[ RAINBOW BASKETBALL ]
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
UH's Julian Sensley threw down a dunk during last night's game vs. UTEP at the Stan Sheriff Center.
’Bows climbing
the chartsHawaii beats a hot UTEP team
to move into a tie for first place
in the WAC standings
Hawaii turned the tables on the highest-scoring team in the Western Athletic Conference last night as the Rainbow Warriors blazed past Texas-El Paso en route to an 85-63 victory at the Stan Sheriff Center.
UH burned the nets in its return from a three-game road trip and eased past the Miners to move into a tie for first place in the WAC before a crowd of 5,475.
"We just got a stretch there where it seemed like we were hitting everything and we just built on that," UH guard Michael Kuebler said.
The Rainbows extended their winning streak to five games and improved to 13-3 overall and 5-1 in the WAC. The victory was also the program's fifth straight in the series with UTEP.
Hawaii enters tomorrow's game with Boise State in a first-place tie with Rice, which scored a 65-63 win at Fresno State yesterday.
UTEP fell 12-4 and 3-3 in the conference and left late last night for California, where the Miners will face San Jose State tomorrow.
UTEP entered the game averaging 82.9 points per game, but couldn't counter Hawaii's hot shooting last night.
UH guard Michael Kuebler hit eight of 12 shots from the field to score a game-high 21 points. Forward Jeff Blackett came off the bench to score 12 of his 14 points in the first half and center Haim Shimonovich scored 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting.
Hawaii jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the game's first six minutes and shot 57 percent (21-for-37) from the field in the first half and led by as many as 25 to take command of the game early. The Rainbows also dished out 20 assists as a team.
"Lately we've been playing real good defense as a team and everybody's playing together as one," said UH guard Jason Carter, who finished with nine points on 4-for-6 shooting. His fellow point guard, Logan Lee, racked up seven assists.
The Rainbows ended the game shooting 52 percent, hitting six of 13 3-point attempts. They also made 13 of 15 free throws.
UTEP, which led the conference in all three shooting categories entering the game, misfired throughout the night and shot 34 percent from the field, 33 percent behind the 3-point line, and made 12 of 22 from the line.
Omar Thomas led the Miners with 14 points and Jason Williams added 12.
The Miners coaches and players declined to speak to the media after the game.
The Rainbows took away UTEP's running game for much of the contest and stymied the Miners with their size in the paint.
UTEP's tallest player was 6-foot-8 and the Miners struggled in the paint against the bigger Rainbows. Shimonovich sparked the Rainbows on the defensive end with three blocked shots and three steals.
"We knew they were going to try to run and get fast-break points," Kuebler said. "Coach really stressed trying to get back on defense. ... I think we did a good job, we were able to find our man and get back. It was one of the keys of the game because they didn't get too many transition points."
"When they don't get those (fast-break) baskets on you, then they have to play straight half court with us then our size became a factor," UH coach Riley Wallace said.
Twelve of the 13 players on the UH roster got on the floor in the first half and the bench accounted for 27 points led by Blackett's 12.
After a steal and a layup by Carter gave UH a 10-point lead, UTEP responded with two 3-pointers by Chris Craig to get within five points at 15-10. That would be as close as the Miners would get the rest of the way as the Rainbows opened up a double-digit edge.
With four starters on the bench, the 'Bows went on a 9-0 run to open up a 34-16 lead.
UTEP bridged halftime with a 12-1 run to close to 14 at 48-34. But UH inched away again and Kuebler's third 3-pointer of the second half gave UH a 69-44 advantage.
The Rainbows cleared the bench and cruised the rest of the way and will get ready a Boise State team that won at San Jose State 70-54 yesterday.
"It was a good ballgame for us but (UTEP is) a lot better team than that," Wallace said. "But it had a lot to do with how we play here."
Hawaii 85, UTEP 63
MINERS (12-4, 3-3 WAC)
RAINBOWS (13-3, 5-1 WAC)
FG FGA FT FTA MIN REB A TP Williams 3 12 6 11 31 10 3 12 Craig 2 8 0 0 29 0 0 6 Rivera 4 10 1 4 32 3 5 9 Thomas 5 13 4 4 26 9 1 14 Tofi 2 4 0 0 27 3 1 4 Murphy 2 3 0 0 11 1 1 6 Devance 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 St. Amant 3 12 1 2 17 4 1 7 Smallwood 1 2 0 0 9 2 0 3 Gehrke 0 1 0 1 11 1 1 0 Duran 0 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 Mattear 1 1 0 0 3 2 0 2 TEAM 2 Totals 23 67 12 22 200 37 14 63
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 0 3 0 0 9 3 0 0 Shiminovich 5 6 0 0 21 8 3 10 Lee 2 5 1 1 22 2 7 5 Kuebler 8 12 1 2 29 2 2 21 Sensley 3 7 3 4 26 5 3 9 Sottos 2 4 0 0 3 1 0 5 Zivanovic 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 Carter 4 6 0 0 16 2 1 9 Gantt 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Peciukas 2 4 2 2 11 1 1 6 Nash 1 2 0 0 10 2 2 2 Blackett 5 9 4 4 33 6 1 14 Jesinskis 1 4 2 2 14 2 0 4 TEAM 6 Totals 33 63 13 15 200 40 20 85
Halftime--Hawaii 47, UTEP 29.
3-point goals--UTEP 5-15 (Craig 2, Murphy 2, Smallwood), Hawaii 6-13 (Kuebler, Sottos, Carter). Personal fouls--UTEP13, Hawaii 17. Steals--UTEP 9 (Rivera 3, Thomas 2, Tofi 2, Williams, Duran), Hawaii 11 (Shiminovich 3, Carter 3, Lee 2, Martin, Sensley, Blackett). Blocked shots--UTEP 5 (Williams 2, Tofi, Devance, Smallwood), Hawaii 5 (Shiminovich 3, Martin, Sensley). Turnovers--UTEP17 (Rivera 4, Williams 3, Thomas 3, St. Amant 3, Craig 2, Tofi, Devance), Hawaii 17 (Lee 3, Carter 3, Shiminovich 2, Sensley 2, Nash 2, Blackett 2, Jesinskis, Peciukas, Kuebler).
Attendance--6,903.
