[ RAINBOW BASKETBALL ]
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Logan Lee was swarmed by the defense of New Orleans' Kentrell Martin (15) and A.J. Meredith last night. UH won easily.
’Bows slam
Privateers for
tournament titleHawaii scores 90 points
in consecutive games for
the first time in 22 years
Hawaii's balance and precision proved too much for New Orleans to handle as the Rainbow Warriors claimed the Adidas Festival championship with a 92-64 victory last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
A crowd of 3,527 watched Hawaii (5-2) dish out 23 assists as four Rainbows scored in double figures to power the team to its third straight win.
UH's teamwork resulted in the Rainbows scoring 90 points in back-to-back games first time since 1981.
"That's what we've been preaching, team play," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "This team is really coming together all the way up and down."
UH guard Michael Kuebler matched his career high with 29 points to lead all scorers as the Rainbows provided an impressive follow-up to Friday night's 97-67 win over Texas Southern.
"A lot of it carried over from last night," UH forward Phil Martin said. "That and all the hard work we've been putting in in our time off just prepared us mentally and physically. You can see each game we get better and better."
Martin entered the school's 1,000-point club in style, taking a pass from forward Julian Sensley to finish a fast break with a dunk at the 16:15 mark of the second half.
Martin became the 11th UH player to achieve the milestone and just the third to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in his career, joining John Penebacker (1,519 points, 870 rebounds) and Melton Werts (1,314 points, 1,098 rebounds).
"It's an honor to be in the books I guess. But I'm not going to sit there and think about that. I'm just going to continue the season and hopefully build from that," Martin said.
UH center Haim Shimonovich recorded double figures in points (13) and rebounds (10) for the second time this season. Sensley registered his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and dished out seven assists.
"It showed what he's capable of doing," Wallace said.
Martin finished two rebounds short of giving UH three double-double performances as UH grabbed 43 boards to UNO's 33.
The Privateers (4-3) were playing their fourth road game in the last seven days and UNO coach Monte Towe said the players were a bit leg-weary last night.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Michael Kuebler went up for a shot over New Orleans' A.J. Meredith last night. Kuebler scored a game-high 29 points.
New Orleans stayed in a zone defense for much of the game, which Kuebler took as an invitation to bomb from outside. And the Rainbows were equally effective against a man-to-man look and full-court pressure.
"The defense really didn't make any difference tonight, man or zone, they scored basically at will," Towe said. "The only way we could have stopped them was if we put seven guys out there maybe, and I don't know if seven of us could have stopped them."
Said Kuebler: "A lot of it has to do with guys knowing their roles and where to be on the court. We're finally getting those game-type situations you can't get in practice."
New Orleans forward Ben Elias led UNO with 16 points, while guard Johnell Smith added 15.
UH went to the perimeter early in the game, hitting four 3-pointers in the first nine minutes, and took command on the boards to open up a 43-30 lead at halftime.
Hawaii outrebounded New Orleans 22-13 in the first 20 minutes and scored four buckets on putbacks. Two putback dunks by Sensley highlighted a 13-2 UH run that gave the 'Bows a 32-20 lead.
The Rainbows continued to run their offense effectively in the second half as they maintained a commanding lead. They shot 63 percent from the field after halftime and finished at 54 percent for the game.
"When you're having fun out there it's a huge difference, when you have confidence in everything it just changes the whole game around," Sensley said.
Texas Southern 73, Idaho State 63: A day after losing to Hawaii by 30, the Tigers (3-5) salvaged a split of their two games in Honolulu by holding off the Bengals.
TSU guard Sean Walker led all scorers with 21 points, while Jerome Bell and Allan Lovett added 10 each. Bell also posted 11 rebounds.
Idaho State guard Jeff Gardner scored all of his team-high 16 points in the first half. Scott Henry added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Bengals (3-6).
Hawaii 92, New Orleans 64
Privateers (4-3)
Warriors (5-2)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Meredith 3 7 0 0 26 0 1 8 Martin 0 1 1 2 19 5 1 1 Smith 7 17 1 2 32 3 6 15 Elias 7 9 2 2 25 5 0 16 Buggs 4 13 3 3 29 5 1 12 McCalebb 1 6 2 6 18 1 0 4 Lauga 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 Brown 1 5 1 2 21 2 0 3 Wilson 0 1 0 0 6 0 0 0 McDade 0 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 Williams 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 Parker 1 4 3 4 17 7 0 5 Team 3 Totals 24 67 13 21 200 33 9 64
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 9 13 0 0 33 8 0 18 Shimonovich 5 8 3 4 27 10 3 13 Lee 0 2 0 0 20 1 7 0 Kuebler 9 18 6 6 37 5 1 29 Sensley 5 10 4 7 36 10 7 16 Sottos 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Zivanovic 0 1 2 4 3 2 1 2 Carter 1 5 0 0 18 0 3 3 Peciukas 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 3 Nash 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 Blackett 4 5 0 0 14 3 0 8 Jesinskis 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 Team 3 Totals 34 63 15 21 200 43 23 92
Halftime -- Hawaii 43, New Orleans 30.
3-point goals -- New Orleans 3-20 (Meredith 2, Buggs), Hawaii 9-22 (Kuebler 5, Sensley 2, Carter, Peciukas). Personal fouls -- New Orleans 17, Hawaii 16. Steals -- New Orleans 4 (Smith 3, Buggs), Hawaii 2 (Sensley, Carter). Blocked shots -- New Orleans 0, Hawaii 0. Turnovers -- New Orleans 6 (Meredith, Martin, Smith, Buggs, McDade, Parker), Hawaii 7 (Martin 3, Shimonovich, Kuebler, Sensley, Carter).
Att -- 6,954.
