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Friday, February 18, 2000
Tulsa levels ’Bows
Savovic's early exit all but
By Pat Bigold
closes UH's hopes of
postseason play
Star-BulletinThe frustration of a season gone wrong burned across Predrag Savovic's face.
He fouled out after an unusually rapid succession of calls midway through the second half of last night's 75-61 loss to nationally ranked Tulsa before 4,635 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.
And with him -- as he stalked angrily across the court -- went the Rainbows' hopes not just of an upset but possibly of a National Invitation Tournament bid.
Savovic scored 16 points and had only one foul in his first 22 minutes, 24 seconds of play.
But in a span of 1 minute, 44 seconds during the second half, the 6-foot-6 sophomore guard picked up his second, third, fourth and fifth fouls.
Savovic drained a 22-foot 3-pointer to put Hawaii ahead, 35-34, with 41 seconds gone in the second half. But by the time he fouled out with 10:26 left, UH had yielded Tulsa its biggest lead of the game, 48-41.
There had been four lead changes in the first four minutes of the second half, but after Savovic left, it was never close again.
Tulsa, ranked No. 13 in both the Associated Press and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls, improved to 24-2 overall and 9-1 in the Western Athletic Conference.
The Rainbows fell to 4-7 and dropped to seventh in the WAC. They are 15-9 overall with three WAC games to play and an invitation to the NIT barely within reach.
David Shelton led Tulsa with 19 points, 17 in the second half. Marquette Alexander had 18 to pace Hawaii. Troy Ostler tied his season high with 15 rebounds for UH.
Hawaii head coach Riley Wallace said it's impossible to say whether or not Hawaii could have won if Savovic remained in the game.
"But he adds energy and when things break down, he can create," Wallace said. "He's a very intelligent kid but he doesn't use that intelligence all the time basketball-wise. He's just going to play hard, he doesn't know any other way."
But Tulsa head coach Bill Self chalked up Savovic's departure in the Golden Hurricane's favor. "I really think it helped us when Savovic got in foul trouble.
"He's a really good player and we had a hard time guarding him. He just moves without the ball so well, and like most European players, he can get you off balance and you reach. He hurt us more at the free-throw line (7-for-7) than from the field."
Savovic is the first to admit his style of play will never make him a candidate for the Bolshoi Ballet.
But he was so uncharacteristically upset about the mauling he took from the Golden Hurricane that he wouldn't even speak for the record with the media after the game.
That was a first for the normally talkative Savovic, whose only comment was, "I can't do anything about it."
Teammates sympathized and indicated he'd taken the worst pounding of any Rainbow in a very physical game.
"I got the same treatment but not as bad as Savo's was," said Ostler. "There were a lot of big guys, physical guys. I think Savo did a good job and a lot of his fouls were just frustration fouls."
It's been a rough four-game losing streak for Savovic, who was elbowed in the face three times last week.
"Losing Savo hurt," said Alexander, who had his 19th straight double-digit game.
"But Savo is not the whole team and I'm not the whole team. The entire starting five have to start coming together the whole 40 minutes and playing as one unit rather than relying on Savo and me."
Tulsa 75, Hawaii 61
Golden Hurricane (24-2, 9-1 WAC)
FG FGA FT FTA REB A TP MIN Harrington 6 7 2 2 3 0 16 32 Coley 4 12 0 0 6 4 9 33 Kurtz 3 6 0 0 4 0 6 26 Hill 4 9 0 0 3 0 8 24 Heard 3 9 3 4 2 4 11 36 Davis 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 Swanson 2 7 0 0 3 2 4 13 Hooper 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ Shelton 7 12 5 5 4 0 19 24 Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 McDaniel 1 2 0 0 1 0 2 7 Team 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Totals 30 64 10 11 29 10 75 200
Rainbows (15-9, 4-7 WAC)
FG FGA FT FTA REB A TP MIN Savovic 4 8 7 7 4 1 16 24 White 0 3 0 0 1 3 0 33 Puida 3 8 0 0 5 4 7 37 Ostler 3 8 1 6 15 1 7 32 Alexander 9 17 0 0 8 2 18 38 McIntyre 2 4 2 2 0 0 6 14 Robinson 2 7 2 2 1 0 7 12 O’Connor 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 10 Team 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Totals 23 57 12 17 39 11 61 200 Halftime-Tulsa 34, Hawaii 32.
3-point goals--Tulsa 5-20 (Harrington 2-3, Heard 2-6, Coley 1-3, Shelton 0-1, Swanson 0-3, Hill 0-4). UH 3-12 (Savovic 1-1, Robinson 1-3, Puida 1-4, McIntyre 0-2, O'Connor 0-2). Personal fouls--Tulsa 17, UH 16. Fouled out--Savovic. Steals--Tulsa 8 (Kurtz 2, Heard 2), UH 3 (Savovic 1, Alexander 1, McIntyre 1). Blocked shots--Tulsa 4 (Coley 1, Kurtz 1, Hill 1, Shelton 1), UH 4 (Ostler 2, Savovic 1, Alexander 1). Turnovers--Tulsa 8, UH 15. Officials--Jim Stupin, Andrew Walton, Derrick Collins. A-6,791.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
