Sunday, November 18, 2001
[ UH BASKETBALL ]
The Hawaii basketball team might need its best knockout punch when it plays Drake tonight in the championship game of the Nike Tip-Off Tournament. No lead is safe against Drake
By Dave ReardonAnd, as Sam Houston State found out Friday, that might not even be enough to dispatch the feisty Bulldogs.
UH (1-0) hosts Drake (1-0) in the championship game of the Nike Tip-Off Tournament at 7:30 tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center. Sam Houston State (0-1) plays Norfolk State (0-1) in the 5 p.m. prelim.
Hawaii scored the first 13 points in routing Norfolk State on Friday. But jumping to a big lead is no guarantee of a win against Drake. The Bulldogs missed their first 14 shots from the floor in falling behind 10-0 to the Bearkats on Friday.
But Drake, with Aaron Knight scoring 12 of his 16 points, led 36-25 at halftime and was never seriously threatened the rest of the way. Luke McDonald led the Bulldogs with 18 points and Andry Sola added 15.
There was no such comeback for Norfolk State, as the teams' first possessions set the tone: Mindaugas Burneika hit a 3-pointer for the Rainbows, and the Spartans turned it over on a shot-clock violation.
When: 7:30 p.m. GAMEDAY
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: KFVE, live and 10:30 p.m.
Radio: Live, 1420 AM
Internet: www.uhathletics.hawaii.eduProbable starting lineups
Sophomore guard Carl English led UH with 20 points. All five starters scored in double figures: Burneika (15), Haim Shimonovich (13), Mark Campbell (11) and Phil Martin (10).
The balance eased the effects of the absence of last season's leading point-getter, Predrag Savovic. Savovic, an all-Western Athletic Conference choice as a junior last year, sat out along with freshman forward Tony Akpan and junior forward Luc-Arthur Vebobe due to pending issues with the NCAA concerning his eligibility. None are expected to play tonight.
"We're missing Savo," English said. "He attracts so much attention. He takes pressure off me. He gets the big men some open looks inside. Without Savo it's tough."
It didn't look all that hard for the Rainbows on Friday, though.
UH's halfcourt offense picked up where it left off at the end of last season, as Hawaii was patient and converted on several nice cuts to the basket -- many with sophomore center Haim Shimonovich on the passing end from the high post. He led UH with 5 assists.
With the three players unavailable, post Martin (ankle sprain) and guard Mike McIntyre (thigh bruise) will likely be asked to fight through injuries again tonight.
Drake beat Hawaii 103-76 in the team's only other meeting, in the 1969 Rainbow Classic.
The Bulldogs return their three top scorers of last season in McDonald, Sola and Greg Danielson. Drake finished 12-16 and 8-10 in the MVC. But they were only 2-10 on opponents' courts.
"We should be able to beat Drake at home," UH coach Riley Wallace said.
DRAKE BULLDOGS (1-0) G David Newman (Jr.) 5-11 8.0 1.0 1.0 G Luke McDonald (So.) 6-6 18.0 4.0 0.0 F Aaron Knight (Sr.) 6-4 16.0 7.0 1.0 F Andry Sola (Jr.) 6-7 15.0 9.0 1.0 C Greg Danielson (Jr.) 6-9 4.0 10.0 0.0
HAWAII RAINBOWS (1-0) G Mark Campbell (Jr.) 6-4 11.0 5.0 3.0 G Carl English (So.) 6-5 20.0 8.0 4.0 F Mindaugas Burneika (Sr.) 6-7 15.0 2.0 4.0 F Phil Martin (So.) 6-8 10.0 6.0 2.0 C Haim Shimonovich (So.) 6-10 13.0 11.0 5.0
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
