DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Carl English sized up Nevada's Jerry Petty before hitting the game-winning shot last night.
’Bows escape Pack Hawaii basketball coach Riley Wallace admitted to feeling a sense of deja vu in the final seconds of last night's game with Nevada.
Hawaii lets Nevada rally before
English hits game-winnerBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comAfter watching his team squander a 10-point lead over the final four minutes, Wallace couldn't help but flash back to the numerous close calls that have gone against the Rainbows during this tumultuous season.
But this time Carl English provided a happy ending for Wallace and the 6,603 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center by hitting a jumper with 16 seconds left to lift the Rainbows to a 73-71 Western Athletic Conference victory over the Wolf Pack.
"We've been in so many close games and finally the ball bounced our way," English said.
Hawaii built a commanding lead early in the game but saw it disappear in a flurry of turnovers late in the contest. And only when Todd Okeson, the WAC's leading 3-point shooter, misfired on a potential game-winner could the Rainbows breathe easy.
"Because of the four or five losses we've had in games exactly like this, it caused us to tighten up a little bit," Wallace said. "We had guys who didn't take shots when they were open and I think they were saying, 'I don't want to be the one who screws it up tonight.' "
The win ended UH's three-game losing streak as the Rainbows improved to 14-8 overall and 7-7 in the WAC. Nevada (14-10, 9-5 WAC) fell into a tie with Louisiana Tech for second place in the conference.
English finished with a game-high 26 points, 19 coming in the first half. But none were as important as the final two as the Rainbows avoided a repeat of their 73-65 loss to Nevada last month in Reno.
In that game, the Wolf Pack erased a seven-point lead with five minutes left. Last night, Nevada went on a 13-3 run to tie the game, but this time the Rainbows had the final say.
"(Nevada) turned it up a notch," Wallace said. "It was the same game, but we got enough answers. ... We didn't stop them, but we got enough answers on offense and that was the difference."
Hawaii guard Mark Campbell complemented English with 12 points and forward Phil Martin added 10. Forward Vaidotas Peciukas provided a boost off the bench, scoring six points and dishing out three assists in 29 minutes.
Nevada guard Jerry Petty led the Wolf Pack with a career-high 19 points, while Terrance Green added 15 and Kirk Snyder hit for 12. Snyder entered the game as Nevada's leading scorer and rebounder, but started the game on the bench for disciplinary reasons.
"We have to clean up some things, but you can't take away from the way Hawaii played," Nevada coach Trent Johnson said.
"Hawaii played well. Carl played well."
English rebounded from an 0-for-7 night behind the 3-point arc in UH's 55-54 loss to San Jose State last Saturday by hitting three in the first 4:30 of last night's game.
"I wanted to get this win real bad," English said. "We underestimated San Jose and they took it from us. I didn't want to let that happen (again), so I kind of set the pace for the game."
The teams traded runs early in the contest before Hawaii took control by outscoring the Wolf Pack 20-4 over a seven-minute span and took a 41-31 lead into halftime.
But Nevada chipped away and closed within four at 58-54 on a Petty layup at the 8:59 mark of the second half.
The Rainbows pushed their lead back to double digits as English came up with a steal and fed Campbell for a layup to put UH up 68-58 with 4:49 left.
Nevada responded with a 10-3 run and cut the UH lead to 71-68 when Okeson completed a fast break. Okeson then stripped Campbell of the ball on Hawaii's next possession and Green drained a 3-pointer to tie the game with 44.6 seconds left.
But English answered the next time down the floor, driving in from the wing and pulling up for a jumper.
"I just wanted it," English said. "I didn't even look at the clock, I just took it and I knew it was going in."
Nevada decided to go for the win on its last possession, working the ball to Okeson, a 51 percent 3-point shooter. But his shot was off the mark and the Wolf Pack couldn't get another shot up before the buzzer.
District honors for English: English was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 13 second team yesterday.
English was among 150 players named to 15 district teams. Nevada's Kirk Snyder was also named to the District 13 second team. They are now eligible for the NABC All-American team.
Other WAC players recognized were Louisiana Tech's Antonio Meeking (District 8 first team) and SMU's Quinton Ross (District 9 second team).
English was also named to the Verizon Academic All-District VIII team. He carries a 3.28 grade point average in liberal studies and is now eligible for the Verizon Academic All-America team to be announced March 5.
WAC standings
CONFERENCE OVERALL W L Pct. GB W L Fresno St. 12 3 .800 -- 19 5 Nevada 9 5 .643 1 1/2 14 10 LaTech 9 5 .643 2 12 9 Rice 7 5 .583 3 15 7 Tulsa 8 6 .571 3 1/2 15 8 SMU 7 7 .500 3 1/2 12 12 Hawaii 7 7 .500 4 1/2 14 8 Boise St. 4 9 .308 6 1/2 10 13 San Jose St. 3 10 .231 7 6 16 UTEP 2 11 .154 8 1/2 4 19 YESTERDAY
Tulsa 77, SMU 70
Fresno State 74, San Jose State 70, 2OT
Hawaii 73, Nevada 71
WOLF PACK (14-10, 9-5 WAC) Hawaii 73, Nevada 71
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Okeson 3 9 1 2 34 3 3 8 Browne 1 2 2 2 20 4 1 4 Petty 7 11 4 4 34 1 3 19 Hill-Thomas 2 4 0 3 16 2 0 4 Paul 1 5 3 4 12 2 0 5 Snyder 5 7 2 4 32 9 2 12 Green 6 12 0 0 33 5 2 15 Ochs 1 2 2 2 19 1 1 4 Team 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 26 52 14 21 200 27 12 71 RAINBOW WARRIORS (14-8, 7-7 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Martin 4 6 2 3 31 5 1 10 Shimonovich 1 3 1 4 20 2 3 3 Campbell 5 7 1 2 31 1 3 12 English 7 16 9 11 33 8 3 26 Kuebler 2 5 2 2 18 3 1 6 Alama-Francis 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Zivanovic 0 0 0 0 7 1 0 0 Carter 1 2 0 0 8 0 1 2 Peciukas 1 1 4 4 29 2 3 6 Akpan 2 4 4 6 22 3 0 8 Team 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 Totals 23 44 23 32 200 28 15 73 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 41, Nevada 31
3-point goals--Nevada 5-15 (Green 3-5, Petty 1-4, Okeson 1-5, Snyder 0-1), Hawaii 4-13 (English 3-9, Campbell 1-1, Carter 0-1, Kuebler 0-2).
Personal fouls--Nevada 22, Hawaii 19. Fouled out--Paul.
Steals--Nevada 11 (Okeson 3, Petty 3, Paul 2, Snyder 2, Browne), Hawaii 8 (Martin 4, Akpan, English, Kuebler).
Blocked shots--Nevada 2 (Browne, Snyder).
Turnovers--Nevada 11, Hawaii 14.
Officials--Bruce Hicks, Jim Stupin, Ryan Wells.
A--6,603.
UH Athletics
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The day had started out pretty good for Kirk Snyder. Nevada’s Snyder
can’t find rhythmBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comYesterday morning, the Nevada sophomore guard was named to the NABC District 13's second team, one step away from potential all-America honors. He came into last night's game against Hawaii as the Western Athletic Conference leader in double-doubles with eight, as well as the Wolf Pack's leader in scoring (15.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg).
But unlike his fellow NABC second teamer -- Hawaii's Carl English -- Snyder found himself on the sidelines when last night's WAC basketball game tipped off at the Stan Sheriff Center. Nevada coach Trent Johnson took a tough stand when Snyder was late for the bus leaving for Tuesday's shoot-around.
Snyder called it "personal problems" with the coaching staff. Johnson said there was a penalty for missing the bus.
Snyder missed the start and also lost the scoring battle with English 26-12. The Wolf Pack lost the scoreboard battle with the Rainbows 73-71.
"It was a tough loss," said Snyder, who led Nevada in rebounding with eight boards in his 32 minutes. "We tried to compete the whole game but the scoreboard didn't say so early. They were hot. We tried to chip away, come back at the end but didn't get it."
Nevada took the court to try to beat the Rainbows in Honolulu for the first time since the 1947-48 season without the 6-foot-6 guard, who responded to his first missed conference start in 14 games by tossing his warm-ups in disgust.
With a chance to take control of second place in the WAC, Johnson had Snyder sit for the opening four minutes of last night's game with Hawaii, not inserting the team's leader in scoring and rebounding until there was 16 minutes left in the first half.
At that point, Nevada trailed, 14-5. Snyder didn't score until there was 5:03 left before intermission but his five consecutive points helped pull the Wolf Pack to 36-25 with 3:37 left in the half.
It would not be enough. Snyder didn't start the second half and Nevada didn't finish its late rallying effort. The Wolf Pack (14-10, 9-5) slid into a second-place tie with Louisiana Tech. It was the first time since dropping consecutive road games at Rice and Tulsa that Nevada has lost back-to-back WAC games this season; the Wolf Pack lost its first WAC home game last Saturday in overtime to LaTech.
"It's been like this all season," said guard Terrance Green, who came off the bench to add 15 points. "We keep battling and battling. We don't want it to come down to one stop or the last shot but it has.
"Hawaii came out and played Hawaii-type basketball. You can't play the defending champion like that by reacting late in the game. That's not going to cut it and it's not going to win it."
Snyder's basket with 7:50 to go cut Hawaii's lead to 61-56, putting the sophomore guard in double figures (10 points) for the 22nd time in 24 games this season. He added another jumper with 3:35 left to pull Nevada to 68-62.
After a 3-pointer by Rainbow guard Mark Campbell, Green scored seven of Nevada's next nine points to tie it at 71-71. English's basket put Hawaii up 73-71, and the Wolf Pack failed to score in the final 15 seconds as Todd Okeson's 3-pointer fell short.
"We got the look we wanted," said Johnson. "We got the ball to the No. 1 3-point shooter in the conference and he didn't knock it down. I can live with that.
"We fell behind early, didn't defend with enough sincerity. They had way too many easy looks. Carl got his open looks and got into a rhythm."
