TULSA, Okla. >> Mike McIntyre doesn't care about the seeding. He doesn't care about the travel. McIntyre not ready for
season to endBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comAll the senior guard for the Hawaii basketball team cares about is that the season will continue.
"This season has been so great, breaking the (win) record and all," said McIntyre. "It's great that the season isn't ended. I'm not ready to go home."
McIntyre is Hawaii's only four-year letterman this season, and just the seventh four-year player in coach Riley Wallace's 15 seasons.
McIntyre has gone from a 6-20 season his freshman year to a school record-setting 27-5 ... and counting. The difference in his four years is confidence.
"I expected us to win Saturday," McIntyre said of the 73-59 victory over Tulsa in the Western Athletic Conference tournament title game. "We played a great team game.
"It's what we'll have to do against Xavier. I've watched them on TV. They're a good team and we'll have to be ready to play. We'll really need our big men because they have a pretty good big man."
McIntyre was referring to Xavier's 6-foot-7 junior David West, who is averaging 18.5 points and 9.9 rebounds a game.
'D' is the key: Hawaii held Tulsa to a season-low 59 points Saturday, the fewest points scored by the Golden Hurricane since losing at SMU, 69-54, last year.
The Rainbows also held Tulsa to 34 percent shooting from the floor, the Hurricane's lowest percentage since last year's WAC tournament title game against Hawaii. The Rainbows also shut down the nation's leading 3-point shooter in guard Dante Swanson, who went 0-for-5 from long range.
On Wisconsin: The Badgers are the only common opponent for Hawaii and Xavier this season. The Rainbows topped Wisconsin, 60-57, for third place in the Big Island Invitational on Nov. 25, and Xavier downed the visiting Badgers, 57-48, on Dec. 10.
The seventh seed is Xavier's second-highest ever and matches the seeding it had the last time it won an NCAA Tournament game. The Musketeers, who have twice held a sixth seed, downed Vanderbilt as a seventh seed in 1997 before falling in the second round to UCLA.
Xavier is 6-13 all-time in 13 NCAA Tournament appearances. Last year, the Musketeers, an 11th seed, lost to Notre Dame, 83-71, in the first round in Kansas City, Mo.
Xavier's best showing in an NCAA Tournament was a run to the Sweet 16 in 1990. That year, the Musketeers beat Kansas State and Georgetown in Indianapolis before falling to Texas in Dallas.
Oh, brother: Hawaii senior guard Predrag Savovic, who shaved his head yesterday to signify "tournament time," spent the afternoon watching younger brother Boban playing for Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament title game against Iowa. A day after Predrag was named the WAC tournament MVP, Boban picked up "Player of the Game" honors from CBS following a career-high 27 points.
The Savovics' parents traveled from Yugoslavia to Indianapolis and were in the stands watching Ohio State's win over Iowa. Predrag Savovic said he spoke with his parents after Saturday's victory; they had watched Hawaii's game on ESPN2.
"That was the first time my father has seen me play in six years," Savovic said.
"He said he almost went through the television during the game."
Savovic took plenty of kidding from his teammates and coaches after his younger brother praised his skills and was interviewed on the postgame show.
Boban said he hoped that Ohio State and Hawaii would play each other in the NCAA Tournament "because I'd like to play my brother in America."
NCAA tickets: Tickets for the NCAA Regional in Dallas are available by calling UH at 956-6501 or 956-4482.