ASSOCIATED PRESS
The closest a Division II Hawaii team has come to winning a Division I tournament was last year, when Tyree Gardner and Brigham Young-Hawaii lost to Tulsa in the final of the Yahoo! Sports Invitational. Hawaii Pacific takes on Alaska-Fairbanks, which last month became the first D-II team to win an eight-team D-I tourney, tomorrow.
For all these years, Hawaii's NCAA Division II basketball teams have scheduled Division I tournaments with one thought in mind -- have everything go right and win the whole thing. Battle-tested Fairbanks
to challenge HPUBy Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comA Hawaii team still has not accomplished it -- the closest was Brigham Young-Hawaii getting into its final against Tulsa last year -- but Hawaii Pacific will get a firsthand look at what it takes this weekend.
The Sea Warriors host Alaska-Fairbanks tomorrow and Sunday at Mid-Pacific Gym in what has become a crucial regional matchup.
Most local coaches don't like to test their teams in games that matter to the region until just before conference play, and HPU's Russell Dung is no different. He put good teams like St. Mary's and Fort Lewis on the schedule, but tried to stay away from the great teams until meeting the teams in his conference. But the Nanooks ruined all that in one weekend.
Alaska-Fairbanks won its D-I tournament at the end of November, beating Weber State 77-65 in the championship game. It reached the finals of the eight-team affair by beating Wisconsin-Green Bay by 23 points in the first round and Nebraska by three in the semifinals. It has since run its record to a spotless 7-0, which is three more wins than it had all of last year.
The team Dung is getting is much, much different than the one he originally scheduled for the end of December.
"I knew they were good," Dung said. "I didn't envision them being this good this fast though, becoming the first D-II team to win a D-I tournament. We are going to go out and play them like they are a highly ranked team and try a lot of different things."
As impressive as the Nanooks have been, they may not even pose the toughest challenge to the Sea Warriors. The schedule will take care of that.
The Sea Warriors will not get a day to prepare for the Nanooks because they host Pacific tonight before heading into the game tomorrow. Dung says his team will not practice the morning of the game, just get to the arena a little early and go over scouting reports before seeing what the Nanooks really bring at tip-off. Then they will have to try to counter it quickly, as they meet them for a second time in a rare day game following a night game.
Tomorrow's game begins at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday's contest to follow at 4 p.m. to accommodate Alaska-Fairbanks' travel plans. Add that to the Pacific game, and the Sea Warriors will have games on three consecutive days. But Dung is looking only at the positive aspects of the weekend.
"It will be a good test," Dung said. "It will give us a chance to get a lot of guys into the game and get comfortable with quality competition."
BYUH hits the big time: The national champion Brigham Young-Hawaii volleyball team will get three minutes of national exposure later this month.
A segment on the Seasiders will air in "CBS Sports Presents Championships of the NCAA" television special Dec. 28 at 8 a.m. Hawaii time. The network followed the Seasiders through their preparations and playing of the national championship game at Canyon, Texas, earlier this month. The team was taped having lunch at an Amarillo restaurant in addition to its activities at the game site.
BYU-Hawaii's portion of the program will air in the second segment of the first half-hour of the show.
Billings on top: The Kentucky Wesleyan basketball team lost to Northern Kentucky last week, which is more than a little bit significant to the Pacific West Conference. The Panthers' loss broke their 42-game home winning streak, leaving Montana State-Billings with the best home streak in the nation at 37. The next highest is Humboldt State's mark of 22 in a row.
The next Hawaii team to visit Alterowitz Gym will be Hawaii Pacific on Jan. 14, followed by Brigham Young-Hawaii on Jan 18.
