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’Bows’ seniors DALLAS >> There are few places as depressing as the locker room after a season-ending loss. It was particularly sad yesterday for the Hawaii basketball team, which not only saw its record-setting season come to a close, but will also lose three players from what has become a family.
bow out
By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com
It was the last time the Rainbows would be gathered in their green-and-white uniforms. In some ways, they were happy the bus was late; it gave them a few more quiet minutes together as a team.
Finishing their careers yesterday on a disappointing note were guards Predrag Savovic and Mike McIntyre, and forward Mindaugas Burneika. All three are on track to graduate within the next year, although Savovic may opt for the upcoming NBA Draft and Burneika, 18 credits short of a degree, could get a contract from a European pro team.
"It's going to be tough to replace the seniors," sophomore guard Carl English said after yesterday's 70-58 loss to No. 7 seed Xavier in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. "Savo can score all day long, Daug (Burneika) and Mike bring such energy every game. They're all great 3-point shooters. We're going to lose about 40 points when they go."
Savovic, McIntyre and Burneika combined to average 39.3 points a game for Hawaii (27-6) this season, accounting for about 55 percent of the offense. They also combined for 172 of the team's school-record 241 3-pointers this season, with Savovic finishing as Hawaii's all-time 3-point shooter (178), McIntyre third (159) and Burneika 10th (56).
Savovic also finished his career as Nos. 2, 6 and 10 on the UH single-season list for 3-pointers. He had 75 this season, 61 as a junior and 42 as a sophomore. He also finished with 1,414 points, only the ninth UH player to hit the 1,000-point mark. Savovic is fourth on the all-time scoring list.
McIntyre holds the No. 5 spot with 63 3-pointers this year. English moved into the list at No. 8 with 57 this year.
"There's only one word I've been using for this team all season, and that is 'special,' " said Rainbow coach Riley Wallace. "They're a special group of guys. They were together. We can rebuild, but we can never replace those three seniors, especially Savo. He's an All-American athletically, academically and as a person.
"Mike and Mindaugas were role players who accepted their roles. It's too bad Mindaugas had a terrible day (0 points), otherwise he's had a good senior year. And Mike grew as a person and a player. He earned the respect of his teammates."
McIntyre is only the seventh four-year player in Wallace's 15 seasons.
For the record: This Hawaii team finishes with the most wins in school history (27) and the fewest losses under Wallace (6). A tearful Burneika yesterday challenged next year's team.
"We won 27 games playing as a team," said Burneika. "They have great guys coming back. We'll see what they can do. They have a chance to beat our record. We leave that challenge for them."
With his only sister watching in the stands, Burneika went scoreless in his final game as a Rainbow. The 38 percent 3-point shooter went 0-for-5 from long distance yesterday, and didn't score for the first time this season.
"It's not sad, it hurts to lose a game like this when you have the lead," the Lithuanian native said. "And then, we only shot six free throws."
The big discrepancy in yesterday's game came from the line. Hawaii was 4 of 6, Xavier 21 of 24.
"You're not going to win a ballgame with that kind of discrepancy," said Wallace.
He wouldn't comment on the officiating except to agree that it was "inconsistent."
By the numbers: Junior guard Mark Campbell, eighth on the UH single-season assist list (151), had none yesterday. It was the first time that happened all year for one of the top assist men in the Western Athletic Conference.
Yesterday also marked the first time that sophomore Haim Shimonovich did not score this season. The 6-foot-10 Shimonovich played just 17 minutes while hampered by foul trouble most of the game. He had four blocks, three in the first half, and fouled out with 69 seconds left in the game.
Hawaii committed 16 turnovers, well off their season-high 23 against Alcorn State.
The Rainbows scored just 18 second-half points, one shy of the season low of 17 that came against Colorado State and Drake. Yesterday's 12-point loss was the largest margin of defeat, surpassing the 10-point margin in the 79-69 defeat at Nevada on Feb. 28.
The team had gone 4-0 in March, snapping that winning streak yesterday. Xavier has now won seven straight.
Hawaii was 2-5 when scoring fewer than 60 points. Only against Georgia (58-44) and Nevada (58-40) did the Rainbows win with fewer than 60 points. Hawaii was 25-1 when scoring 60 points or more, the only exception being the 79-69 loss at Nevada.
Coming home: Hawaii, on the road since Feb. 26, returns to Honolulu tonight on Delta Flight 219 out of San Francisco. The estimated arrival time for the players and associate head coach Bob Nash is 9:36 p.m.
Wallace and several of his assistants will remain on the mainland this coming week to scout prospective players. Hawaii has four scholarships available for next season.