Sunday, January 20, 2002
[ UH BASKETBALL ]
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SAN JOSE, Calif. >> Maybe anonymity wasn't such a bad thing. ’Bows fall to lowly Spartans
From staff and wire reports
The Hawaii basketball team, finally getting some national attention, was blinded by the glare last night. The Rainbows may want to go back into hiding after losing to the bottom team in the Western Athletic Conference.
San Jose State, with its coach ejected early in the second half, stunned Hawaii 57-53 at the Event Center. It was the first WAC loss for the Rainbows (15-3, 6-1), ending a nine-game overall winning streak.
The Spartans (6-13, 1-6) got a career-high 17 points from David Granucci and surprisingly good free-throw shooting late in the contest to snap a six-game skid. It was San Jose State's first win since Dec. 22.
"It kills everything we've done so far," said Hawaii coach Riley Wallace. "The RPI, the national ranking which would have come next week. It's going to hurt for a while.
"We've got to get it going again, focus on basketball. And we need to win somewhere we're not supposed to."
Hawaii was "supposed" to win here but it never was a given. The Rainbows were 1-2 here the past three years and "we knew it wasn't going to be an easy game," said Wallace. "They've been waiting to put it together and I was afraid it would happen against us."
Wallace's fears were realized early on. The Rainbows got into foul trouble early and never adjusted to the officiating.
"We got a memo today from the WAC head of officials, who said they were going to be calling things tighter, such as hand-checking," said Wallace. "I don't like that they did they did it after the season started, after you've established the way you are going to play.
"But it's the same change for both teams. And our players never adjusted."
One Rainbow who was particularly frustrated was sophomore center Haim Shimonovich. He played a total of 13 minutes and fouled out with 41.4 seconds to go.
"You don't want to blame it on the officials, but I thought they really controlled the game," said sophomore forward Phil Martin, who played half of the second half with four fouls. "I know for me I was playing well (six points in the first 4:23) but then I got two quick fouls and it threw my momentum off.
"We'll try to use this as a positive to get us refocused and regroup. It's hard because it should have been our game."
But it wasn't, and it was evident that Hawaii had left its shooting game at the hotel.
Senior guard Predrag Savovic, the team's leading scorer, had four points in the first half, finishing with 12.
Martin and Burneika also scored 12 points and English added 11. Senior guard Mike McIntyre, who had scored a combined 39 points in the last two games, went scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting from the floor.
The Rainbows, averaging 9.6 3-pointers a game, hit just 3 of 20 from long range. Hawaii was also outrebounded 35-29.
Granucci, averaging 4.7 points, had 10 in the second half to help his team rally from a 27-24 halftime deficit. Hawkins, the team's leading scorer at 18.9 ppg, finished with 10, six coming in the final 2:20.
The Spartans, who had been struggling from the free-throw line recently, hit 13 of 26 from the line, but were 7 of 8 in the final 1:44.
Missed call?: Spartan coach Steve Barnes was ejected with 13:45 left in the game and his team leading 34-31. He was originally given two consecutive technicals but the officials later erased one.
"The officials said they just wanted him to leave," said Hawaii coach Riley Wallace. "But you can't just take one away like that. We could have used those free throws."
On the Net: Hawaii received quite a bit of exposure this week on ESPN.com. Both Andy Katz and Dick Vitale have stories on the Rainbows.
Ron Buck also has Hawaii on his six-team "Cinderella Watch" list, part of an interactive poll. The other teams are Ball State, Western Kentucky, Utah State, Vermont and Southern Illinois.
Fund-raiser begins: Hawaii, which finished second nationally in the Coaches vs. Cancer campaign last season, had $2,001 pledged on opening night last Tuesday.
Jeff Portnoy, the UH radio color commentator, opened with a $1,000 pledge. Hawaii coach Riley Wallace countered with $1,001.
Hawaii was second to Syracuse last year in the annual fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society. Money is raised based on the number of 3-point shots the Rainbows make this season.
To make a pledge, call 432-9153.
WAC
Fresno State 80, UTEP 77: At El Paso, Texas, Chris Sandy scored six of his 13 points in the final 1:31 to lift the Bulldogs (13-6, 5-2) past the Miners (7-12, 2-6).Sandy's scoring burst broke a 74-74 tie to give Fresno State an 80-74 lead with three seconds left.
Melvin Ely powered Fresno State inside, scoring 27 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and blocking four shots.
Louisiana Tech 57, Rice 43: At Ruston, La., Antonio Meeking had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Marco Cole added 13 points as the Bulldogs (10-6, 4-3) beat the Owls (6-10, 1-5).
Tulsa 95, Southern Methodist 87: At Dallas, Charlie Davis had 29 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Golden Hurricane (14-3, 5-1) to a victory over the Mustangs (10-7, 5-2).
Damon Hancock scored 27 points and Quinton Ross 26 for SMU.
Nevada 73, Boise St. 64: At Boise, Idaho, freshman Kirk Snyder, making his first college start, scored 17 points and Andre Hazel added another 17 off the bench to lead the Wolf Pack (11-6, 4-3) to a win over the Broncos (8-10, 2-6).
Boise State's Abe Jackson led all scorers with 27 points.
RAINBOWS (15-3, 6-1) San Jose State 57, Hawaii 53
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Savovic 3 13 5 6 30 9 3 12 Martin 6 10 0 0 23 5 0 12 Shimonovich 1 2 0 0 13 1 0 2 Campbell 1 2 2 2 37 2 2 4 English 4 12 1 3 37 3 5 11 McIntyre 0 4 0 0 16 0 0 0 Burneika 3 9 6 8 26 7 0 12 Jesinskis 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 Akpan 0 1 0 0 10 0 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 18 53 14 19 200 29 10 53 SPARTANS (6-13, 1-6)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Granucci 7 9 3 6 39 7 1 17 Thurmond 4 7 1 5 32 11 3 9 Hawkins 2 8 6 7 31 2 2 10 Davis 1 1 0 3 24 3 2 2 Calvert 1 2 0 1 23 3 0 3 Alvarez 2 9 0 0 15 1 0 6 Black 1 2 0 0 14 1 0 3 Okunrinboye 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 Valentine 2 5 3 4 15 3 0 7 Jenkins 0 1 0 0 6 1 1 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Totals 20 44 13 26 200 35 10 57 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 Jose State 24, Hawaii 27.
3-point goals--Hawaii 3-20 (Savovic 1-7, English 2-7, McIntyre 0-4, Burneika 0-2); San Jose State 4-12 (Alvarez 2-8, Black 1-2, Calvert 1-2);. Personal fouls--Hawaii 25, San Jose State 17. Technical fouls--San Jose State (bench). Steals--Hawaii 6 (English 2, Savovic, Shimonovich, McIntyre, Campbell); San Jose State 3 (Granucci, Thurmond, Hawkins); . Blocked shots--Hawaii 4 (Shimonovich 3, Martin); San Jose State 3 Granucci, Thurmond Okunrinboye). Turnovers--Hawaii 12 (Campbell 2, English 2, Martin 2); San Jose State 16 (Hawkins 4, Granucci 3, Thurmond 3).Officials--Hicks, Ditty, Reed. A--1,653.
WAC Standings
WAC games Overall W L Pct. GB W L Hawaii 6 1 -- .857 15 3 Tulsa 5 1 12 .833 14 3 Fresno St 5 2 1 .714 13 6 SMU 5 2 1 .714 10 7 Nevada 4 3 2 .571 11 6 La. Tech 4 3 2 .571 10 6 Boise St 2 6 412 .250 8 10 UTEP 2 6 412 .250 7 12 Rice 1 5 412 .167 6 10 San Jose 1 6 5 .143 6 13 Yesterday's results
San Jose St. 57, Hawaii 53
Louisiana Tech 57, Rice 43
Tulsa 95, SMU 87
Fresno St. 80, UTEP 77
Nevada 73, Boise St. 64
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii