GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
The Rainbows' Michael Kuebler beat Fresno State's Travis Demanby to the ball in Hawaii's 88-77 victory over the Bulldogs.
Mike McIntyre stood near the Hawaii bench, watching as Michael Kuebler teed off against Fresno State in the first half last night. It brought back good memories -- a lot of good memories -- of the last time the Rainbow basketball team played the Bulldogs. Kuebler looking like Mike
'Bows beat Bulldogs
By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comSome 10 months ago at Selland Arena, it was McIntyre who shot the lights out against Fresno State.
The senior guard hit 7 of 14 from 3-point range as the Rainbows won for only the second time at Fresno, 82-79.
By halftime last night, Kuebler had six treys, including one with three seconds left that put Hawaii ahead 42-35 at intermission. The junior guard didn't hit another of his team's 11 3-pointers, but he did finish with a career-high tying 29 points to help defeat the Bulldogs for the fourth consecutive meeting, 88-77.
The victory was the 22nd straight at the Stan Sheriff Center for Hawaii (11-2, 4-1) and the Rainbows' 19th Western Athletic Conference home win in a row. It moves Hawaii into a first-place tie with Fresno State (11-3, 4-1) in the WAC standings as the Rainbows next head out for a three-game road swing.
"I had heard about some of the games we've had against them," said Kuebler. "Playing a team like Fresno is one of the highlights of our season. It's what playing college basketball is all about.
"And the crowd was great (7,891 turnstile). You hit a few and the crowd helps get the adrenaline going."
"It's always fun to play Fresno," added Carl English, who finished with a game-high 30 points.
"They were on top of the WAC, had an RPI of 21. And 22 straight at home ... it gives us a lot of confidence. It would be nice to take it out on the road."
It was Fresno State's first road game since going to Washington State Dec. 23. It was also the Bulldogs' first loss since then; all three of their defeats have come away from home.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Carl English scrambled for the ball last night against Fresno State's Rolando Todd.
The Bulldogs saw their five-game winning streak snapped, as well as their defensive pride dented. Fresno State hadn't given up more than 71 points all season and had given up just 19 3-pointers in their previous four WAC contests combined.
"I guess Fresno can't defend the '3' against us," said McIntyre, who had 27 points against the Bulldogs last March 2. "I'm glad we've got somebody else who can shoot it out there this year.
"Me, Mindaugas (Burneika) and Savo (Predrag Savovic) are gone. Now, we have Kuebler. Fresno is always a big game for us. We always get up for them."
Last March, first-year Bulldog coach Ray Lopes was an assistant at Oklahoma. He scouted the Hawaii-Xavier first-round NCAA Tournament game and had expected that it would be the Rainbows facing his Sooners in the second round in Dallas, not the Musketeers.
Lopes knew all about English, who had a career-high 33 points in the win at Fresno last season. He knew, too, that Hawaii's other big outside shooting guns -- McIntyre, Burneika and Savovic -- had used up their eligibility.
Lopes knew a little about Kuebler, that the junior transfer was capable of big numbers but had also been inconsistent. Kuebler had 17 last Thursday against SMU but just four in Saturday's win over Louisiana Tech.
"I knew that Michael was a good shooter," said Lopes. "I mean, we knew that. But to leave him as wide open as we did and let him hit six 3s? No that was not the game plan for sure.
"He was feeling it tonight. Every time it left his hands, it looked like it was going to go in."
Kuebler finished 10 of 15 from the field, 6 of 10 from 3-point distance.
English, who had 27 points in the first half at Fresno last March, had a big second half last night. He scored 23 of his 30 points in the final 20 minutes, hitting 4 of 6 from 3-point range and all 10 of his free throws.
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