of the SSC.

"My biggest concern is not the travel," said Self. "It's that we're playing a team that has been really good, especially on their home floor. But we have no excuses, we came out here on Tuesday. We rested and we should be acclimated for the most part."

On Feb. 6, 1999 at the Stan Sheriff Center, Hawaii upset New Mexico, then ranked No. 17 in the AP poll and No. 18 in the coaches' poll. Mike McIntyre led the way that night with 19 points.

Defense lacking

Nerijus Puida said yesterday he doesn't think the Rainbows have played really good team defense since the Rainbow Classic.

"About 70 percent of practice the last three days has been spent on defense," said the 6-foot-6 junior small forward from Lithuania.

"The coaches say we can score against anybody in the nation but we have to play defense. If we do, then we can win this game."

The Rainbows cut an 11-point Tulsa lead in the second half to two points on a steal and layup by Puida, but the Golden Hurricane pulled away with a 13-3 run.

"Their fast break just killed us and I think we had eight turnovers near the end of the game."

UH hard to defend

Self was talking about the problems his team had guarding Hawaii, tied with the Golden Hurricane as the 15th best shooting team in the NCAA.

"Their offense is also difficult for us because we're a team that likes to pressure and they have such great pressure releases," he said. "It's hard to pressure a team that runs good stuff the way Hawaii does. Coach Wallace has done such an excellent job getting his players to understand pass-catch and getting them to understand angles. They're definitely a difficult team to guard."

Hawaii did hurt itself with 21 turnovers to 14 for Tulsa.

"We adjusted to his trapping and pressure," said Hawaii head coach Riley Wallace. "But then he went to the straight man and that hurt us. He's always got another weapon. Their defense is to foul you 50 times and only get caught 25 times. They're up on you, reaching and grabbing and body-checking you. If they can do that, it's a good philosophy."

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By Pat Bigold, Star-Bulletin