[ RAINBOW BASKETBALL ]
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Jeff Blackett dunked as Vaidotas Peciukas looked on during last night's game vs. Texas Southern at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Hawaii pounds
Texas SouthernUH faces New Orleans today
in a rematch of last year’s
title game
The end of finals week put the Hawaii basketball team in a festive mood, and the Rainbow Warriors celebrated with their most productive performance of the season -- a 97-67 rout of Texas Southern last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
A crowd of 3,206 looked on as all 12 UH players who suited up for the game scored in the Rainbows' opening game in the Adidas Festival. All but one UH player registered double figures in minutes played.
"The best part of tonight was how everyone got an opportunity to get in there and contribute," UH forward Jeff Blackett said. "It's nice when everyone's passing the ball and looking for each other."
For the second year in a row, UH (4-2) will face New Orleans for the tournament title in today's 7 p.m. finale. The Privateers (4-2) defeated Idaho State 86-72 in yesterday's tournament opener.
Texas Southern (3-5) faces Idaho State (3-6) at 5 p.m. in the first game of today's doubleheader.
The last time Hawaii and New Orleans met, the 'Bows held off the Privateers 68-56 in last season's Adidas Festival final.
"Hopefully this win can carry over to tomorrow and we can play well again," said UH forward Julian Sensley, who was born in New Orleans but lists Kailua as his hometown.
UH forward Phil Martin followed up a 21-point performance against Oregon State on Monday by scoring 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds. True freshman Bobby Nash came off the bench to set a career high with 13 points. Sensley added 10.
The Rainbows racked up 25 assists, led by guard Logan Lee's eight, and turned the ball over just eight times.
"That's Rainbow basketball," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "When you look at the assists you can tell whether our stuff's working or not."
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Jake Sottos was tangled up with Texas Southern's Allen Lovett in the first half last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
UH held a significant size advantage over the Tigers, and Martin and center Haim Shimonovich set the tone early as they accounted for 19 of Hawaii's first 28 points.
"There was no emphasis on going inside or anything like that -- it was just executing our offense," said Martin, who needs 11 points to join UH's 1,000-point club.
UH's outburst overshadowed a superb shooting effort by Texas Southern guard Damien Smith. The junior hit nine of 13 shots, including all six of his 3-point attempts, to finish with a game-high 27 points for the defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Tigers.
Texas Southern players and coach Ronnie Courtney declined to speak to the media after the game.
The outcome of last night's game was decided early as UH shot 57 percent from the field to open up a 51-33 lead at halftime.
Shimonovich sparked an early run by blocking a shot and then throwing down a dunk on the offensive end. On TSU's next possession, he showed off his ball-handling skill as he poked away a steal near midcourt and drove to the basket for a layup.
"I think (Shimonovich) got everybody energized early, ran the floor and got some good baskets," Wallace said. "We follow him."
Nash entered the game with less than three minutes left in the first half and hit a jumper and a 3-pointer to give UH a 48-27 lead.
The Rainbows continued to stretch the lead in the second half and maintained a commanding lead the rest of the way.
UH ended up shooting 53 percent from the field, while holding TSU to 42 percent.
"The past few games it seemed like our offense was in a rut, because our offense is really capable of putting up numbers," Blackett said.
New Orleans 86, Idaho State 72: There's something about the Sheriff Center that agrees with Johnell Smith.
After scoring 31 points in two games in last year's Adidas Festival, Smith broke out of a recent shooting slump by scoring 27 points as the Privateers pulled away from the Bengals.
Smith entered the game shooting 28 percent from the field, and was just 1-for-9 from 3-point range. He made nine of 19 shots from the field yesterday and made four of seven 3-point shots.
New Orleans forward Victor Brown recorded double figures in points and rebounds in his second consecutive game. The junior made all seven field-goal attempts and finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds. He had 11 points and 11 boards against Mississippi State on Tuesday.
The Privateers shot 55 percent from the field as a team and outrebounded Idaho State 41-23.
Scott Henry led Idaho State with 19 points, while Jeff Gardner added 18.
Hawaii 97, Texas Southern 67
TIGERS (3-5)
WARRIORS (4-2)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Smith 9 13 3 3 23 1 3 27 Walker 2 4 2 2 27 3 0 6 Sneed 3 6 2 3 14 7 1 8 Bell 0 0 0 0 19 4 1 0 Clark 0 3 0 0 8 1 0 0 Butler 0 2 0 0 6 0 0 0 Willis 3 7 0 0 22 2 2 7 Lovett 3 8 3 5 17 5 0 9 Evans 0 4 0 0 10 1 2 0 Murray 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 Allen 0 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 Dabney 2 6 0 0 24 4 1 4 Warner 3 5 0 1 16 3 0 6 Arbet 0 1 0 0 7 1 0 0 Totals 25 60 10 15 200 37 10 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.
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Martin 8 10 2 2 24 10 0 18 Shimonovich 4 6 1 1 19 6 4 9 Lee 1 3 0 0 24 1 8 3 Kuebler 3 8 2 2 15 0 1 8 Sensley 3 6 2 2 27 2 1 8 Sottos 2 6 2 2 13 2 1 8 Zivanovic 1 1 0 1 12 4 0 2 Carter 3 6 2 2 16 1 3 8 Peciukas 1 4 0 0 11 1 3 2 Nash 5 6 1 2 14 1 1 13 Blackett 2 6 5 6 16 6 1 9 Jesinskis 3 6 0 3 9 1 0 7 Totals 36 68 17 23 200 38 25 97
Halftime--Hawaii 51, Texas Southern 33.
3-point goals--Texas Southern 7-17 (Smith 6, Willis), Hawaii 8-21 (Sensley 2, Nash 2, Sottos 2, Lee, Jesinskis). Personal fouls--Texas Southern 19, Hawaii 17. Steals--Texas Southern 5 (Sneed, Bell, Butler, Willis, Lovett), Hawaii 6 (Shimonovich 2, Carter 2, Sotos, Blackett). Blocked shots--Texas Southern 2 (Sneed, Dabney), Hawaii 5 (Shimonovich 2, Martin, Carter, Blackett). Turnovers--Texas Southern 22 (Walker 4, Evans 4, Smith 3, Dabney 3, Sneed 2, Allen 2, Warner, Lovett, Willis, Bell), Hawaii 8 (Zivanovic 3, Carter 2, Blackett, Shimonovich, Kuebler).
Att -- 5,694.
