Friday, February 1, 2002
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’Bows take There was about nine minutes left in the first half last night when Rod Jensen started hearing voices. His Boise State basketball team had a 15-14 lead on conference leader Hawaii and the Rainbows' hot-shooting guard, Mike McIntyre, had just missed his first 3-point attempt of the game.
Broncos for
long, tough ride
McIntyre hits 4 treys and UH holds off
a second-half surge by Boise StateBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com"He has been on this roll, was 10 of 15 last week," said Jensen. "But when he came in tonight and missed that first shot, there's a little voice in the back of my head saying, 'Maybe he's not going to shoot it like he has been.'
"It was the wrong thing to think because the next few minutes, he shot it as well as anyone in the conference."
McIntyre went off from 3-point land for the third game in a row, sinking his next four shots from behind the arc, to help Hawaii turn back Boise State, 67-56. A damp Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 6,014 (7,138 tickets) saw the Rainbows improve to 18-3, and a Western Athletic Conference-leading 9-1.
WAC newcomer Boise State, making its first trip to Honolulu, fell to 8-12 and 2-8. The Broncos, losing their fifth straight, head to San Jose State for tomorrow's contest; the Spartans held off Hawaii's next opponent, Texas-El Paso, 67-62, last night.
It was Hawaii's 19th win in 20 home games, dating back to last season.
But it wasn't easy.
Just as they had in the Jan. 5 game in Idaho, the Broncos made a second-half charge. Boise State closed to within two twice, the last at 46-44 with 7:01 left in the game.
But unlike their last meeting with the Rainbows, the Broncos could never take the lead. Senior Abe Jackson, the WAC leader in 3-point goal average, missed an open shot from behind the line that would have put his team ahead with 5:45 remaining.
McIntyre rebounded and Predrag Savovic nailed Hawaii's only 3-pointer of the second half. McIntyre then popped from inside the top of the key to put the Rainbows on top, 51-44.
The teams traded baskets before Hawaii spent the final 2:10 at the free-throw line, putting the game away by hitting 14 of 18 from the line.
"Yeah, it was one of those nights when you feel good about just getting the win and you just want to move on," said McIntyre, who finished with 14 points, 12 in the first half. "We did not play well but we'll be ready for UTEP (tomorrow). They beat us here last year and we don't want that to happen again."
Unlike previous games where the Rainbows got rattled when the other team rallied, last night Hawaii held tough.
"We are more confident now than earlier," said Savovic, who finished with a team-high 20 points. "But we can't take it for granted. It's not a given.
"We have a lot to improve on. We need to improve our offense and our defense. Tonight, we missed a lot of layups. I missed four personally. Those are points we will need if we want to go anywhere (in the postseason)."
Today, Hawaii went back to work on defensive recognition. After halftime, Boise State adjusted its defense, switching from man to zone and back to man, which stalled the Rainbows' offense.
Hawaii hit seven 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes to take a 37-28 lead into the locker room but didn't take a long-distance shot until McIntyre came off the bench with 11:30 to go.
McIntyre, the reigning WAC Player of the Week, missed two of his 3-point attempts while Boise State rallied to 46-44 with 7:01 left. But tough defense and free throws carried Hawaii to victory, and its best record in 30 years.
The Rainbows now have the fifth-best record in the country, behind only Duke, Kansas, Cincinnati and Gonzaga in winning percentage.
Hawaii, with one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios nationally, finished with 15 assists on 20 baskets and just 10 turnovers. In the first half, the Rainbows had an amazing 13 assists on their 14 field goals, and didn't commit a turnover until there was 10:25 left in the first half.
The Rainbows outrebounded the Broncos, 31-28, with Savovic and Haim Shimonovich grabbing eight apiece. Mindaugas Burneika added 10 for Hawaii while also in double figures for Boise State was Bryan Defares with 14.
McIntyre has now hit 14 3-pointers in his last three games and "again he gave us energy off the bench," said Hawaii coach Riley Wallace. "He worked hard all week to keep that shot going. He likes that feeling, I like that feeling and the fans like that feeling."
McIntyre even shared it with Jackson before the game.
"He told me that he was in one of the zones and he went out and proved it by hitting those four in a row," said Jackson.
"That gave them a big boost in the first half. Two of those shots we messed up on (defensively) and two he made with guys in his face. I don't know if there's anything you can do. When he's hot he's hot.
"We played very hard. If we played as hard as we did tonight when we played them at home, I think we would have come out with a 'W.'"
Boise State had 16 turnovers, 11 of those on steals by Hawaii. Rainbow junior point guard Mark Campbell scored just seven points, all on free throws, but had five steals and just one turnover.
Hawaii 67, Boise St. 56
Broncos (8-12, 2-8 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Defares 4 6 6 6 31 9 6 14 Williams 1 3 0 0 31 0 3 2 Jackson 8 14 2 5 38 6 0 21 Tillman 3 5 0 0 32 6 0 6 Ellis 1 1 0 0 15 2 0 2 Nabors 2 6 2 3 18 1 3 6 Wyatt 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Gerichs 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 0 Morgan 2 6 1 4 21 1 0 5 Gainous 0 1 0 0 11 0 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 21 43 11 18 200 28 12 56 Rainbows (18-3, 9-1 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Savovic 6 17 5 6 35 8 0 20 Martin 3 5 0 0 20 6 0 6 Shimonovich 1 3 3 5 37 8 4 5 Campbell 0 2 7 8 32 0 6 7 English 1 9 2 2 27 1 3 5 McIntyre 5 8 0 2 23 1 2 14 Burneika 4 9 2 2 26 4 0 10 Team 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Totals 20 53 19 25 200 31 15 67 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 37, Boise St. 28.
3-point goals--Boise St. 3-9 (Jackson 3-7, Morgan 0-2); Hawaii 8-21 (McIntyre 4-7, Savovic 3-8 Burneika 0-2, English 1-4). Personal fouls--Boise St. 23, Hawaii 17. Technical fouls--none. Steals--Boise St. 3 (Ellis, Nabors, Morgan); Hawaii 11 (Campbell 5, Martin 3, Savovic 2, Burneika). Blocked shots--Boise St. 4 (Tillman); Hawaii none. Turnovers--Boise St. 16 (Defares 4, Williams 4, Jackson 3, Tillman 2, Booker 2, Morgan); Hawaii 10 (English 4, Savovic 2, Shimonovich, Campbell, McIntyre, Burneika). Officials--Sitov, Brill, Danner. A--7,138.
UH Athletics