GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Nkeruwem Akpan dunked in a 88-77 win over Fresno State last night.
’Bows beat Bulldogs There's just something about Fresno State that seems to bring out the best in the Hawaii basketball team's long-range shooters.
Hawaii rains 11 treys on Fresno State
Kuebler looking like Mike
to grab a share of first in WAC standings
WAC standings
By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe Rainbows bombarded the Bulldogs to score an 88-77 victory in last night's Western Athletic Conference game at the Stan Sheriff Center.
A crowd of 7,891 watched Hawaii hit a season-high 11 shots from beyond the 3-point arc as the Rainbows forged a tie for first place in the league standings. The Rainbows hit 25 3-pointers in their two meetings with Fresno State last season.
Hawaii guard Carl English, the reigning WAC player of the week and the conference's leading scorer, heated up in the second half to score 30 points. Michael Kuebler matched his season high with 29 points and hit six treys.
"We have guys who can step up and score on any night and when we do that we're tough to guard," English said. "They come out and close in on one guy and just like that the rest of the guys step up."
Fresno State had allowed 19 3-pointers in its first four WAC contests and boasted the WAC's stingiest defense prior to last night's game. But Hawaii shot better 58 percent from the field in the game and hit 82 percent of its field-goal attempts in the second half.
"Our defense just wasn't very good, and their offense had a lot to do with that," Fresno State coach Ray Lopes said. "We've got to get tougher to win on the road in this conference. We played hard enough, we've just got to get tougher."
The Hawaii win gave the Rainbows a sweep of their three-game homestand and left the WAC with no undefeated teams in conference play as the Rainbows (11-2 overall) and Bulldogs (11-3) are tied atop the standings at 4-1.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Mark Campbell pressured Rolando Todd last night.
The victory was Hawaii's fourth straight against Fresno State dating back to the 2000-01 season and the Rainbows' 22nd consecutive win at home. Hawaii has now won 19 consecutive WAC games at the Sheriff Center.
"One of the highlights coming in was you get to play games like this," Kuebler said. "(Fresno State) and Tulsa and a bunch of other big games. That's what college basketball is all about and you want to be a part of that."
The Bulldogs won't have to wait long for a shot at payback since the teams meet again on Jan. 23 in Fresno.
Fresno State guard Damon Jackson did his best to keep the Bulldogs in last night's game, hitting for 21 points. Noel Felix and Terry Pettis added 14 each.
But the Rainbows' defense held forward Jonathan Woods scoreless. Woods was the Bulldogs' leading scorer entering the game.
"As long as my guys get up to play like that, defensively especially, they'll find offense," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "Carl's there every night and somebody different steps up. Phil (Martin), Kuebler, Haim (Shimonovich) have had some great nights."
"It's a fun group to work with because they know how to win."
The Rainbows also did a solid job at the free-throw line, hitting 21 of 25 attempts, and outrebounded the Bulldogs 31-23.
English continued his mastery over Fresno State by scoring 23 points in the second half. He averaged 27.5 points in the Rainbows' previous two games with Fresno State, including a career-high 33 last year in Fresno.
The Fresno State defense held English in check in the first half, allowing him seven points on 1-for-6 shooting from the field.
But the Bulldogs had no answer for Kuebler, who lit up the Sheriff Center with 21 points, including six 3-pointers, in the first half to help Hawaii take a 42-35 lead into halftime.
"Teams tend to focus in on certain guys and that creates a lot of openings," English said.
Kuebler hit three from long range in the game's first six minutes and caught fire again late in the half. His fifth 3-pointer gave UH its biggest lead of the half at 39-30 with 2:08 left before halftime.
After Fresno State guard Travis DeManby drained a three to beat the shot clock and cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 39-35, Kuebler closed his remarkable 20 minutes by knocking down a jumper from the left corner Rainbows with two seconds left in the half.
"It's gotta break your heart if you're on the other team, because they were playing tough defense," Wallace said. "He just had that feel and the guys were finding him. I've been after him to shoot more, but in this case he had no choice, he was open."
Hawaii maintained its hot shooting in the second half, draining four 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes.
English accounted for three and point guard Mark Campbell, who didn't attempt a field goal against Louisiana Tech on Saturday, got into the act by hitting jumper from the left corner.
The Rainbows opened up a 16-point lead at 71-55 on a jumper by English, but Fresno State responded with a 10-2 run to claw back into the game.
But the Rainbows made 11 of 12 shots from the line late in the game to hold the Bulldogs at bay.
Nkeruwem Akpan came off the bench to add 10 points and six rebounds for Hawaii. The Rainbows also got valuable minutes from freshman center Milos Zivanovic.
Hawaii now embarks on a three-game road trip starting Saturday at San Jose State. The Rainbows then head to Fresno State and Nevada before returning home.
"I challenged them in the locker room that they have to get together as a team and say, 'we're going to carry this energy that our fans give us here over there,'" Wallace said.
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WAC standings
WAC games Overall W L Pct. W L Hawaii 4 1 .750 11 2 Fresno St. 4 1 .750 11 3 Louisiana Tech 2 1 .666 5 5 Tulsa 2 1 .666 9 3 Boise St. 2 2 .500 8 6 Nevada 2 2 .500 7 7 Rice 1 2 .333 9 4 SMU 1 2 .333 6 7 UTEP 1 3 .250 3 10 San Jose St. 0 4 .000 3 10
Hawaii 88, Fresno St. 77
BULLDOGS (11-3, 4-1 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Jackson 9 18 0 0 34 3 2 21 Todd 4 5 1 2 20 2 4 10 Felix 4 9 6 7 32 3 0 14 DeManby 2 7 0 0 30 2 5 6 Woods 0 6 0 0 27 2 0 0 Major 3 5 2 4 15 2 0 8 Pettis 5 7 3 5 21 3 2 14 Fuller 2 3 0 1 21 4 0 4 Team 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 29 60 12 19 200 23 13 77 RAINBOWS (11-2, 4-1 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Martin 2 4 0 1 19 4 1 4 Shimonovich 1 4 2 4 25 10 5 4 Campbell 2 3 4 4 34 2 6 9 English 8 13 10 10 40 6 1 30 Kuebler 10 15 3 3 40 2 2 29 Zivanovic 1 1 0 0 11 1 1 2 Carter 0 2 0 0 6 0 0 0 Akpan 4 6 2 3 25 6 2 10 Team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 28 48 21 25 200 31 18 88 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 42, Fresno St. 35
3-point goals -- Fresno St. 7-23 (Jackson 3-10, DeManby 2-6, Pettis 1-2, Todd 1-2, Felix 0-2, Major 0-1), Hawaii 11-19 (Kuebler 6-10, English 4-6, Campbell 1-2, Carter 0-1). Personal fouls -- Fresno St. 26, Hawaii 19. Steals -- Fresno St. 5 (Jackson 2, DeManby 2, Woods 1), Hawaii 8 (Campbell 3, Kuebler 2, Shimonovich 1, Carter 1, Akpan 1). Blocked shots -- Fresno St. 1 (Major), Hawaii 2 (English, Shimonovich). Turnovers -- Fresno St. 13, Hawaii 18. Officials -- Jim Bannowsky, Brian Sorenson, Bryan Barr.
A -- 8,351 (tickets issued).
UH Athletics
