Sidelines
Nothing is a sure
thing with this teamWHAT a team this Hawaii basketball bunch is. It has a center in street clothes. A forward, Phil Martin, playing in an eye patch. Its star, Carl English, without cool hair for the first time in memory.
And then there was JC Carter, the speed burst, the spark off the bench. He was having a spectacular game. A great pass. Steals. "Calm down!" English yelled at him, but no. Straight to the hoop for a reverse double-pump lay-in that bounced, bounced, bounced on the rim before finally dropping. And the crowd went wild.
But then Carter was injured spectacularly, too, wrenching a knee and hopping straight into Riley Wallace's chair.
The news was dire. Torn MCL. Will not return.
Carter was listed as day-to-day.
So is this team.
It has been all season long, and so it's no surprise that this is how it heads into these last days of a strange season.
This was to have been a celebration, this last night at home, and against a 5-22 team.
The emotion. The leis. The moving final shots.
And it started that way with the easy plays and layups and steals.
Tony Akpan was everywhere.
(Speaking of Tony, how emotional will his Senior Night be in two years? Tony, with his hustle and his toughness and his joy. This is a guy who could end up being one of the most beloved players in the program's history.)
But then Carter went down, and UTEP's Omar Duran heated up. And the Rainbows made it interesting, before finally running away with it again.
What this means heading into the year's final road trip is anyone's guess.
This team can beat anyone. It can lose to them all.
And now injury.
One less guy to go to, in all likelihood. Heading into the madness of March, a team battered and bruised and day-to-day.
Even Tough Tony crumpled to the ground at one point, the victim of an elbow to the gut. English left in the final seconds, a nasty gash near his eye.
Now here comes the WAC tournament, and the Rice Owls, a team UH split with this season.
This strange, strange season.
But UH did run away with it in the end, last night, Vaidotas Peciukas diving, and Martin hitting, and Akpan everywhere again. There were steals and layups and easy plays, and the Rainbows were clicking and the fans were surging. And if Wallace had been wearing a coat, he would have thrown it.
The emotion was as good as it gets. Wow, it was fun.
And when it was over there were standing ovations, and leis, and Lance Takaki, the crowd favorite, the Lizard King, finally dunked. Mark Campbell sobbed in his family's embrace.
At that point, there wasn't anyone in attendance who could imagine a loss.
But Campbell's Senior Shot was a slam that missed, and then he blew the layup in his second attempt.
At last he banked one in from under the basket.
With this team at the end of this season, you can probably take that omen any way you want.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com