The Hawaii basketball team will tango with the darling of last year's Big Dance for ESPN's Bracket Busters Saturday on Feb. 22. Hawaii draws Kent State
for Bracket Buster eventBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe Rainbows will travel to Ohio to take on Kent State of the Mid-American Conference for the 18-team event highlighting teams from seven mid-major conferences.
The game is set for 4:30 p.m. Hawaii time and will be televised by ESPN2.
The Rainbows, one of four Western Athletic Conference teams in the field, were en route to a road game at Louisiana Tech when the pairings were announced last night.
Kent State is pursuing its fifth consecutive 20-win campaign and is 15-2 overall and 8-1 in the MAC this season.
The Golden Flashes went 30-6 last season and upset Oklahoma State, Alabama and Pittsburgh to advance to last year's Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Kent State had its run stopped by Indiana 81-69 in the South Regional finals.
Hawaii is 13-5 overall and stands in third place in the WAC at 6-4 following a 73-67 overtime win over Tulsa on Saturday.
The Rainbows embarked on their latest trip looking to take their success at home with them on the road this week. Hawaii is 12-0 at home and 1-5 away from the Stan Sheriff Center this season
"You're never in your routine (on the road), but that's where mental toughness comes in and I think this time we'll do a much better job," UH guard Carl English said after Saturday's game.
"If we can go on the road and win some games and come back home I think we'll be in great shape. I think around four losses will probably win the conference this year. Home- court advantage is making a real big difference."
The other games involving WAC teams in Bracket Busters are Fresno State at Creighton, Northern Iowa at Louisiana Tech and Tulsa at Gonzaga.
The remaining games are Illinois State at Marshall, Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Southern Illinois, Ball State at Western Kentucky, Bowling Green at Illinois-Chicago and Detroit at UC Santa Barbara.
UH Athletics
