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Monday, February 19, 2001
Postseason hopes? The magic number is probably 17. And the University of Hawaii basketball team will probably need magic to reach that many wins.
’Bows need to
run table
Making it to either the NCAA
or NIT tourneys is possible,
but unlikelyWAC standings
By Dave Reardon
Star-BulletinSo the National Invitational Tournament is not much of a possibility for the 12-12 Rainbows -- it's even less likely than Hawaii winning the Western Athletic Conference Tournament and going to the NCAA Tournament.
The Rainbows are No. 86 in Rating Percentage Index, which indicates the NIT is a possibility -- but there are other reasons they could get eighty-sixed.
UH has 12 wins and three regular season games left, two on the road at San Jose State and Texas-El Paso.
If the Rainbows win out -- quite a task, since they are winless on the road in seven tries -- they would still need to win two WAC Tournament games in Tulsa, Okla. That would put them at 17 wins and into the tournament final.
After Saturday's 61-53 victory over Rice, the Rainbows are 6-7 in the conference.
The team has played its best overall defense of the season in its last two games and has been extremely efficient in a half of each at running its offense.
Although he didn't play very well Saturday, center Haim Shimonovich provided a lift in Thursday's win over Southern Methodist and should improve.
The Rainbows host Texas Christian on Thursday. TCU should be tough even without Greedy Daniels and Myron Anthony -- off the team for unspecified reasons -- in coach Billy Tubbs' WAC swan song at the Stan Sheriff Center.
"That just means they lose some depth," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "It's not going to be any easier."
It will be the last home regular-season game for UH seniors Todd Fields, Lane O'Connor, Troy Ostler and Nerijus Puida.
Ostler scored 19 points and Predrag Savovic added 18, but it was defense that sparked Hawaii past Rice on Saturday.
The largest crowd for a home conference game this season -- 5,209 -- watched as the Rainbows limited the Owls to 31.3 percent shooting for the game.
It's the fewest points Hawaii has allowed this season.
"We knew they'd slow the ball up," said UH guard Mike McIntyre, who scored 12 points and also led the defense. "It was all defense, sucking it up and playing hard-nosed defense."
Still, the outcome was in doubt until only a few minutes before the end. UH led most the way, but had to outscore Rice 18-10 down the stretch after the Owls tied it at 43 with 5:39 left.
It was a team effort in crunch time, as Savovic and McIntyre each scored five points, Phil Martin four of his six and Ostler had four.
The Rainbows' flex offense kicked into gear late in the game. As it did two nights previous in a victory over Southern Methodist, UH found open cutters to the basket for easy layups.
"I like what we did," Wallace said. "Attacking at the basket is the way you win games."
Hawaii won its sixth consecutive at the Sheriff Center. UH remains sixth in the conference, 1 games behind TCU and Texas El-Paso and 1 ahead of Rice.
Rice was led by Mike Wilks' 21 points.
"It was certainly the kind of game we wanted," Owls' coach Willis Wilson said. "We dictated the tempo, but we broke down late in the second half."
While Wilks managed to meet his season average in scoring, he did it on 5-of-20 shooting from the field.
McIntyre and Carl English made him earn everything.
"Mike let him get that early 3-pointer," Wallace said. "After that he closed him down. (McIntyre) played very well and very steady all the way."
For the second consecutive game, the Rainbows matched their season-low in turnovers with 10.
Tip-ins:
Tickets for the team's April 5 awards banquet at the Hale Koa Hotel are on sale. Call Bobbi Omoto at 956-6501 for information. ... The Coaches vs. Cancer fund-raiser at Murphy's Bar & Grill is tomorrow beginning at 5:30 p.m. Events include a memorabilia auction. Tickets are $35. For information call the American Cancer Society at 595-7544.
Hawaii 61, Rice 53
Owls (12-12, 4-8 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Evans 0 1 2 4 36 8 2 2 Tyndell 2 8 0 0 27 4 1 5 Morgan 1 3 0 0 12 0 0 2 Cooper 5 9 4 6 30 5 2 17 Wilks 5 20 9 10 39 8 1 21 Mance 0 1 0 0 8 0 0 0 Walton 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 Kollik 0 0 0 0 0+ 0 0 0 Smith 0 0 2 2 4 2 0 2 Craig 0 1 0 0 7 0 0 0 Robison 0 1 0 0 9 1 1 0 Diene 2 4 0 0 18 2 0 4 Team 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 Totals 15 48 17 22 200 34 7 53
Rainbows (12-12, 6-7 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Savovic 5 12 7 9 35 5 4 18 Martin 3 5 0 0 25 1 2 6 McIntyre 3 7 5 5 34 3 2 12 Puida 1 5 2 2 36 9 3 4 Ostler 6 10 7 14 35 5 1 19 Shimonovich 0 2 0 0 9 2 0 0 Burneika 1 4 0 0 11 2 1 2 English 0 1 0 0 15 2 2 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 19 46 21 30 200 30 15 61 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 26, Rice 22.
3-point goals--RU 6-17 (Cooper 3-5, Wilks 2-9, Tyndell 1-3); UH 2-11 (McIntyre 1-3, Savovic 1-4, Burneika 0-1, English 0-1, Puida 0-2). Personal fouls--RU 25, UH 21. Fouled out--None. Technical fouls-None. Steals--RU 6 (Evans, Tyndell, Cooper, Wilks, Mance, Diene), UH 4 (Martin 2, McIntyre, English). Blocked shots--RU 1 (Evans), UH 3 (Savovic, Martin, Ostler). Turnovers--RU 13 (Wilks 3, Tyndell 2, Morgan 2, Evans, Cooper, Mance, Walton, Smith, Team), UH 10 (Savovic 3, Puida 2, Burneika 2, McIntyre, Ostler, English). Officials--Zetcher, Maracich, Reed. A-7,130 (tickets distributed), 5,209 (turnstile).
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
