[ UH FOOTBALL ]
UH can’t ride defense
to victory this time
UH BASKETBALL
Rainbows eager to bang with proud Seasiders
RENO, Nev. >> The Hawaii defense has allowed only three touchdowns in the last three games, but the Warriors nearly lost at San Jose State two weeks ago, and they fell hard here yesterday in a 24-14 loss to Nevada.
Abraham Elimimian intercepted a pass and UH turned the opportunity into a touchdown one play later for UH's first score. Travis LaBoy did the scoring himself just a play later by picking up a fumble and running it 16 yards to pad Hawaii's lead to 14-6.
It was UH's first defensive touchdown since Hyrum Peters ran an interception back 64 yards in the Warriors' 59-34 victory over the Wolf Pack last year.
LaBoy also had a sack among his five solo tackles. He was among several UH defensive players to earn praise from coach June Jones as Hawaii allowed a net 312 yards.
"Abraham played good. Chad Kalilimoku (game-high 10 tackles) looked like he played his best game," Jones said.
Big West hurt: UH junior running back West Keli'ikipi suffered a sprained left knee in the first half, and could be lost for the rest of the season if a magnetic resonance imaging test today or tomorrow determines he has a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
"We won't know until probably Monday," said Keli'ikipi, who was on crutches and wore a bulky brace on the knee in the Warriors' locker room.
Keli'ikipi caught two short passes for 30 yards before getting hurt, and Jones said his absence hurt UH's second-half effort in several ways.
"I thought that affected us. He helps in the pass-protection department," Jones said. "He played well while he was in there."
Coach saved?: Nevada coach Chris Tormey might have earned some job security with yesterday's win. He has been under pressure from the community -- and, some say, athletic director Chris Ault and boosters -- because of three consecutive losses after a 5-2 start. Last week's felony battery arrests and suspensions of running back B.J. Mitchell and cornerback Chris Handy (both Tormey recruits) also piled on questions of team control.
But Wolf Pack players say they want Tormey, who gave a rare pregame pep talk yesterday, to keep his position.
"People on the outside don't understand what's going on here," senior defensive end Jorge Cordova said. "A coaching change, if you're going to ask a player, it'd be out of the question. We've grown with these coaches."
Yesterday's win guaranteed a third consecutive increase in victories in Tormey's fourth season, and Nevada's first non-losing season since 1998.
"People can say what they want," Tormey said. "This program has made progress. There'll be no losing season at Nevada this year."
Begging the question: Jones was prepared to be second-guessed in his postgame interview yesterday.
After several queries about other matters, Jones brought up one himself:
"No question on the fourth-and-12?" he asked, in reference to his call of a draw play to John West in the fourth quarter that came up 4 yards short with 4:43 left and UH trailing by 10 points.
OK, why?
"Because on third-and-18 (earlier) we got the first down (with the same play) and fumbled it, and actually thought we might get it there. We didn't think they'd be thinking about it on fourth down."
UH quarterback Tim Chang defended the play selection.
"I thought we had a chance to break a big play on that. A lot of times they had only four up front and dropped everyone back in coverage," Chang said. "I see his thought process on that call."
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[ RAINBOW BASKETBALL ]
Rainbows eager to
bang with proud Seasiders
After a month of competing against each other in practice, members of the Hawaii basketball team needed a reminder that they're all on the same side.
The Rainbow Warriors will get their first chance to play together tomorrow night in an exhibition game against Brigham Young-Hawaii at the Stan Sheriff Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
"We've been banging against each other all this time and now it's an opportunity to go against somebody else," said senior Paul Jesinskis.
Although the game won't count toward UH's record, it counts as a regular-season contest for BYUH. The NCAA Division II Seasiders hosted teams from China, Samoa and Korea in its Asia-Pacific tournament Friday and yesterday at the Cannon Activities Center in Laie.
The Seasiders went 19-4 last season to win the Pacific West Conference and opened the season with a 96-89 win over Song Kyun Kwan University of Korea on Friday. BYUH was led by Jake Chrisman's 31-point, 10-rebound performance.
UH coach Riley Wallace said playing another college team for an exhibition could help his team more than playing a squad of former college stars.
"It'll be good for both teams," Wallace said. "They have to play to win because they're counting it and we have to play to win because we've got a game on Friday (against UC Santa Barbara) to get ready for. We're anxious to see where we are."
UH struggled early in an exhibition game with UH-Hilo last year before pulling away for a 73-60 win, and the Rainbows know BYUH would love nothing more than to knock off their Division I neighbors.
"There's definitely a lot of pride," Jesinskis said. "We have to go in there like it's any other team. It doesn't matter what division they are, D-I, D-II, D-20, whatever, they're going to come here and try to beat us."
Nevada, the preseason favorite to win the Western Athletic Conference title, lost to Division II Humboldt State 73-71 in an exhibition contest last week.
The Rainbows have another exhibition game against the California All-Stars scheduled for Dec. 7.
For starters: Jesinskis and point guard Jason Carter are slated to get their first career starts tomorrow night. Joining them on the floor will be seniors Phil Martin and Michael Kuebler and sophomore Julian Sensley.
Although the Rainbows will be trying to win, Wallace said the substitution pattern won't be the same as a regular-season contest.
"I have to get everybody in there to get a feel," he said. "I have to see what they do with the lights on, so it'll be a little different than it will be on Friday."
UCSB guard out: UC Santa Barbara senior Nick Jones will miss Friday's season opener against UH after being suspended for eight games by the NCAA for playing in an uncertified league in Mexico over the summer, the school announced Wednesday.
Jones started every game last year for the Gauchos and averaged 12.4 points and 4.3 rebounds.
UCSB split its exhibition games. They defeated the EA Sports All-Stars 91-62 on Nov. 5 and lost to Ratiopharm Ulm of Germany 74-72 last Wednesday.
