Friday, January 11, 2002
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UH beats Tech, Tick. Tick. Tick.
up to 5-0 in WAC
The Rainbows' win sets
up a battle of WAC unbeatens
tomorrow night against SMU
By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comIt was a time bomb just waiting for a spark to ignite the explosion.
After missing its first seven shots of last night's game, the Hawaii basketball team hit eight in a row during a five-minute span -- including six 3-pointers -- en route to routing Louisiana Tech, 81-61, at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The spark came from unexpected sources -- reserves Mike McIntyre and Mindaugas Burneika, and seldom-shooting point guard Mark Campbell. The trio combined for six 3-pointers during a 24-9 run midway through the first half to help the Rainbows win their eighth straight game.
McIntyre tied his career high with 22 points as Hawaii improved to 14-2 overall, its best start in coach Riley Wallace's 15 seasons. The Rainbows are also 5-0 in Western Athletic Conference play for only the second time since 1981-82.
The victory sets up tomorrow's showdown between the WAC's two unbeatens. SMU (9-5, 4-0) won on the road last night at San Jose State, 68-66. Louisiana Tech (8-5, 2-2) will head to San Jose to meet the Spartans (5-12, 0-5) tomorrow.
"They really moved the ball well from all five spots on the floor," said Louisiana Tech coach Keith Richard. "I thought McIntyre and Burneika really gave them a lift in the first half. Hawaii is tough to defend but especially when you have two kids come off the bench and make shots.
"We have quickness but the way Hawaii moved the ball, it negates quickness. We could never guard them."
It was a rude welcome to the WAC and to Honolulu for the Bulldogs, who spent the past 10 seasons in the Sun Belt Conference. Louisiana Tech came in as the conference leader in scoring defense (57.7 ppg), 3-point defense (.233) and rebounds (40.7 rpg).
The Rainbows shot those numbers down, as well as shut down the Bulldogs, who were averaging 74.2 points a game. Hawaii set the tone midway through the first half, and did it with leading scorer Predrag Savovic on the bench.
"Savo was out in part to get him focused and in part as the guard rotation," said Wallace. "Mike comes in and he's hot so we're going to keep the hot shooter in."
McIntyre hit three consecutive 3-pointers and also hit Carl English on an alley-oop backdoor play as Hawaii shot out to a 17-7 lead. Campbell, who had been averaging 3.3 points a game and had one 3-pointer all season, scored eight straight points, including two 3-pointers, for a 25-9 margin.
"When Mark starting hitting 3-pointers, I said to myself I have to try, too," said Burneika, who hit his only trey with 7:50 left before half.
"Mark hitting 3-pointers was amazing.
"The first couple of minutes we struggled. Then the offense exploded like a bomb."
Hawaii, finishing with eight 3-pointers, had seven in the first half in taking a 42-28 lead at intermission. The Rainbows also had a 15-14 edge in rebounds, an advantage they lost late in the game.
"The rebounding was good and we had them in the first half," said Wallace, his team losing the board battle, 36-32. "Then we let them get aggressive on us and we didn't box out like we had been.
"I'm not happy about giving up way too many offensive boards (16) and I'm disappointed in the crowd. I'd like to see at least one sellout this season. Saturday will be a big showdown for us and I hope the fans come out."
A crowd of 5,659 (6,910 tickets) watched as Hawaii had five players score in double figures this season.
Besides McIntyre, Burneika had 13, Savovic 12, English 11 and Campbell 10.
For Louisiana Tech, Gerrod Henderson led the Bulldogs with 16. Lavelle Felon added 12, eight in the second half when the game was all but over, and Michael Wilder finished with 11.
The Bulldogs had yielded just 14 3-pointers in their three previous conference games but, as Richard said before the game, his team had not seen the top echelon of the WAC.
The Bulldogs never got closer than the 14-point halftime deficit. Savovic scored seven straight points as Hawaii pulled away to a 56-35 lead after halftime.
Louisiana Tech made a late charge midway through the half, with Henderson scoring six unanswered points to pull his team to 65-47 with 8:28 to go. The Bulldogs never got closer than 18 the rest of the way.
Six straight free throws put Hawaii up 79-57 with 2:37 to go. The Rainbows had four walk-ons in when they scored their last points. After the Rainbows missed six consecutive free throws, freshman Gabe Lombard took a pass from Lance Takaki for his first career basket.
Freshman forward Tony Akpan made his debut for the Rainbows but did not score, missing all four free throw attempts in the final minutes.
Hawaii had 21 assists on its 27 baskets, led by Campbell and English with five each.
Mike McIntyre, as he usually does, began last night's game at the Stan Sheriff Center sitting down. Coach Riley Wallace likes to have his designated defensive stopper and 3-point popper right next to him at tip-off. Off bench,
McIntyre is keyBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comAnd also as usual, McIntyre's expression made dour look like overjoyed.
"Mike McIntyre will never love coming off the bench," Wallace said. "You wouldn't want him to. This is college and everybody wants to start and everybody wants 40 minutes. He's adjusted as much as he can.
"And he feels good right now."
McIntyre was smiling after UH's 81-61 victory over Louisiana Tech -- even with his lower left arm bandaged due to an encounter with teammate Predrag Savovic's teeth. But in the end, it was McIntyre who put the bite on the Bulldogs.
It began as a McIntyre kind of game -- a gritty struggle in which baskets are precious few; there were none in the first five minutes. The Rainbows and Bulldogs combined to miss their first 11 shots from the floor.
"We came out flat. Lucky they did too," Wallace said.
After five minutes, Hawaii led 6-5. McIntyre's first shot fit the theme: It was blocked.
Then he took it over.
In the space of 99 seconds of game time, McIntyre made three 3-pointers and fed Carl English for an alley-oop. Hawaii led 17-7 midway through the half, and after a couple of treys by Mark Campbell, the lead was 25-9 and never seriously threatened.
McIntyre finished with 22 points to tie his career-high.
"They kind of let us have what we wanted," the senior guard said. "They seemed kind of tired. They were kind of slow coming off the picks."
McIntyre made four of seven 3-pointers.
"Mike McIntyre came in and the energy came," Wallace said. "He hit some jump shots and there was better movement on the offense and we got things kind of going. Mike plays good defense, kept his man in front of him for the most part. That helps us. Then we got going and we executed our offense really well tonight."
Mindaugas Burneika also gave the Rainbows a lift off the bench, with 13 points on four of six shooting from the floor.
McIntyre and Burneika are both coming out of shooting slumps. How far the Rainbows go in what could be one of the program's best seasons ever depends on all seven of the players in the regular rotation.
Savovic is the all-conference player. English is the emerging star. Haim Shimonovich is the defensive force in the middle and pivot-point of the offense.
But none of them can take Hawaii to where it wants to go alone. The Rainbows know that, and that's part of the reason they are 14-2.
"This is a great team because it has a long bench," Burneika said. "Guys can step in there and do some damage."
Hawaii 81, Louisiana Tech 61
Bulldogs (8-5, 2-2)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Felton 5 9 2 2 30 3 2 12 Henderson 6 13 3 4 30 1 0 16 Brown 2 8 1 2 26 4 1 6 Johnson 1 3 0 0 22 6 1 2 Meeking 2 8 1 2 27 8 0 5 Powell 1 1 0 0 6 4 0 2 Edwards 1 5 0 0 18 2 1 3 Wilder 5 9 0 0 20 2 1 11 Cole 2 7 0 4 19 1 1 4 Ford 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 Totals 25 63 7 14 200 36 7 61 Rainbows (14-2, 5-0)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Savovic 5 8 1 2 21 3 2 12 Martin 2 5 1 1 19 3 0 5 Shimonovich 2 2 1 1 25 5 4 5 Campbell 4 9 0 0 32 5 5 10 English 3 8 5 6 28 3 5 11 McIntyre 6 14 6 7 31 1 3 22 Lombard 1 2 0 2 2 1 0 2 Takaki 0 1 0 0 4 0 1 0 Burneika 4 6 4 4 17 3 1 13 Holliday 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 Pickart 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Jesinskis 0 0 1 2 8 2 0 1 Akpan 0 0 0 4 9 1 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 Totals 27 55 19 29 200 32 21 81 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-Louisiana Tech 28, Hawaii 42.
3-point goals--Louisiana Tech4-17 (Henderson 1-6, Brown 1-3, Edwards 1-1, Wilder 1-3, Cole 0-3, Felton 0-1); Hawaii 8-21 (McIntyre 4-7, Campbell 2-5, Burneika 1-2, Savovic 1-2, English 0-3, Lombard 0-1, Takaki 0-1). Personal fouls--Louisiana Tech 20, Hawaii 16. Technical fouls--Louisiana Tech (bench). Steals--Louisiana Tech 7 (Wilder 4, Brown 2, Henderson); Hawaii 6 (Campbell 4, Martin, McIntyre). Blocked shots--Louisiana Tech 4 (Edwards 2, Felton, Meeking); Hawaii 3 (Shimonovich, Akpan, Martin, ). Turnovers--Louisiana Tech 13 (Brown 3, Wilder 3, Felton 2, Henderson 2, Edwards 2, Cole); Hawaii 11 (McIntyre 3, Shimonovich 3, English 2, Savovic, Martin, Campbell). Officials--Giarratano, White, Peterson. A--6,910.
UH Athletics