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Monday, February 5, 2001
On Saturday, Nevada had the right attitude to try to beat Hawaii. In three days, the Wolf Pack will have altitude on their side. ’Bows sluggish
following big winWAC standings
By Dave Reardon
Star-Bulletin"We were two steps slower than them tonight," Rainbows coach Riley Wallace said after UH held on to beat Nevada, 76-69, in the basketball teams' first-ever WAC meeting. They meet again Thursday in Reno.
"Add the altitude (4,500 feet in Reno) and we'll be three steps slower."
Wallace sounds pessimistic for a coach whose team is on a two-game winning streak, including its biggest victory of the year two nights previous over league-leader Fresno State.
He has reason to be, since UH has yet to win on the road this year in five tries, and despite its poor record, Nevada poses a very real threat.
Hawaii teams have a poor track record of dealing with the lighter air of higher ground, literally and figuratively.
Like the Bulldogs beating Texas-El Paso by 50 and then losing to the Rainbows, UH played poorly after its best game of the season.
"They (the Wolf Pack) had to be leaving here thinking they'll kick our butt at their place," Wallace said.
After that, UH has to deal with vengeance-minded FSU on Sunday in a nationally televised game at Fresno.
At first glance, Saturday's win looked like a great team effort, as Mike McIntyre and Predrag Savovic led five players in double-figure scoring with 15 points each.
But a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,515 anguished along with the Rainbows as they made 20 turnovers and were out-hustled.
With its fourth-consecutive home victory, Hawaii improved to 10-10 overall and moved into sixth place in the WAC at 4-5.
The last-place Wolf Pack fell to 8-12 and 1-8.
"Ugly," said post player Troy Ostler. "We were real impatient with our offense and we refused to get back on defense."
Hawaii led 62-48 with 6:50 left, but the Wolf Pack charged back with full-court pressure defense and a series of slashing attacks on the basket to close to 70-67 with 54 seconds left.
"We thought they'd come out with a lot of energy since they just beat the top team," said Nevada guard Terrance Green, who led the rally with 15 of his game-high 25 points after halftime.
But Savovic hit four free throws and Nerijus Puida added two down the stretch, while Nevada missed its last six shots from the floor.
McIntyre played his best game since injuring his right ankle over a month ago, scoring 13 points off the bench to help UH to a 35-25 halftime lead.
Hawaii 76, Nevada 69
Wolf Pack (8-12, 1-8 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Hazel 1 6 2 2 37 3 8 4 Santos 4 7 0 0 20 4 0 9 Hill-Thomas 6 10 4 7 36 4 3 16 Stirgus 1 3 3 6 37 6 0 5 Paul 4 6 0 1 13 1 1 8 Bayless 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 Green 9 17 5 5 34 1 1 25 Guerinoni 0 3 0 0 9 4 0 0 Jackson 1 1 0 2 9 4 0 2 Ochs 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rainbows (10-10, 4-5 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Savovic 3 13 7 9 35 5 5 15 Martin 6 7 2 3 29 5 2 14 Hilton 0 4 0 0 23 0 1 0 Puida 3 3 3 5 24 6 4 10 Ostler 4 7 3 5 31 8 2 11 McIntyre 5 12 2 2 26 2 3 15 Terrell 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Burneika 3 5 2 2 21 1 3 9 English 1 3 0 0 8 3 1 2 Team 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 Totals 25 54 19 26 200 35 21 76 Key--fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime--Hawaii 35, Nevada 25.
3-point goals--UN 3-13 (Green 2-6, Santos 1-2, Guerinoni 0-2, Hazel 0-3); UH 7-24 (McIntyre 3-7, Savovic 2-9, Puida 1-1, Burneika 1-3, Hilton 0-2, English 0-2). Personal fouls--UN 25, UH 24. Fouled out--Paul. Technical fouls-None. Steals--UN 11 (Hazel 4, Hill-Thomas 2, Stirgus 2, Green 2, Santos), UH 5 (McIntyre 2, Savovic, Puida, Burneika). Blocked shots--UN 0, UH 2 (Ostler 2). Turnovers--UN 18 (Hazel 6, Paul 4, Santos 2, HIll-Thomas 2, Green 2, Stirgus, Guerinoni), UH 20 (Ostler 6, Savovic 4, Puida 4, Martin 2, Hilton 2, McIntyre 2). Officials--White, Kaster, Jacobs. A--6,567 (tickets distributed), 4,515 (turnstile).
WAC MEN
Conference Overall Team W L Pct. W L Pct. Fresno St. 7 1 .875 18 3 .857 UTEP 6 3 .667 17 4 .810 SMU 6 3 .667 16 6 .727 TCU 5 4 .556 16 7 .696 Tulsa 5 4 .556 14 8 .636 Hawaii 4 5 .444 10 10 .500 Rice 3 4 .429 11 8 .579 San Jose St. 2 7 .222 10 10 .500 Nevada 1 8 .111 8 12 .400
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
