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Saturday, March 10, 2001
Rainbows in TULSA, Okla. -- Shall we dance?
today’s WAC finals
Hawaii's men's team is one
win away from what seemed
impossible -- the NCAAsRainbow Basketball Notebook
By Dave Reardon
Star-BulletinJust a couple days ago that question was as laughable for the University of Hawaii men's basketball team as it is when the class geek asks it of the prom queen.
But the formerly unthinkable -- going to "The Dance,'' as the NCAA Tournament is called -- is one victory away for the Rainbows.
With last night's 76-67 victory over No. 25 Fresno State, UH -- a team beset earlier this season by injury, inexperience and road travails -- is now on the doorstep of its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1994.
"(The players) can't think about it," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "I probably will all night. I've experienced it, and this is a special group. I want them to experience it, too."
For the Rainbows (16-13) to get there, they must accomplish today the same tough task they did in '94: Beat the odds in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament final.
Seven years ago, it was third-seeded Brigham Young in Salt Lake City.
Today, it is second-seeded Tulsa (21-10, 10-6), which promises to draw a full house at its raucous Reynolds Center. Tipoff is 5 p.m. HST.
Fifth-seeded Hawaii was the local fans' favorite on Thursday against Texas Christian and again last night as the Rainbows knocked off rivals of the Hurricane. But the welcome wagon just went into the shop.
"We have to maintain our composure against the crowd," Wallace said when asked for keys to tonight's game.
He hopes the whistle blowers can, too. Tulsa shot 21 free throws compared to 10 for Texas-El Paso in the Hurricane's 59-56 victory over the Miners in the other semifinal. A late charge call against UTEP's Eugene Costello with the game on the line also raised eyebrows.
"The officiating will be a big key. If they let it go the way they let it go (in the Tulsa-UTEP game) -- that was one of the most physical games I've seen all year -- that would hurt," Wallace said. "Who we get assigned to is a big key. But we have to play through the crowd and the officiating."
The Rainbows, winners of six of their last seven, are playing their best basketball of the season -- and, many agree, the best in the WAC at this point. But they are still 1-8 on the season when playing in an opponent's arena.
UH split its two games with Tulsa this year, winning 68-65 at the Stan Sheriff Center and losing 79-67 here.
Today's game matches Tulsa's gritty defense against Hawaii's efficient passing offense.
"I don't know if you're going to find a team in the country that runs its half-court offense as well as Hawaii," Tulsa coach Buzz Peterson said. "I know we'll be up late tonight just trying to figure out how we're going to stop them."
FSU coach Jerry Tarkanian said he lost some sleep preparing for UH, even though his team had less to play for. The regular-season WAC champion Bulldogs, ranked 25th, were already a lock for the NCAAs.
"They're great shooters, they know how to pass," Tarkanian said. "After I saw what they did to TCU, I was scared to death. (Hawaii) tore them to pieces."
UH beat TCU, 99-79, in their quarterfinal on Thursday, and speculation mounts that not only was it the last WAC game for the Horned Frogs, but perhaps the last for Billy Tubbs as TCU coach.
Several rumors are circulating here, including one that has Tubbs headed to UNLV. The other is that TCU administrators are about to buy out Tubbs' contract.
Yesterday, the Bulldogs (25-6, 13-3) put up a somewhat better fight than the Horned Frogs. But early foul trouble, a season-best rebounding effort (45) by the Rainbows, and UH guard Carl English's press-breaking magic did them in.
Predrag Savovic scored 23 points and Troy Ostler added 19 to lead Hawaii's scoring, as it avenged a 103-100 double-overtime loss to Fresno State in a WAC Tournament semifinal game last year at Fresno.
This time, the Rainbows led most the way as they built a 34-24 halftime lead with Savovic and Ostler scoring 10 points each and Phil Martin contributing 10 of his career-high 13 rebounds.
WAC Player of the Year Melvin Ely, the Bulldogs center, got into early foul trouble and scored 12 points with four rebounds in only 28 minutes.
"Our post guys (Ostler, Haim Shimonovich, Martin and Mindaugas Burneika) were battling," Wallace said. "They're not the same team without Ely."
Also, Nerijus Puida did a good defensive job on FSU's highly touted point guard Tito Maddox, limiting him to 11 points and six assists.
But the Bulldogs, using pressure defense, scored the first 10 points of the second half to tie it at 37, and then went ahead, 42-41.
Hawaii answered strongly with 3-pointers from Mike McIntyre and Puida and a 14-footer by Savovic to go up 49-42.
Fresno never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
Hawaii shot 57 percent from the floor in the second half, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range.
Martin added 10 points to his rebounding frenzy.
English also scored 10 on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor, and the freshman played like a veteran point guard in guiding the Rainbows through the Bulldogs' pressure.
"Guys getting open was the key and then penetrating and kicking the ball out," English said. "They only used a double team to trap toward the end. Pretty much the whole game was single coverage."
He had six of the Rainbows' 25 turnovers. But it was the cost of doing business -- for every Fresno State steal leading to a dunk, there was a Hawaii press break for an easy basket or free throws.
"The English kid did an unbelievable job with the tempo, when to push, when to bring it back, when to run an offense," Peterson said. "It was fabulous."
His behind-the-back pass allowed Savovic to bury a trey in reply to a dunk by Ely, making it 54-46, Hawaii, with 8:43 left.
"I hate that pass, I hate receiving it in practice. But it was the only play I had there," English said.
Said Wallace: "He knows he's dead if it doesn't work."
It was one of a game-high eight assists for English, who, like the rest of the Rainbows, is alive and well, with at least one more game to play.
Tulsa 59, UTEP 56:
Tulsa held Texas-El Paso scoreless in the final 1:50 and overcame its worst shooting night of the year to beat the Miners (22-8).No. 2 seed Tulsa (21-10) shot just 31.7 percent, but made the big points at the end to advance to today's final against Hawaii.
WAC MEN'S TOURNAMENT
At Tulsa, Okla.Today
Hawaii vs. Tulsa, 5 p.m. (HST)
Yesterday
Hawaii 76, No. 25 Fresno State 67
Warriors (16-13, 10-8)
fg fga ft fta reb a tp min Savovic 6 13 9 12 4 1 23 25 Martin 5 9 0 0 13 0 10 29 Ostler 5 11 9 12 5 3 19 31 McIntyre 1 6 2 2 3 1 5 30 Puida 3 7 0 2 7 3 7 37 Shimonovic 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 14 Burneika 1 2 0 0 2 0 2 6 English 4 5 1 2 6 8 10 28 Team 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Totals 25 53 21 30 45 16 76 200
Bulldogs (25-6, 14-4)
fg fga ft fta reb a tp min Jefferies 4 13 5 8 7 1 15 31 Swillis 1 4 0 0 4 2 2 23 Ely 5 10 2 5 4 0 12 28 Maddox 4 11 2 3 6 6 11 35 Porter 5 14 0 2 1 1 13 35 Jackson 4 11 0 0 1 1 12 18 Felix 1 3 0 0 3 0 2 16 DeManby 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 7 Al-Sayyad 0 1 0 1 4 0 0 7 Team 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 Totals 24 68 9 19 39 12 67 200 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 score-Hawaii 34, Fresno St. 24
3-point goals-Hawaii 5-15 (Savovic 2-4, McIntyre 1-6, Puida 1-3, English 1-1, Burneika 0-1), Fresno St. 10-28 (Jackson 4-9, Porter 3-8, Jefferies 2-6, Maddox 1-4, DeManby 0-1). Personal fouls-Hawaii 19, Fresno St. 24. Fouled out--Shimonovic, Maddox. Technical fouls--none. Steals-Hawaii 6 (English 3, Puida 2, Savovic), Fresno St. 16 (Jefferies 6, Swillis 4, Jackson 3, Ely, Maddox, Porter, Jackson). Blocked shots-Hawaii 3 (Ostler, Puida, English), Fresno St. 3 (Jefferies, Jackson, Felix). Turnovers-Hawaii 25 (English 6, McIntyre 5, Savovic 4, Martin 3, Ostler 3, Puida 3, Shimonovic), Fresno St. 19 (Ely 5, Porter 4, Jefferies 3, Swillis 3, Maddox 2, Jackson, Al-Sayyad). Officials-Hunt, Sitov, Kaster.
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii