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Going Dancing TULSA, Okla. >> The locker room speech was simple.
Hawaii wins its second WAC
tournament title in a row, ensuring
a spot in the NCAA TournamentRainbows find the road through Tulsa isn't so rough
UH fans held their breath
By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com"It's a 20-minute game. Get after it!"
With the words of their coach still ringing in their ears, members of the Hawaii basketball team sprinted back onto the Reynolds Arena court. And into history.
Using an 8-0 run to open the second half and stifling defense to frustrate their hosts, the Rainbow Warriors outmuscled and outhustled Tulsa 73-59 last night to win the Western Athletic Conference tournament championship for the second year in a row.
Hawaii (27-5) became the fourth team to successfully defend its WAC tournament title, and the first since Brigham Young in 1991-92.
Hawaii senior guard Predrag Savovic scored 28 points en route to being named tournament MVP, the second consecutive year a Rainbow has won the top honor. Phil Martin added 13 while last year's tourney MVP, Carl English, had his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Rainbows will find out today where the NCAA selection committee will send them for the first round. The Golden Hurricane (26-6) are also hoping to receive an at-large bid.
"Both teams deserve to be in," said Hawaii coach Riley Wallace, who will be taking his third Rainbow team to the NCAAs. "Tulsa is a very, very good basketball team. They should be able to win a few games in the Tournament.
"Our goal all season was to win this, get into the Tournament and win one for the first time. Hawaii's never done that in the three times we've been in the NCAA Tournament."
There's a first time for everything, as the Rainbows proved last night. Hawaii had not won a game all season in which it had not hit at least seven 3-pointers.
Last night, in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,355, Hawaii showed that it could go inside to score when it needed to and rebound when it had to. The Rainbows outrebounded the Golden Hurricane 27-16 in the second half to finish with a 44-39 edge on the boards.
Hawaii celebrated sophomore Martin's 22nd birthday by becoming the first team to defeat Tulsa three times in the Reynolds Center. Martin, named to the all-tournament team, scored 13 points and had 9 rebounds before fouling out with 1:32 left in the game.
"Just like last year, when it was my birthday, I made my wish but never told anyone until after we had won it," said Martin. "The same goes this time around. It was a great win for my birthday."
Martin frustrated Tulsa junior forward Kevin Johnson all night. Johnson, the team's leading scorer with a 14.8-point average, was in foul trouble most of the game; he finished with four points, one basket in each half.
"Phil was our MVP on defense again, he was outstanding," Wallace said. "He did a good job inside on Johnson and then was quick enough to go out on (junior guard Dante) Swanson.
"The thing about our team is they have so much heart. When they're playing together, they're hard to beat anywhere."
Hawaii silenced the pro-Tulsa crowd by capitalizing on the Hurricane's cold shooting (0-for-6), to break a 29-29 tie at halftime and take a 37-29 lead.
When the Rainbows' outside shooting failed to materialize -- they were 0-for-7 in the second half -- Wallace instructed players to pound it inside over the smaller Tulsa lineup.
"We listened to Coach," Savovic said. "He asked us to go inside a little more. We got posted up, got good looks, and we won."
It wasn't as easy as the final score indicates. Hawaii was cruising with a 52-36 lead when the Rainbows got a little sloppy. Tulsa scored five points in two seconds on a basket by Greg Harrington, an inbounds steal and a basket-and-one by Jason Parker.
The momentum blew over to the Hurricane as they outscored Hawaii 15-2 in a three-minute span. The run was capped by Tulsa hitting three consecutive 3-pointers, two by Parker and one by Antonio Reed, to close to 54-51.
"I was concerned because our 3s weren't falling and Tulsa was very capable of going off with their 3s," Wallace said. "They can come back on you in a hurry.
"But we screwed it down on defense, rebounded well, and were able to win."
The Rainbows did it at the line. After Martin's basket put Hawaii ahead 63-55 with 2:53 to go, the Rainbows sank 10 of 14 free throws to pull away.
Tulsa, which outshot Hawaii from 3-point range (7 of 24), was led by Reed and Parker, both with 18 points. Harrington, the lone senior on the team, added 11.
Also in double figures for Hawaii was Mindaugas Burneika (12).
"It was a frustrating game for the players and the coaches," Tulsa coach John Phillips said. "Part of the danger of having this kind of season was we hadn't been behind a lot. I think when we got behind at the start of the second half -- I won't say we panicked, but we didn't do the things we've been doing all year.
"Because we've been so competitive, we haven't really learned that we can be behind 15 to 18 points and still come back and win it. I think they realized when we cut it to 3 that we had gotten in a hurry and done things out of character. Hopefully, we'll learn from that and be able to use it next week."
This was the fourth consecutive time Hawaii was able to defeat Tulsa, and the third straight time at the Reynolds Center. The teams went to overtime in last year's championship game.
As close as the teams had been this season, it was no surprise that it was tied at halftime. The opening 20 minutes had seven lead changes and four ties.
Savovic kept Hawaii in the game, picking up where he left off in Friday's game. The senior guard hit three 3-pointers and had 12 points in the first half.
Tulsa led by nine points twice, the last at 25-16 when Parker hit one of the Golden Hurricane's three 3-pointers of the half.
The tenacious Hawaii defense held Tulsa to just four free throws in the final 8:43. The Hurricane's defense was just as tough, sticking to the Rainbow outside shooters like flypaper.
Hawaii clawed back in the last 3:15. With UH trailing 27-23, Martin hit a fadeaway jumper in the key, Burneika got loose for a layup and Martin closed the first-half scoring with two free throws to tie it at 29.
The Rainbows had chances to take the lead but turned the ball over twice on fast breaks.
Junior walk-on Ryne Holliday had a tough assignment in the final 22.7 seconds. Subbing for McIntyre (two fouls), Holliday was up against Reed, an all-tournament pick here last year.
Holliday got Reed to turn the ball over, only to have Haim Shimonovich called for traveling. Then Holliday forced a scramble during the last two seconds, preventing Tulsa from getting a shot off.
Notes: The all-tournament team included Tulsa's Kevin Johnson and Greg Harrington, Melvin Ely of Fresno State, and Hawaii's Martin and Savovic (MVP). ... Hawaii committed just six turnovers, three in each half.
There's a first time for everything, as the Rainbows proved last night. Hawaii had not won a game all season in which it had not hit at least seven 3-pointers.
Last night, in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,355, Hawaii showed that it could go inside to score when it needed to and rebound when it had to. The Rainbows outrebounded the Golden Hurricane 27-16 in the second half to finish with a 44-39 edge on the boards.
Hawaii celebrated sophomore Martin's 22nd birthday by becoming the first team to defeat Tulsa three times in the Reynolds Center. Martin, named to the all-tournament team, scored 13 points and had 9 rebounds before fouling out with 1:32 left in the game.
"Just like last year, when it was my birthday, I made my wish but never told anyone until after we had won it," said Martin. "The same goes this time around. It was a great win for my birthday."
Martin frustrated Tulsa junior forward Kevin Johnson all night. Johnson, the team's leading scorer with a 14.8-point average, was in foul trouble most of the game; he finished with four points, one basket in each half.
"Phil was our MVP on defense again, he was outstanding," Wallace said. "He did a good job inside on Johnson and then was quick enough to go out on (junior guard Dante) Swanson.
"The thing about our team is they have so much heart. When they're playing together, they're hard to beat anywhere."
Hawaii silenced the pro-Tulsa crowd by capitalizing on the Hurricane's cold shooting (0-for-6), to break a 29-29 tie at halftime and take a 37-29 lead.
When the Rainbows' outside shooting failed to materialize -- they were 0-for-7 in the second half -- Wallace instructed players to pound it inside over the smaller Tulsa lineup.
"We listened to Coach," Savovic said. "He asked us to go inside a little more. We got posted up, got good looks, and we won."
It wasn't as easy as the final score indicates. Hawaii was cruising with a 52-36 lead when the Rainbows got a little sloppy. Tulsa scored five points in two seconds on a basket by Greg Harrington, an inbounds steal and a basket-and-one by Jason Parker.
The momentum blew over to the Hurricane as they outscored Hawaii 15-2 in a three-minute span. The run was capped by Tulsa hitting three consecutive 3-pointers, two by Parker and one by Antonio Reed, to close to 54-51.
"I was concerned because our 3s weren't falling and Tulsa was very capable of going off with their 3s," Wallace said. "They can come back on you in a hurry.
"But we screwed it down on defense, rebounded well, and were able to win."
The Rainbows did it at the line. After Martin's basket put Hawaii ahead 63-55 with 2:53 to go, the Rainbows sank 10 of 14 free throws to pull away.
Tulsa, which outshot Hawaii from 3-point range (7 of 24), was led by Reed and Parker, both with 18 points. Harrington, the lone senior on the team, added 11.
Also in double figures for Hawaii was Mindaugas Burneika (12).
"It was a frustrating game for the players and the coaches," Tulsa coach John Phillips said. "Part of the danger of having this kind of season was we hadn't been behind a lot. I think when we got behind at the start of the second half -- I won't say we panicked, but we didn't do the things we've been doing all year.
"Because we've been so competitive, we haven't really learned that we can be behind 15 to 18 points and still come back and win it. I think they realized when we cut it to 3 that we had gotten in a hurry and done things out of character. Hopefully, we'll learn from that and be able to use it next week."
This was the fourth consecutive time Hawaii was able to defeat Tulsa, and the third straight time at the Reynolds Center. The teams went to overtime in last year's championship game.
As close as the teams had been this season, it was no surprise that it was tied at halftime. The opening 20 minutes had seven lead changes and four ties.
Savovic kept Hawaii in the game, picking up where he left off in Friday's game. The senior guard hit three 3-pointers and had 12 points in the first half.
Tulsa led by nine points twice, the last at 25-16 when Parker hit one of the Golden Hurricane's three 3-pointers of the half.
The tenacious Hawaii defense held Tulsa to just four free throws in the final 8:43. The Hurricane's defense was just as tough, sticking to the Rainbow outside shooters like flypaper.
The selection committee announces the NCAA Tournament men's bracket NCAA selections
When: Today, 1 p.m.
TV: KGMB
Hawaii clawed back in the last 3:15. With UH trailing 27-23, Martin hit a fadeaway jumper in the key, Burneika got loose for a layup and Martin closed the first-half scoring with two free throws to tie it at 29.
The Rainbows had chances to take the lead but turned the ball over twice on fast breaks.
Junior walk-on Ryne Holliday had a tough assignment in the final 22.7 seconds. Subbing for McIntyre (two fouls), Holliday was up against Reed, an all-tournament pick here last year.
Holliday got Reed to turn the ball over, only to have Haim Shimonovich called for traveling. Then Holliday forced a scramble during the last two seconds, preventing Tulsa from getting a shot off.
Notes: The all-tournament team included Tulsa's Kevin Johnson and Greg Harrington, Melvin Ely of Fresno State, and Hawaii's Martin and Savovic (MVP). ... Hawaii committed just six turnovers, three in each half.
Hawaii 73, Tulsa 59
GOLDEN HURRICANE (26-6, 15-3) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Davis 2 3 0 0 38 7 1 4 Johnson 2 8 0 0 22 6 0 4 Swanson 1 9 0 0 37 4 0 2 Reed 6 13 3 4 39 3 1 18 Harrington 2 11 6 6 38 6 5 11 Glenn 1 3 0 0 5 1 0 2 Parker 7 12 1 1 18 3 2 18 Ledoux 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 0 Ingram 0 2 0 0 3 4 2 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 Totals 21 62 10 11 200 39 11 59 RAINBOWS (27-5, 15-3) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Martin 5 16 3 4 27 9 0 13 Shimonovich 3 5 0 0 31 7 6 6 Savovic 9 21 7 9 33 6 1 28 Campbell 0 2 1 2 26 5 1 1 English 3 9 5 7 40 10 2 11 McIntyre 0 3 2 4 19 2 0 2 Burneika 5 9 2 2 24 2 2 12 Holliday 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Totals 25 65 20 28 200 44 12 73 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 29, Tulsa 29.
3-point goals--Hawaii 3-18 (Savovic 3-11, Burneika 0-2, English 0-2, McIntyre 0-3), Tulsa 7-24 (Reed 3-6, Parker 3-6, Harrington 1-4, Ledoux 0-1, Ingram 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Swanson 0-5). Personal fouls--Hawaii 15, Tulsa 21. Technical fouls--none. Steals--Hawaii 7 (English 3, Shimonovich 2, McIntyre, Martin); Tulsa 2 (Harrington, Parker). Blocked shots--Hawaii 4 (Shimonovich 3, Campbell); Tulsa 7 (Johnson 4, davis, Swanson, Ingram). Turnovers--Hawaii 6 (Burneika 2, McIntyre 2, Martin, Shimonovich); Tulsa 13 (Harrington 4, Ledoux 3, Davis 2, Parker 2, Johnson,Swanson, ). Officials--Harrington, Bosone, Jannsen. A--8,355.
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