’Bows begin final The Hawaii basketball team's trips to Boise the last two years have taken on the aura of Groundhog Day for the Rainbows.
homestand tomorrow
against Broncos
Bulldogs banned from tourneyBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com
Just as prognosticators look to Punxsutawney Phil to find out whether there will be six more weeks of winter, the Rainbows' recent games with Boise State have foretold their fortunes for the rest of the season.
When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m. Boise State at Hawaii
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: Live, KFVE-TV
Radio: KKEA 1420-AM
Internet: uhathletics.hawaii.edu
Tickets: Lower level, $15/$16; Upper level (adult) $11/$12; Upper level (student, UH) $7; Super rooter $8.
Last year, the Rainbows pulled out a 64-62 win at Boise State on a 3-point bomb by Predrag Savovic in the game's waning moments. The team went on to win nine of its next 12 road games en route to the Western Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships.
Fast forward to Jan. 4 of this year. The Rainbows, fresh off a stirring Rainbow Classic victory and a win at UTEP, held the Broncos off for most of the game until a controversial tip-in at the buzzer sent the game into overtime. Boise State went on to edge Hawaii 65-63.
Since then, the Rainbows have been frozen out of the win column in WAC games away from Honolulu, dropping their last eight, and are just trying to finish the conference season with a .500 record.
"They kind of started our slide," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "Last year Savo hit a big-time 3 to break their hearts late in the game. ... This year we lost a similar game and then it snowballed on us. We lost all the close ones after that."
Hawaii (15-10, 7-9 WAC) will have a shot at redemption tomorrow night when they face the Broncos (12-14, 6-10) at the Stan Sheriff Center to begin the Rainbows' final regular-season homestand.
The schools hadn't met in basketball until Boise State joined the WAC last year. UH swept the series in 2002, but the Broncos are looking to return the favor tomorrow after earning their first win over Hawaii back on that January evening.
"That was two months ago. They've improved and I hope we have, so I'm sure it'll be a good ballgame," Wallace said.
The first meeting was marked by controversy, as Broncos forward Aaron Haynes tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer to force overtime. Wallace argued to no avail that the tip came after the buzzer. Boise State guard Bryan Defares then scored four of his 13 points in overtime, and hit the game-winner in the final minute to lift the Broncos to the victory.
The Broncos have been one of the tougher teams to figure out in conference play. BSU scored wins over Hawaii, Tulsa and SMU earlier this season, but also has a loss to last-place UTEP.
Haynes leads the Broncos in scoring with 15.1 points per game. Defares is second on the team at 14.6 ppg.
"We have to get ready because they played us really tough," Wallace said. "We couldn't get control of that game and we didn't play that bad."
Hawaii returns to the Sheriff Center for the first time in 15 days after a physically draining road trip to Kent State, Tulsa and Rice.
The Rainbows dropped their conference games with Tulsa and Rice to fall into seventh place in the standings. But the bigger loss was center Haim Shimonovich, whose physical presence in the paint was sorely missed in the Rice game.
Shimonovich was off to a good start against Tulsa when he went down with a sprained right ankle. Milos Zivanovic started against Rice, but Wallace said the position is still open heading into tomorrow's game.
"We'll miss Haim, but we have to deal without him until we get him back," Wallace said.
The Rainbows will need guard Carl English to return to form after the flu held him well below his 19.6-point average during the road trip. Forward Phil Martin has stepped up his play of late and is coming off a career night against Rice when he posted 24 points and 12 rebounds and blocked three shots.
The Rainbows close the regular season with Senior Night festivities on Saturday against UTEP before packing their bags for the WAC tournament in Tulsa, Okla., next week.
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