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DALLAS >> It was like the introduction to the old "Mission: Impossible" television series. XAVIER 70, HAWAII 58
Hawaii collapses in the second
Serbians cheer on Savovic
half against a tough Xavier defenseBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com"This tape will self-destruct in 10 seconds."
Yesterday, Hawaii's hopes of advancing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time took a little longer. But there is no question that the last 36 seconds of the first half led to the Rainbows' destruction at the American Airlines Center.
No. 7-seeded Xavier outscored 10th-seeded Hawaii 37-18 in the final 20 minutes to pull away to a 70-58 victory. Add the final 36 seconds of the first half to that -- when Xavier sophomore guard Romain Sato scored five points -- and it becomes a 42-18 run for the Musketeers into tomorrow's second-round game with third-seeded Oklahoma.
"It was a lousy 30 seconds or so," said Hawaii sophomore forward Phil Martin, who finished with 11 points. "It wasn't enough to get us totally down. We were still ahead (40-33 at halftime). But the other team held on to that last 30 seconds and brought it back to the court in the second half.
"We got frustrated, the shots weren't falling, and we started thinking, 'What the hell's going on?' I know that I caught myself putting my head down for a minute, walking back on defense. We had that game and we knew it."
And then it slipped away. What would have been the Rainbows' biggest victory in school history instead turned into a scramble for airplane reservations back to Honolulu today.
The Rainbows finish with their best record, 27-6. The Musketeers will try to build on their 26-5 mark in tomorrow's second round.
Hawaii, now 0-4 in NCAA Tournament games, played what coach Riley Wallace likes to call "Rainbow Ball" for the first 16:57 of the first half. Carl English had just hit what would be his only 3-pointer of the game, and the Rainbows -- bolstered by Predrag Savovic's 16 points -- were cruising at 40-28.
Freshman forward Tony Akpan's block of Xavier All-American David West ignited the sellout crowd of 19,951, but it also fueled the Musketeers. Sato began his team's comeback with a jumper and Hawaii called a timeout with 33.6 seconds left to set up a final play, leading 40-30.
"I wanted them to run it down to 1 or 2 seconds and make sure that, if we didn't score, they couldn't," said Wallace. "Carl (English) went in too soon, he thought he had a seam that wasn't there, and got called for the charge. He probably was fouled, but we didn't get the call."
Hawaii didn't make the defensive stop, either, after making a defensive switch. Junior guard Mark Campbell got caught in a screen and Sato hit from the top of the key as the buzzer sounded, cutting it to 40-33.
"When Sato hit that big 3, it gave us the momentum coming into the second half," said Xavier guard Lionel Chalmers.
"But we knew the only way we were going to win was to play defense," said Sato, who led Xavier with 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
"They go into the locker room pumped and we go in getting chewed," said Wallace.
Xavier came back in the second half and put the bite on Hawaii. The Rainbows couldn't buy a basket in the opening 8:26; they missed their first 11 shots while the Musketeers used a 13-1 run to take the lead for good at 46-41.
The Rainbows had chances to recover but failed to convert on turnovers and missed several open layups. Hawaii cut it to 48-45 with 9:14 to go, but the Musketeers scored six unanswered points.
The Rainbows never got closer than five -- 61-56, on Savovic's fourth 3-pointer -- before being forced to foul late. Xavier hit 9 of 10 free throws in the last 56 seconds to pull away, handing Hawaii its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament loss, all by double digits.
Xavier had five players in double figures, led by Sato's 18. West finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds, Chalmers had 15 points and Alvin Brown and Kevin Frey 10 apiece.
"We beat an unbelievable basketball team," said Xavier coach Thad Matta. "They had so many answers on offense. But our guys never lost focus, they continued to play through everything, and I thought that was the game right there.
"I told Savovic at the end of the game that it will be fun watching him the next 10 years (in the NBA). I've never seen someone with such a quick release. He's incredible."
Savovic finished with a game-high 26 points, leaving him fourth on UH's all-time scoring list with 1,414. He was one point shy of tying Alika Smith for third place.
He also finished his career as the all-time 3-point leader with 178. Senior guard Mike McIntyre, who hit three 3-pointers yesterday, finished third on the all-time list at 159, two shy of tying Smith for second place.
"When you play the game, it's 40 minutes," said Savovic. "There will be ups and downs sometimes. We got in a slump, took some shots we shouldn't have taken.
"If we had another chance, we wouldn't do that. But like Coach said, it's one and out. This is the one we shouldn't lose and we lost it. There is no redemption."
And, for the first time in six months, the Rainbows have no game for which to prepare.
Xavier 70, Hawaii 58
Musketeers (26-5)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Frey 3 8 4 4 36 5 0 10 Young 1 3 0 0 9 2 0 2 West 4 10 5 6 28 11 0 13 Chalmers 4 13 7 8 38 6 6 15 Sato 6 13 3 4 40 10 1 18 Williams 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 Coleman 0 0 0 0 11 1 1 0 Brown 4 4 2 2 23 3 0 10 Jackson 1 3 0 0 13 0 0 2 Team 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Totals 23 54 21 24 200 40 8 70 Rainbows (27-6)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Martin 5 12 1 2 31 9 1 11 English 4 15 0 1 35 9 2 9 Shimonovich 0 3 0 0 17 5 1 0 Savovic 10 21 2 2 38 5 3 26 Campbell 1 1 1 1 30 4 0 3 McIntyre 3 7 0 0 25 0 0 9 Takaki 0 0 0 0 0+ 0 0 0 Burneika 0 5 0 0 21 2 3 0 Holliday 0 0 0 0 0+ 0 0 0 Jesinskis 0 0 0 0 0+ 0 0 0 Akpan 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 Team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 23 64 4 6 200 35 10 58 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 40, Xavier 33.
3-point goals -- Xavier 3-15 (Sato 3-8, Chalmers 0-4, Frey 0-2, West 0-1); Hawaii 8-24 (Savovic 4-9, McIntyre 3-7, English 1-5, Burneika 0-3). Personal fouls -- Xavier 13, Hawaii 21. Technical fouls -- none. Steals -- Xavier 9 (Chalmers 5, Brown 2, West, Sato); Hawaii 7 (Shimonovich 2, Savovic 2, Campbell 2, Martin). Blocked shots -- Xavier 5 (Frey, West, Chalmers, Coleman, Jackson); Hawaii 6 (Shimonovich 4, Martin, Akpan). Turnovers -- Xavier 14 (Chalmers 5, West 3, Sato 2, Brown 2, Young, Jackson); Hawaii 16 (English 7, Savovic 3, Campbell 2, McIntyre 2, Martin, Shimonovich). Officials -- Burr, Poole, Skiles. A -- 19,951.
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It was one of those only in Hawaii scenes. Serbians gather
to cheer on SavovicBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comA group of Serbians in a Waikiki English-theme sports bar going crazy over a basketball game being played in Dallas.
The fans at Fox and Hounds Pub and Grub at Discovery Bay thrilled with Hawaii's play in the first half of the Rainbows' NCAA Tournament game against Xavier. But, like the rest of the state, they were left deflated with the final outcome, a 70-58 victory for the Musketeers.
These fans are unique, though, because they are countrymen of Hawaii star Predrag Savovic, who comes from Herceg Novi in what used to be Yugoslavia.
The Serbian community in Hawaii is small, but tight.
"We hang out together, we play together," said Miki Vranesevic, its unofficial leader. "We support each other."
The group of 10 shouted its approval at the big screen TV as Savovic scored 16 of his 26 points in the first half and UH took a 40-33 lead.
"We're pulling away," after Hawaii went up 22-18.
"Slowly, but surely," as the lead increased to 34-26.
"That's NBA, baby, that's not fair," a minute later when Savovic's 3-pointer made it 37-26.
"You are not Savo," after a Xavier miss.
But the momentum, and then, the lead, changed in the second half. So did the mood of the group as the Rainbows couldn't make a shot. Not even Savo could make one.
It got awfully quiet at Fox and Hounds.
Then it was over, and so was Savovic's college career.
"It's too bad more people in Hawaii didn't see him play more. He was here for three years," Vranesevic said. "Only a few games were sellouts. They missed out. But he showed the fans here that Europeans can play basketball. They play a technical style, but that's what (coach) Riley (Wallace) likes.
"A lot of pro scouts got to see (Savovic), he got good exposure," Vranesevic said. "I think he will play in the NBA."
Although she was disappointed with Hawaii's loss, Doris Bikar smiled afterward when asked about Savovic.
"It's nice to see people from our country doing good," she said.
Mike Palmer wasn't sitting with the Serbs, but he, too, cheered for UH.
"I was listening to the game at work," the condominium maintenance man said. "They were doing so well I decided to take a break and watch the second half.
"Then everything went downhill. But they had a great year. Too bad they couldn't keep it going."
Even Xavier alumni in Hawaii rooted for the Rainbows.
"I don't really follow Xavier that closely, so I would have liked Hawaii to win," said Joseph Goldcamp, an accountant who received an MBA from the Cincinnati school.
Recently retired physician Winfred Chang completed his undergraduate studies at Xavier, but is a UH basketball fan and has rarely seen the Musketeers play over the years.
"I'm sorry we lost," Chang said. "My friend said, 'Hey, your team won.' I said, 'Yeah, I guess so.' I guess I'll follow (Xavier) through the tournament now."
UH Athletics
