’Bows look to In the dance that is a college basketball game, it's either lead or get ready to have your toes stepped on.
dance past
San Jose State
Hawaii will try to avenge
a road loss to the SpartansBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe last time Hawaii paired up with San Jose State, the Rainbows succumbed to a beat the Spartans preferred and sulked out of the gym with a stunning loss. So when the teams meet again tomorrow at the Stan Sheriff Center, Hawaii intends to force the Spartans to pick up the tempo.
"If we have to play their game, they can beat you," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "If they play our game enough, we can beat them."
San Jose State comes to town 5-15 overall and 2-9 in the Western Athletic Conference under coach Phil Johnson. The Spartans have no starters taller than 6-foot-5, but their quickness and ability to dictate the pace of the game caused the Rainbows fits in SJSU's 79-67 victory on Jan. 18.
When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m. San Jose State
at HawaiiWhere: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: Live, KFVE-TV
Radio: Live, 1420 AM
Internet: uhathletics.hawaii.edu
Tickets: Lower Level, $15/$16; Upper Level (adult) $11/$12; Upper Level (student, UH) $7; Super Rooter $8
"Defensively we let them wear us down mentally and it affected our offense," Wallace said.
"(Johnson's) undermanned size-wise, so he has to use his quickness and spread the court. If you let them get away with it you'll get beat."
UH guard Carl English could hardly be blamed if he chose to bury memories of his outing in San Jose, when foul trouble led to a season-low six points. Instead, the WAC's leading scorer has kept the frustration of that evening close to the surface.
"It was probably my worst game of the season, so I have a lot to prove," English said. "I'm hungry and I'm ready to prove what our team can do and what I can do. I've been waiting for this since that night.
"We have to play with a lot of heart and remember how we lost over there."
A win tomorrow would give San Jose State its first season sweep of the Rainbows since joining the WAC. But history is working against the Spartans, given that SJSU hasn't beaten UH in Honolulu since 1952.
But aside from last season's 71-46 blowout loss to the Rainbows at the Sheriff Center, the Spartans have been more than competitive in Hawaii lately, taking UH to overtime in 2000 and 2001 in addition to winning in San Jose the last two seasons.
Senior guard Brandon Hawkins romped through the Rainbow defense for 23 points on eight-of-11 shooting from the field in last month's meeting. SJSU also got double-double performances out of their freshman duo of forward Antonio Lawrence (16 points, 11 rebounds) and center Keith Everage (14 points, 11 rebounds).
Lawrence has emerged as the Spartans' most reliable scorer of late. He hit for a season-high 24 points last week against SMU, and followed with a 22-point outing in a 65-60 loss to Louisiana Tech.
"We'll be in a tough ballgame. If we go out there and we can't cover one-on-one, they'll beat us again," Wallace said.
The Rainbows have won 24 straight at home and are two victories away from tying the school record, but can't shake questions about their problems on the road. They enter this homestand 13-7 overall and 6-6 in the WAC after losses at Louisiana Tech and Southern Methodist last week to drop to 1-7 away from home.
"Hopefully, the next road game we can change that, but right now we have to worry about what's happening at home," English said. "We've got this game and Nevada (next Wednesday) so we can't worry about the road right now, we have to take care of business at home."
UH Athletics
