[ RAINBOW BASKETBALL ]
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Haim Shimonovich looked to pass as Fresno State's Jack Marlow defended last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Fresno State
tops HawaiiThe Bulldogs rely on
rebounding and defense
to beat UH
Fresno State's formula for winning basketball games isn't especially pretty, but the Bulldogs' combination of defense and rebounding proved effective last night in their 69-58 victory over Hawaii at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Fresno State outrebounded Hawaii 38-16 and held the Rainbow Warriors without a field goal for a seven-minute stretch late in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams and scored the win before a crowd of 6,675.
"This is a great way to start the season, with a road win," Fresno State coach Ray Lopes said. "We did a great job in the second half with Bulldog basketball -- defense and rebounding."
"We hang our hats on defense," FSU point guard Shantay Legans said. "We've been preaching that since the beginning of the year."
The Bulldogs won their third straight game and improved to 5-5 overall and 1-0 in the WAC by snapping Hawaii's six-game winning streak.
UH, which shot 28 percent from the field in the second half, dropped to 8-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference. It was UH's first loss since falling to Dayton in the title game of the Maui Invitational on Nov. 26.
"They had tremendous effort, they were well prepared for our stuff and we didn't execute because their defense was good," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "They just outhustled us, outcoached us, outplayed us tonight."
The Rainbows must rebound quickly, as they face preseason WAC favorite Nevada tomorrow night.Fresno State guard Marcus West made seven of 10 shots from the field and finished with a game-high 21 points. Center Mustafa Al-Sayyad recorded his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Fresno State picked up the win despite missing suspended seniors Renaldo Major and Jonathan Woods. The off-court turmoil contributed to the team's 4-5 start in the nonconference schedule.
"We really started off shaky," West said. "But Coach said to zip that up and throw that in the ocean. We have a new season ahead and we're 1-0."
Forward Phil Martin led the Rainbows with 18 points. UH point guards Logan Lee and Jason Carter entered the game averaging a combined 6.1 points per game, but gave the Rainbows a boost with 18, including a season-high 10 from Lee.
Guard Michael Kuebler, the WAC's leading scorer, struggled through a rough shooting night, making three of 16 shots from the field.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Phil Martin went up for a shot under the basket in the second half last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
UH forward Julian Sensley started the game after missing practice the previous two days with a bruised left shoulder. He missed his only attempt from the field and finished with five rebounds and five assists. Center Haim Shimonovich was saddled with foul trouble most of the game and fouled out with more than four minutes left.
But the discrepancy on the boards was the primary topic of discussion after the game.
"It's not like they were really any bigger than us," UH forward Jeff Blackett said. "They just wanted the rebounds. We're a team that should be outrebounding the other team every night and we got killed on the glass tonight."
Fresno State, which entered the game shooting a WAC-low 42 percent from the field, shredded the net in the first half to take a 37-33 halftime lead. The Bulldogs made 58 percent of their attempts in the first half led by West, who drained all four of his 3-point shots and posted 14 points.
"It rained the whole time we were down here, so we said we were going to rain 3s on them," West said. "I finally got my shot back and it started to feel good in the first half."
Martin scored the first five points of the second half to put UH up 38-37. But Fresno State responded with a 10-2 run highlighted by a dunk by 6-foot-10, 330-pound center Jack Marlow and led 47-40 with 12:24 left.
UH closed to 53-50 on a three-point play by Martin, but Legans fed Al-Sayyad for back-to-back layups to put the Bulldogs back in control with 5:27 left.
The Rainbows went cold from the field and frequently had just one shot at the goal as Al-Sayyad controlled the boards on both ends of the floor.
Lee hit a 3-pointer with 13.9 seconds left, UH's first field goal since Martin's jumper at the 7:15 mark.
"I think this game was a learning experience for us," Martin said. "We have to forget about it and go into the next game."
Wolf Pack coming to town: The Rainbow Warriors complete their first WAC homestand of the season tomorrow night against Nevada. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.
The Wolf Pack (7-3, 1-0), the preseason favorite to win the WAC, opened the conference season by blowing out San Jose State 74-45 yesterday in California. Nevada guard Kirk Snyder, the preseason WAC Player of the Year, scored 11 points in 23 minutes.
Fresno State plays at San Jose State tomorrow.
Fresno St. 69, Hawaii 58
Bulldogs (5-5)
Rainbows (8-3)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Bouldin 1 7 2 2 29 5 5 4 Legans 2 8 4 4 38 0 6 9 West 7 10 3 5 39 3 3 21 Adams 3 3 0 1 26 6 0 6 Al-Sayyad 6 8 1 3 27 15 0 13 Pettis 1 4 8 9 14 3 1 10 Marlow 2 2 0 0 13 2 1 4 Butler 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 Koffi 1 2 0 0 13 2 0 2 Totals 23 46 18 24 200 38 16 69
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 6 14 6 6 40 2 1 18 Shimonovich 1 2 0 0 21 3 0 2 Lee 4 5 0 0 24 0 2 11 Kuebler 3 16 2 2 39 0 3 2 Sensley 0 1 1 2 34 5 5 1 Sottos 0 0 0 1 0+ 0 0 0 Carter 3 5 0 0 18 2 2 8 Peciukas 0 1 2 2 2 0 0 2 Nash 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 Blackett 3 4 0 0 17 2 0 6 Jesinskis 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 Totals 20 49 11 13 200 16 14 58
Halftime--Fresno St. 37, Hawaii 33.
3-point goals--Fresno St. 5-13 (West 4, Legans), Hawaii 7-21 (Lee 3, Carter 2, Kuebler 2). Personal fouls--Fresno St. 16, Hawaii 21. Steals--Fresno St. 7 (Bouldin 3, Pettis 3, Marlow), Hawaii 9 (Lee 4, Martin 3, Sensley, Carter). Blocked shots--Fresno St. 3 (Adams 2, Al-Sayyad), Hawaii 1 (Sensley). Turnovers--Fresno St. 22 (Al-Sayyad 7, Pettis 6, Bouldin 3, Legans 2, West 2, Adams, Butler), Hawaii 14 (Shimonovich 4, Carter 4, Kuebler 2, Blackett 2, Jeskinskis, Sensley).
Att -- 7,798.
