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RAINBOW BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

Rice looking as
good as coach

THE Rice Owls are catching up to their coach's wardrobe.

Willis Wilson made it to the final last year of "College Insider's" March Madness, which matched the 64 best-dressed coaches in the nation in a "tournament."

Rice went 5-22 last season, but the Owls' play of late is overshadowing Wilson's sartorial splendor.

Rice (10-6, 2-2 WAC) hosts Hawaii (8-8, 2-3) tomorrow. The Owls are the only conference team the Rainbows beat on the road last year, and Hawaii leads the series 7-1, with its only loss coming in the 1981 Rainbow Classic when Rice featured Rickey Pierce.

But UH coach Riley Wallace is far from considering tomorrow's game a gimme.

One reason is guard Mike Wilks, who led the Owls to a 73-66 road upset of Texas Christian last Saturday with 22 points.

"That was a big win for them there," Wallace said. "I think I liked playing them better when they weren't coming off beating TCU at TCU.

"A key matchup will be if Nerijus Puida can stop Wilks (who averages 20.3 ppg)."

At least the Rainbows are getting closer to full strength -- guard Mike McIntyre's sprained right ankle is finally healed. That means UH has another outside shooter to take on the zone defense Rice will probably mix in with its man-to-man.

"If we don't make some shots, they'll pack it in like San Jose State did," Wallace said.

Hawaii is 0-3 on the road. Wallace hopes UH can beat either Rice, or Tulsa on Sunday.

"We have to do that if we want to compete in this league," Wallace said from his hotel room in Los Angeles, where the Rainbows were laying over last night before heading for Houston this morning.

"The other teams have basically dictated the game on the road."

(Student) bodying up

Wilson welcomed the Rice students back from holiday break with a message urging them to attend tomorrow's game.

It reads in part, "In the past month there has been talk among basketball coaches around the country about what a bad place Autry Court is to play. The coaches in the WAC think it is one of the worst places anywhere. ... The real difference is the hostile atmosphere the students create. We need you to come out and make a difference!"

Stats and stuff

Hawaii redshirt-freshman post Phil Martin leads the WAC with 67 percent shooting from the field (58-for-87). ... Predrag Savovic continues to lead UH in scoring with 16.8 points a game. He is tied for seventh in the WAC. ... Troy Ostler's season-high four blocks against San Jose State moved him up to fourth in the conference at 1.69.

Tip-ins

The Rainbows are 5-1 when starting Jeep Hilton, Savovic, Puida, Martin and Ostler. ... Tulsa forward Kevin Johnson is the WAC player of the week. He averaged 22.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocks in wins over TCU and UTEP. Martin was among the nominees. ... UH freshman center Haim Shimonovich, who becomes eligible Feb. 15 as Hawaii hosts Southern Methodist, changed his mind and said he prefers to spell his last name with an "h" at the end.

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Dave Reardon, Star-Bulletin