Saturday, November 17, 2001
[ UH BASKETBALL ]
UH notches blowout A local pizza company promised fans free breadsticks if Hawaii hit a half-dozen 3-pointers last night.
win in opener
Despite missing 3 players, the
Rainbows win easily, 76-52Eligibility issues keep 3 'Bows out
By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com
Rainbows head coach Riley Wallace wasn't sure if his team could handle that kind of home cooking, but he need not have worried.
The Rainbows not only hit 6 of 12 from behind the line in the second game of the Nike Tip-Off Tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center, but shot 48 percent from the field to bake Norfolk State 76-52 and advance to tomorrow's 7:30 p.m. title game with Drake, which knocked off Sam Houston State 74-65.
"With all that we've been going through, I didn't know what to expect," said Wallace, who had three players on the bench awaiting an NCAA eligibility ruling and another with an unexpected injury. "But they executed for the most part and they were ready to go."
The NCAA's delay in making eligibility rulings had Hawaii's version of the Street Clothes Boys -- Predrag Savovic, Luc-Arthur Vebobe and Tony Akpan -- on the bench. They weren't needed, as the Rainbows jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the opening four minutes. Terrance Winston's 3-pointer broke the Spartans' drought and Daryl Towe's layup off Hawaii's first turnover brought Norfolk State to 13-5.
That's as close as the visitors got all night, as Hawaii's outside shooting and backdoor plays worked to near perfection. The Rainbows held the Spartans scoreless for more than seven minutes en route to taking a 38-7 lead with 6:42 left before halftime.
Before the game, sophomore guard Carl English stood next to Savovic during introductions.
"He told me to play under control, not to get too crazy," said English. "He said to keep the confidence high, and we did that. We had five guys in double figures and 21 assists. We stepped it up and came together as a team."
English picked up where he left off last season, scoring 16 of his 20 points in the first half. He was 6 of 8 from the field before intermission, hitting all four of his 3-pointers, with six of the team's 22 rebounds and three of the five steals.
The only Spartan having much success against the energized Rainbow defense was Winston, who had 14 of his team's 20 halftime points. Winston was the only Spartan in double figures, finishing with 20.
Hawaii hit 51 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes (16-31) to Norfolk State's 30 percent (9-30). The Rainbows cooled off considerably in the second half, hitting just 44 percent, but it was more than enough to hold on against the Spartans."It was important to start well," said senior forward Mindaugas Burneika, who managed 15 points while in foul trouble most of the night. "We were missing three players and with Phil coming off an injury and Mike (McIntyre) hurt, you never know what will happen.''
The Rainbows led by as many as 32 (71-39) with five minutes to go, leading the crowd of 4,223 (6,010 tickets) to start yelling for the subs. Wallace first sent in Ryne Holliday, then Lance Takaki and Gabe Lombard with two minutes to go.
McIntyre didn't start due to a deep thigh bruise. He came off the bench six minutes into the game but scored just two points. Unlike McIntyre, Phil Martin showed little effect of an ankle sprain that had him sidelined for two weeks. He finished with 10 points.
Sophomore center Haim Shimonovich completed a career night. He had highs in points (13), rebounds (11) and assists (5). Junior guard Mark Campbell added 11.
"I know it was hard for Savo to sit out -- it was hard for me," said Shimonovich, who missed 22 games last season for participating in a pro league. "We played well together and had a good time out there. The assists? I was just looking for my friends."
"We broke down a bit in the second half, but they also made adjustments on us," said Wallace. "We want to continue getting better. We should be able to beat Drake at home (tomorrow). I hope the fans will come out to see it."
Drake 74, Sam Houston State 65: Luke McDonald scored 18 points and the Bulldogs overcame a 10-0 deficit at the start of the game to down the Bearkats.
Drake missed its first 14 shots, but hit 12 of the next 21 to take a 36-25 halftime lead.
The Bearkats knocked down their first two shots after intermission -- both 3-pointers -- to close to 40-31. SHS pulled to within 45-38 on Felton Freeman's 3-pointer, but Drake pulled away with a 5-0 run. The Bulldogs never got closer than eight until the final minute.
Aaron Knight added 16 points for Drake, 12 in the first half. Andy Sola added 15 for the Bulldogs, who hit 22 of 28 free-throw attempts.
For the Bearkats, Donald Cole finished with 18 and Robert Shannon, who hit 3 of the team's 10 3-pointers, added 13.
SPARTANS (0-1)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Winston 7 14 5 5 32 1 2 20 Smith 2 11 0 0 26 2 2 6 Towe 2 7 1 4 24 2 2 5 Aladi 0 3 0 0 18 4 0 0 Young 1 2 0 0 13 1 0 2 Byrd, J. 0 1 0 0 7 1 0 0 Byrd, N. 1 3 1 2 9 0 0 4 Mills 0 1 0 0 6 2 0 0 Byrd, H. 3 8 0 0 9 0 0 7 Hicks 0 2 0 0 13 1 0 0 Seward 1 2 0 0 22 5 1 2 Boyd 3 7 0 0 21 7 0 6 Team 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 20 61 7 11 200 27 7 52 RAINBOWS (1-0)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Martin 4 10 2 2 24 6 2 10 Shimonovich 6 8 1 1 35 11 5 13 Campbell 4 10 3 5 36 5 3 11 Burneika 5 12 3 4 24 2 4 15 English 8 12 0 1 33 8 4 20 McIntyre 1 5 0 0 18 2 1 2 Lombard 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Takaki 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 Zivanovic 0 1 0 0 7 3 0 0 Holliday 1 1 0 0 3 2 0 2 Pickart 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Jesinskis 0 1 3 5 16 4 2 3 Team 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 Totals 29 61 12 18 200 49 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 46, Norfolk State 20.
3-point goals--Norfolk State 5 (Winston 1, Smith 2, H. Byrd 1, N. Byrd 1); UH 6 (English 4, Burneika 2). Personal fouls--NS 18, UH 13. Fouled out--none. Technical fouls--none. Steals--NS 7 (Towe 2, H. Byrd 2, Boyd 1, Seward 1, Smith 1), UH 5 (English 3, Campbell 1, Martin 1). Blocked shots--NS 5 (Seward 2, Boyd 1, Aladi 1, Smith 1), UH 3 (McIntyre 1, Shimonovich 1, Martin 1). Turnovers--NS 12 (Smith 4, Winston 3, Hicks 2, Team 1, Towe 1), UH 16 (Campbell 4, McIntyre 2, Team 2, Jesinskis 2, Holliday 1, Zivanovic 1, Lombard 1, English 1, Burneika 1, Shimonovich 1). Officials--Harrington, Tom; Wells, Ryan; Tanibe, Pat. A--6,010 (tickets distributed), 4,723 (turnstile).
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii