[ RAINBOW BASKETBALL ]
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Michael Kuebler attempted a reverse layup during last night's game against UTEP.
Wallace wants more fans
Hawaii basketball coach Riley Wallace says his team has the best fans in the Western Athletic Conference. He just wishes more of them would come to the arena.
"(They) get on the officials and cheer plays, the fans we have are very knowledgeable. We'd just like to double it," Wallace said last night after the Rainbows pounded Texas-El Paso 85-63 at the Stan Sheriff Center. "Let's just hope it's not the last game, Senior Night, that they come out and fill the place."
Last night's turnstile attendance was 5,475 -- little more than half capacity -- for a team going into the game with a 12-3 record and returning from a history-making 3-0 road trip. Live television on a week night cut into the gate count at least a bit.
"I don't call those shots about what happens on television," Wallace said. "But if this was in El Paso there's 12,000 at the game, that's all I can tell you. And they do televise games there. I don't know where our fans are. Tickets compared to other places are cheap and the product is good."
UH athletic director Herman Frazier said he has had discussions with KFVE general manager John Fink about Pay Per View for basketball, partly to encourage attendance.
"Those talks are preliminary and we are under a current contract," Frazier said.
Super subs: A benchmark of an outstanding team is often the mark its bench can put on a game.
Such was the case for Hawaii last night. Wallace was forced to go the AYSO route -- nearly everybody played in the first half, partly because of foul trouble to starters, partly because the replacements played so well.
Forward Jeff Blackett scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half. He went in for two-foul saddled Phil Martin just 2 minutes and 45 seconds into the game and didn't come out until intermission.
Blackett also grabbed all six of his rebounds before the break.
Hawaii led 23-12 when Blackett made a 10-foot baseline shot at the 9:48 mark. But there was cause for concern when center Haim Shimonovich was whistled for his second foul on the next series.
There needn't have been.
Omar Thomas scored for UTEP to close the margin to single digits, but the Rainbows then went on an 11-point run minus Martin and Shimonovich, fueled by Julian Sensley's board work and backup point guard Jason Carter's frenetic energy.
Carter dazzled, providing just enough spice to UH's transition game. He popped an 18-footer to start the run, hit a trey in the middle of it and then a slick driving layup to close it.
Carter, who scored all nine of his points in the first half, also assisted on Sensley's slam off the break that rocked the rim and the house.
Another sub, freshman Bobby Nash, hit a pull-up 18-foot jumper.
When the carnage was complete at 6:43, Hawaii led 34-16 and the Miners found themselves in a very deep hole.
"When Jeff and JC come off the bench and play like that I don't think any team in the conference can stop us," Shimonovich said.
Said Blackett: "When the energy's already up there it's a lot easier to come in the game. It makes it easy when things are already going good."
One of the best parts about it for Wallace was he didn't have to worry about putting Shimonovich or Martin back in the game in the first half and risk real foul trouble. Paul Jesinskis and Vaidotas Peciukas also provided some credible minutes off the bench, and Hawaii outrebounded UTEP 21-16 in the first 20 minutes.
"JC came in with some energy, Vaidotas came in and played well off the bench tonight. We got a lot of points off the bench," Wallace said.
The Rainbows' subs scored 35 points in 93 minutes.
"Phil had a bad night, but he'll have a good game on Saturday. He always does," Wallace added. "Blackett's picking him up. That's what we haven't had in the past. We haven't had this kind of depth since Mindaugas (Burneika) and those guys and Mike McIntyre coming off the bench. We won a lot of games with them. We've got that depth now and we're using it. They're showing us in practice they can play.
Layups: UTEP coach Billy Gillispie was still in the locker room talking to his team 45 minutes after the game. ... Miners senior starting forward Roy Smallwood played just nine minutes because he broke team rules, a UTEP spokesman said. ... Denver Broncos receiver Ashley Lelie and his former fellow wide receiver at UH, Channon Harris, took in last night's game from the VIP seats.
