Saturday, December 15, 2001
[ UH BASKETBALL ]
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’Bows let one 'Tis the season for giving and the Hawaii basketball team was in a very giving mood last night.
bounce away
Hawaii, which led by as many as
13 points in the first half, couldn't
hold off San Diego StateLong layoff shows as Savo struggles in
his first game of the seasonBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comThe Rainbows committed a season-high 18 turnovers in falling to San Diego State 61-58 at the Stan Sheriff Center. A holiday crowd of 4,911 (6,443 tickets issued) saw Hawaii snap its 11-game home winning streak in losing to is former Western Athletic Conference rival.
It was the first time since 1971 that the Aztecs have beaten Hawaii and Fresno State in the same season. Last Saturday, San Diego State upset the then-No. 21 Bulldogs 93-78.
Last night, the Aztecs (6-3) played the part of The Grinch to perfection, spoiling the return of Hawaii senior guard Predrag Savovic. The Rainbows (6-2) will try to regroup for next week's Rainbow Classic, facing Portland in the opener Wednesday.
"We just didn't execute," said Hawaii sophomore guard Carl English, who scored a team-high 14 points. "The game was ours and we didn't take care of the ball, didn't rebound down the stretch."
The Rainbows outboarded the Aztecs 31-30, but the one they missed likely cost them the game. Tommy Johnson's putback with 25.5 seconds left off Deandre Moore's missed free throw put SDSU ahead 60-56.
Mark Campbell hit a runner to close it to 60-58 with 19 seconds to go, but Johnson, who did not play in the win over Fresno State, hit a game-icing free throw. Hawaii had 17 seconds to pull it out, but the Aztec defense closed off the first three options.
Senior guard Mike McIntyre took a desperation 3-point attempt at the buzzer that was short.
"The play was not designed for me," said McIntyre, whose seven points all came on free throws. "It was supposed to go to Carl, then Savo, but Mark had to improvise at the end.
"The outplayed us, defensively we got beat in the second half. The second half killed us."
Aztec coach Steve Fisher used the first-half statistics to inspire his team.
"I told them we were lucky to be down by just six points," said Fisher, whose last trip to Hawaii was when he brought his Michigan team to the 1992 Rainbow Classic. "We had 12 turnovers in the first half and I knew if we could take care of the ball, we could get right back in it."
For the second game in a row, the Rainbows failed to score as many points as their football counterparts did against BYU last Saturday. Until Savovic hit a 3-pointer with 2:20 left, it appeared the Rainbows would fail to hit a trey for the second game in a row.
The Rainbows took control early, leading by as many as 11 twice in the first 11 minutes. Hawaii led 17-6 before San Diego State scored its first basket off its half-court offense; the Aztecs first three baskets had come off transition, two on Rainbow turnovers and the other off a missed UH shot.
SDSU had trouble keeping up with the aggressive and quicker Hawaii offense, committing 13 first-half fouls. The Rainbows hit 10 of 15 from the line en route to a 26-19 lead at intermission.
The Aztecs did not get to the line until there were 92 seconds remaining before halftime, with Randy Holcomb hitting both of his shots.
In a sloppy first 20 minutes, the teams combined for 22 turnovers.
It didn't get any cleaner after halftime, with the Aztecs closing to 27-24.
Hawaii was in the 1-and-1 bonus three minutes into the second half. Five Aztec players picked up their respective third foul in less than a minute, with Myron Epps' third personal sending Savovic to the line with 16:52 left in the game.
Savovic hit both free throws, keying a 9-2 run over the next two minutes. Hawaii went without a field goal for nearly four minutes but went 5 of 6 from the line to go ahead 41-32.
Faux, who has scored 25 points in each of the last two games, kept his team in the game. His 3-pointer with 11:41 remaining pulled the Aztecs to 41-35; six minutes later, his layup off a steal gave San Diego State its first lead of the night at 48-47.
The Aztecs led by as many as five, the last on Faux's third and final 3-pointer.
Both teams shot poorly from the floor, Hawaii hitting just 31 percent and SDSU 40 percent.
Randy Holcomb added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Aztecs. Also in double figures for Hawaii were Haim Shimonovich (13) and Savovic (12).
"There were no surprises with Hawaii," said Fisher. "It's going to take them a little while to get used to having Savovic back, learn to play with him again.
"Sometimes, you have to take two steps back before you take a step forward. Fifteen games from now, you'll see a different team."
SAN DIEGO ST. 61, HAWAII 58
AZTECS (6-3)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Smith 1 3 0 0 19 1 4 3 Bland 3 13 0 1 33 5 2 9 Faux 8 15 3 7 33 3 1 20 Holcomb 3 10 1 1 32 11 0 13 Mackell 1 2 0 0 14 0 0 2 Johnson 2 4 1 2 13 3 1 6 Moore 0 0 0 0 19 2 4 0 Walton 1 2 0 0 23 3 1 6 Kovacic 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Epps 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 Sanders 1 1 0 0 9 1 0 2 Team 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 Totals 20 50 5 11 200 34 13 61 WARRIORS (6-2)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Savovic 2 13 7 8 33 4 2 12 Martin 1 6 2 3 21 9 0 4 Shimonovich 6 10 1 1 37 7 3 13 Campbell 1 3 1 2 30 3 2 3 English 6 10 2 4 33 1 4 14 McIntyre 0 4 7 8 18 1 0 7 Burneika 1 2 2 2 16 4 0 4 Vebobe 0 6 1 2 12 1 0 1 Team 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 Totals 17 54 23 30 200 35 11 58 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--San Diego St. 19, Hawaii 26.
3-point goals--San Diego St. 5-11 (Holcomb 3, Mackell, Moore); Hawaii 1-12 (Savovic). Personal fouls--San Diego St. 25, Hawaii 20. Technical fouls--none. Steals--San Diego St. 10 (Faux 3, Smith 2, Holcomb 2, Walton 2, Bland); Hawaii 7 (McIntyre 2, Vebobe, Savovic, Shimonovich, Campbell, English). Blocked shots--San Diego St. 6 (Holcomb 2, Smith, Bland, Faux, Mackell) Hawaii 5 (Burneika 3, Shimonovich, Vebobe). Turnovers--San Diego St. 20 (Holcomb 10, Smith 3, Bland 2, Walton 2, Faux, Moore, Epps); Hawaii 18 (English 6, Campbell 4, Savovic 3, Martin 2, Shimonovich 2, Burneika). Officials--Christman, Stupin, Kennedy.
Attendance--4,911 (turnstile), 6,443 (tickets issued)
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii