Rainbows face
pair of upstartsUTEP and Boise State aren't
the pushovers they used to be
Having reversed its fortunes on the road, the Hawaii basketball team returns home this week to face two opponents that appear to have turned things around as well.
UH vs. UTEP
When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: Live, KFVE
Radio: Live, 1420-AM
Internet: uhathletics.hawaii.edu
Fresh off a three-game sweep of their first road trip of the season, the Rainbow Warriors (12-3 overall, 4-1 Western Athletic Conference) face Texas-El Paso on Thursday and Boise State on Saturday in WAC contests at the Stan Sheriff Center.
After 11 days away from home, the Rainbows returned to Honolulu on Sunday. UH coach Riley Wallace gave the team the day off yesterday to recharge.
UH's four-game winning streak earned the team some recognition in this week's national polls. The Rainbows received five votes in the Associated Press Top 25 and three votes in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25. It's the first time this season that UH received votes in either poll.
"It's recognizing the fact that we won on the road where we didn't win any one of those three (at San Jose State, SMU and Louisiana Tech) last year," Wallace said. "The numbers are there, now we have to keep it up."
A WAC team has yet to break into the top 25 in either poll this season. Rice received one vote in this week's AP poll. Fresno State (four), Rice (two) and UTEP (one) also got votes in the USA Today/ESPN poll.
The 'Bows have tripled the number of regular-season WAC road wins they posted last year when they went 1-8 away from home and are looking to maintain their momentum now that they're back in the islands. Meanwhile, UTEP (12-3, 3-2) and Boise State (10-5, 2-3) have already reached double figures in wins after enduring losing campaigns a year ago.
"They're both on the rise, there's no question about that," Wallace said.
UH has won its last four meetings with UTEP, which went 6-24 overall and 3-15 in the WAC last season. But the Miners added two junior college All-Americans in swingman Omar Thomas and guard Filiberto Rivera, and own the highest RPI in the WAC this week at No. 35.
UTEP averages a WAC-best 82.9 points per game and handed Fresno State its first WAC loss of the season on Saturday with a 72-58 victory at a sold-out Don Haskins Center.
Boise State returned all five starters from last year's team that went 13-16 overall and 7-11 in the WAC. The Broncos lost at home to Fresno State last Thursday, but rebounded to beat Nevada 79-75 on Saturday.
Wallace said he hasn't been surprised by the turnarounds of either team.
"I knew UTEP was going to end up playing pretty good because when you get a great point guard (Rivera) like they signed, you have a chance to be good," he said. "Boise had all their starters back and they had some new players coming in, new energy, so they had to be improved. It's not that surprising."
Miner accomplishment: Thomas was named the WAC Player of the Week yesterday for the second time this season after averaging 21.5 points and six rebounds in wins over Nevada and Fresno State last week.
The junior shot 63 percent from the field and was 13-for-16 from the free-throw line in the two games. He scored 28 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the Miners' 79-76 win over Nevada.
"He's just on a hot streak right now," UTEP coach Billy Gillispie said in yesterday's WAC teleconference. "He's doing everything for us. He's scoring a lot of points, but he's become a very, very good defender for us and he's a vital rebounder."
Forward Julian Sensley was Hawaii's nominee. Sensley scored a career-high 19 points in UH's 67-60 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday. Two days earlier, he posted 13 points, six rebounds and five assists in a 66-65 win over SMU.
Small world: Jake Sottos will be the latest UH player to face a former junior-college teammate when the 'Bows face UTEP.
Sottos played with Rivera at Southeastern (Iowa) Community College last season, where the duo helped the team to a 37-1 record and the National Junior College Athletic Association championship.
Rivera is third in the WAC in assists with 4.7 per game entering this week's action.
UH forward Jeff Blackett played against former Salt Lake CC teammates Cameron Goettsche (UC Santa Barbara) and Jack Marlow (Fresno State) this season. Guard Logan Lee played with Nevada's Jermaine Washington at South Plains College last year, where first-year Wolf Pack assistant Josh Newman also coached.
