Hawaii now tries
to protect its homeAfter three straight road wins,
the Warriors play host to UTEP
With four straight wins, three coming on the road, the Hawaii basketball team has put itself in a position to contend in the Western Athletic Conference.
But while their recent conquests have given the Rainbow Warriors a boost in confidence and in the standings, they know the progress they've made can unravel quickly if they can't protect their home court.
UTEP at Hawaii
When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: Live, KFVE-TV
Radio: Live, 1420-AM
Internet:
uhathletics.hawaii.edu
Tickets: Lower Level, $15 (single seats only); Upper Level (adult) $11; Upper Level (student, UH) $5; Super Rooter $8
Parking: $3
After an 11-day mainland journey that resulted in three wins, the 'Bows return to the Sheriff Center tomorrow night to face Texas-El Paso, the highest-scoring team in the WAC.
"It gave us some confidence but we can't get overconfident," UH coach Riley Wallace said after the team's practice yesterday at the Stan Sheriff Center. "We went in, we were focused and we did what we had to do, but now we have a lot of work to do because we'll find out this week how good we are."
UH (12-3 overall, 4-1 WAC) has won 10 of its last 11 games and is tied with Rice for second place in the WAC. And the uncertainty that cropped up after a stinging home loss to Fresno State to open the WAC season has since been supplanted by a renewed enthusiasm that has accompanied the 'Bows' four-game roll.
"I think it started with the Nevada win. We just carried that with us," said UH forward Julian Sensley, referring to the 'Bows' victory on Jan. 5 that sparked their current streak. "The main thing was everyone was having a good time and one game carried to another. Everyone's having fun, when you're having fun out there you don't think about the mistakes, you just go out and play and we've been able to jell as a team.
"Coming out with those three wins I know the fans are going to be looking forward to coming out here to watch us play. We just have to come out hyped and come out to defend our home court."
After beating three teams with a combined WAC record of 4-12, UH will face a UTEP squad in the midst of a drastic turnaround. UTEP finished last season at 6-24, the program's worst record since the 1959-60 season, but thanks to a few new faces, the Miners enter the week at 12-3 overall and 3-2 in the WAC and are filling up the 12,000-seat Don Haskins Center once again.
"That's your scouting report right there," Wallace said. "Their fans believe they're a good team and if you look at the film, they are."
Junior college transfers Omar Thomas and Jason Williams -- both 6-foot-5 swingmen -- and point guard Filiberto Rivera account for 46 percent of the Miners' points. Thomas is the reigning WAC Player of the Week and is scoring 21 points per game in conference play. Williams (11.4 ppg) is the team's top rebounder and Rivera (10.8 ppg) leads the Miners' in assists with 4.7 per game.
UTEP has welcomed back senior forward Roy Smallwood, who missed most of last season with a torn ACL and is now among the team's top rebounders. The Miners also have talent coming off the bench in center John Tofi and guard Giovanni St. Amant, two of the WAC's top freshmen last year. Tofi ranks second on the team in scoring with 12.8 points per game.
UTEP leads the WAC in three shooting categories -- field goals (49 percent), free throws (76 percent) and 3-pointers (39 percent) -- and consequently averages 82.9 points per game. That number is the best in the WAC and good for 11th in the country.
But the statistic that caught Wallace's eye is the 437 free throws the Miners have attempted this season.
"That tells you they get a lot of penetration, they do a lot of post-up isolation and we have to defend that without fouling," he said.
UH guard Michael Kuebler continues to lead the WAC in scoring with 19.3 ppg while forward Phil Martin has held steady at 12.4 and Sensley remains an all-around threat with 10.5 points and 7.4 rebounds a game. Over the last three games, point guards Logan Lee and Jason Carter have combined for 15 assists to just four turnovers.
In their three road wins, the Rainbows were able to build double-digit leads, but had to sweat out the final minutes as their hosts made late runs and threatened to rally past the 'Bows. The team addressed the lapses by having the scout team turn up the defensive pressure in practice yesterday.
"It shows we're ready because we came out and we played well in the first half of those games and we got leads and then we were able to do enough to hang on to win," Wallace said. "We have to get better down the stretch or else it's going to cost us."
