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RAINBOW BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

Look out WAC,
Mac is back

The resurgence of junior guard Mike McIntyre is a big reason the University of Hawaii basketball team has won three consecutive games heading into the last road trip of the season, which begins Thursday at San Jose State.

McIntyre has had an up-and-down season. He began as a starter, lost playing time partly due to a right-ankle sprain and has come back to spark the Rainbows down the stretch.

McIntyre scored a career-high 21 points in UH's 102-87 victory over Texas Christian on Saturday. Also, he dealt a career-high six assists in the victory over Southern Methodist on Feb. 15.

He averages 7.0 points a game to go with 1.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 22.0 minutes.

"He's a lot more confident now," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "He's really had his head in the game, and he hasn't felt too much pressure to be perfect, because (freshman) Carl (English) has been playing well, too."

McIntyre did not play when the Rainbows hosted the Spartans on Jan. 20, a game Hawaii won, 65-64, in overtime.

"The ankle kind of kept me down for awhile," McIntyre said. "But I tried to stay focused and prepare for the end."

Zoning out

The Rainbows spent most of yesterday's practice working on zone offense, with mixed results.

San Jose State battled its way back into the game here by using a 1-2-1-1 zone press and then a 2-3 in the half-court.

"We're not as patient as we are against man-to-man," Wallace said.

WAC could get two after all

All that talk about only one WAC team getting an NCAA Tournament invitation might not be true.

If WAC commissioner Karl Benson has anything to say about it -- and, as a new member of the tournament's selection committee, he will -- the conference could be represented by more than just the WAC Tournament winner.

Of course, Benson can't publicly say he will push for teams in his own league come Selection Sunday. But it could keep a deserving team from having its bubble burst.

Benson replaces San Diego State athletic director Rick Bay on the committee.

Stats and stuff

With its recent success, UH has moved up to third in the WAC in field goal percentage (.469) and assists (17.8 per game). But the Rainbows are last in several categories: scoring margin (minus-1.5), field goal defense (.458), 3-point defense (.375) and defensive rebounds (21.28 per game). ... Freshman post Phil Martin still leads in field goal percentage (64.2), junior guard Predrag Savovic is fourth in scoring (17.3 ppg), senior post Troy Ostler is fourth in blocks (2.0 bpg) and senior forward Nerijus Puida is fifth in assists (4.64) and assists-to-turnovers (1.84).

Tip-ins

The Rainbows leave for San Jose this afternoon, and won't be back in Hawaii for over a week to nearly two weeks, depending on what happens at the WAC Tournament. ... Fresno State center Melvin Ely is the WAC player of the week. Ely averaged 21.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in victories over Southern Methodist and Nevada. McIntyre was Hawaii's nominee. ... Tulsa and Fresno are the only two cities that put in bids for the 2002 WAC Tournament. ... UH freshman forward Bosko Radovic is recovering on schedule from his broken right leg. "I think I will be ready to play summer league," he said.

Dave Reardon, Star-Bulletin