FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Phil Martin took a shot as Oregon State's David Lucus tried to block him last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
'Bows rally
in overtimeKuebler drills a 3-pointer with
1 second left to lift UH to win
Michael Kuebler made the most of his shot at redemption.
After helping Oregon State stay alive by missing four free throws late in regulation of last night's basketball game at the Stan Sheriff Center, the Hawaii guard found the ball in his hands with the score tied and the seconds ticking down in overtime.
This time, Kuebler's aim was true as his 3-pointer with one second left sent the Rainbow Warriors to a thrilling 70-67 win over the Beavers.
"I had a good look at it at the end and I told myself I wasn't going to hesitate," Kuebler said. "It was one of those things where you get to go from chump to hero."
A crowd of 3,713 watched UH improve to 3-2 by winning its first regular-season game in 19 days. Oregon State fell to 4-3 in its third overtime game of the season.
Kuebler's dream sequence capped a 24-point performance for the native of Salem, Ore. UH forward Phil Martin scored a season-high 21 points, and gave Kuebler his second chance by hitting a short jumper with 5.7 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
"That really fired everyone up," Kuebler said. "Just to have another chance at it."
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Former Hawaii basketball coach Red Rocha attended last night's game. Rocha is a member of the UH Circle of Honor.
Oregon State guard Chris Stephens led the Beavers with 18 points, while forward David Lucas racked up 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Hawaii, which won its sixth consecutive overtime game dating back to the 2000-01 season, led for much of the contest but couldn't put the Beavers of the Pac-10 away in regulation.
The Rainbows went 5-for-15 from the free-throw line in the second half, allowing the Beavers to briefly take the lead before Martin sent the game into overtime.
Hawaii then rallied from a four-point deficit in overtime as Kuebler scored nine points in the extra period, including the decisive 3-pointer.
"We just let them off the hook," OSU coach Jay John said.
The first 40 minutes of the game weren't very pretty as both teams struggled with their shots. The Rainbows shot 38.5 percent from the field in regulation, while the Beavers made 34.5 percent of their attempts.
The Rainbows were forced to alter their rotation due to foul trouble and went with a three-guard lineup down the stretch after center Haim Shimonovich and forward Jeff Blackett fouled out.
"If we make our layups and shoot our free throws then the game isn't as close," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "We didn't do either one, and they had a chance to win."
UH scored the first 10 points of the game only to see Oregon State rally behind the shooting of Stephens, who went into halftime with 13 points.
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Hawaii guard Jason Carter scored six points in Hawaii's overtime win over Oregon State last night.
The Beavers trailed 32-29 at halftime, but took their first lead of the night at 38-36 on a layup and free throw by Kyle Jeffers.
Hawaii charged back with a 10-0 spurt sparked by guard Jason Carter. The senior turned up the pace of the UH attack and fed Kuebler for a fast-break layup to give the Rainbows a 48-40 lead with 8:52 left.
Oregon State went more than nine minutes without a field goal, but the Beavers stayed close and cut the UH lead to 50-47 on a 3-pointer by Stephens to end the field-goal drought at the 6:14 mark.
Hawaii kept the door open for the Beavers by missing seven of eight free throws in the final minutes. OSU guard Lamar Hurd took advantage by drilling a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Beavers up 57-55 with 18.4 seconds left.
On UH's next possession, Carter drove into the lane and dropped an assist to Martin who tied the game with his short hook shot.
OSU's J.S. Nash missed a layup at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
The Beavers opened up a 67-63 lead in overtime on a dunk by Hurd. But UH came back with two free throws by Kuebler, who later fed Martin for a slam to tie the game at 67 with 48.3 seconds left.
Nash then dribbled the ball out of bounds, giving UH possession with 31.5 seconds remaining.
"We wanted to run the clock down with the offense," Wallace said. "I just said we'd get in the flow of the flex motion and run it down and take a shot where they don't have a chance to win it at the other end."
The Rainbows passed the ball around the perimeter until forward Julian Sensley found Kuebler open on the right wing, and the senior sent the UH fans home happy by hitting the game-winner.
"They did exactly as we asked, (Kuebler) got the pass ... went up with a guy in his face and knocked it down," Wallace said. "He probably wanted that one pretty bad after those free throws.
"We didn't play pretty, but a W is a W and you can't take it away."
Hawaii 70, Oregon St. 67
Key--fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
BEAVERS (4-3) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Hurd 3 4 4 8 40 3 4 11 Stephens 7 19 0 0 39 2 3 18 Nash 2 8 2 2 33 3 1 6 Lucas 7 14 0 0 36 13 0 14 Jeffers 3 6 3 3 18 5 0 9 Tsagarakis 0 4 2 3 13 1 1 2 Hanchett 0 3 2 4 25 3 1 2 Hooks 0 2 3 4 17 2 0 3 Field 1 1 0 0 4 0 0 2 Totals 23 61 16 24 225 36 10 67 WARRIORS (3-2) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Martin 9 13 3 5 40 6 4 21 Shimonovich 0 3 1 2 20 4 0 1 Lee 2 3 0 0 35 5 3 5 Kuebler 8 18 5 10 29 2 1 24 Sensley 0 5 3 4 40 10 4 3 Sottos 0 2 2 2 9 1 0 2 Carter 2 6 2 4 24 4 3 6 Blackett 3 9 1 2 24 4 1 7 Jesinskis 0 0 1 2 4 1 0 1 Totals 24 59 18 31 225 40 16 70
Halftime--Hawaii 32, Oregon St. 29.
3-point goals--Oregon St. 5-18 (Stephens 4, Hurd 1), Hawaii 4-17 (Kuebler 3, Lee). Personal fouls--Oregon St. 26, Hawaii 20. Steals--Oregon St. 8 (Jeffers 3, Stephens 2, Tsagarakis, Hanchett, Hooks), Hawaii 12 (Carter 5, Shimonovich 3, Blackett 2, Lee 2). Blocked shots--Oregon St. 0, Hawaii 3 (Shimonovich 2, Sensley). Turnovers--Oregon St. 20 (Hurd 5, Nash 5, Stephens 3, Lucas 2, Jeffers 2, Hanchett 2, Hooks), Hawaii 19 (Martin 4, Carter 4, Shimonovich 3, Sensley 3, Lee 2, Kuebler 2, Blackett 1).
Att -- 5,752.
