ASSOCIATED PRESS
Texas-El Paso's Roy Smallwood, left, scored after eluding Hawaii's Jeff Blackett during the second half of yesterday's game.
Hawaii falls flat
on roadThe 'Bows go 0-3 on their
mainland road trip and drop
to fourth place in the conference
EL PASO, Texas >> The Hawaii basketball team couldn't dig itself out of a deep hole yesterday and is now looking up at three teams in the Western Athletic Conference standings.
UTEP 71 Hawaii 62 NEXT UP
vs. Tulsa, Friday
Hawaii trailed by as many as 21 in the first half of yesterday's WAC meeting with Texas-El Paso, but battled back after halftime and cut the deficit to seven on five occasions. But UTEP wouldn't allow UH to get any closer as the Miners scored a 71-62 victory at a sold-out Don Haskins Center.
"We played well, it was just a little too late," Hawaii forward Julian Sensley said.
UTEP, which was picked to finish eighth in the WAC following a 6-24 campaign last year, claimed sole possession of first place by improving to 20-5 overall and 11-4 in the conference. The Miners avenged an 85-63 loss to UH last month and snapped a five-game losing streak to Hawaii with the victory.
Hawaii, which has lost four of its last five games, fell to 17-8 and 9-5 in the WAC after losing all three games in a grueling nine-day road trip. The Rainbows dropped to fourth in the WAC standings and now trail UTEP, Rice (10-4) and Nevada (10-5) in the WAC race.
UTEP center John Tofi led the Miners with 22 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds. Forward Roy Smallwood contributed 13 points and nine boards. Guards Chris Craig and Filiberto Rivera had 14 points each as the Miners shot 51 percent from the field.
Hawaii guard Michael Kuebler scored all of his 22 points in the second half to spearhead the UH rally. Sensley finished with 18 points and nine rebounds.
"The effort was much better in the second half," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "For us to be down 20 and cut it shows the heart and soul of this team is still there."
The Rainbows went without a true point guard for much of the second half as Kuebler and freshman Bobby Nash handled back-court duties. Kuebler said his switch to point guard helped him get loose from the UTEP defense.
"For the first half I was at the (shooting guard) spot and they were able to adjust to a lot of our offense. They knew exactly where I was going to be," Kuebler said. "The second half I played point guard a lot and I think that threw them off."
Yesterday's game was UH's third in six days during an odyssey that began with losses to Boise State and Southern Illinois.
"We were definitely tired, you could see it before the game in people's faces," Sensley said. "We gave everything we had out there and fought."
UTEP bolted to a 20-9 lead in the game's opening moments and took control with a 17-2 run to open up a 37-16 advantage. Rivera and Tofi scored seven points each in the run.
Tofi, who was held to four points in the first meeting between the teams, had 17 points in the first half yesterday.
"They just didn't miss," Sensley said. "They just kept pounding the ball inside, and when we started collapsing down inside, they started kicking the ball outside and hitting shots."
Hawaii chipped into the lead and trailed 40-27 at halftime. A basket by Phil Martin in the final minute was taken off the scoreboard after officials reviewed a replay and ruled the hoop came after the shot clock expired.
Kuebler, who attempted just two shots in the first half, cut the UTEP lead to 10 with a three-point play in the opening seconds of the second half. But the Miners responded by scoring the next seven points.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
UH's Phil Martin tried to maneuver around UTEP's Roy Smallwood, right, and Omar Thomas.
After UTEP went up 50-33, Kuebler caught fire and scored the game's next 10 points. His second 3-pointer of the run cut the Miners' lead to seven at 50-43.
UTEP pushed the lead back to double digits, but Kuebler drained a 3-pointer to draw UH to within 61-54 with just over five minutes left. But Tofi scored inside and Craig hit a 3-pointer to give UTEP a 12-point advantage.
Hawaii made a final push, holding UTEP without a field goal for the final 4:25 and cutting the deficit to eight with 42 seconds left. But the Miners hit five free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
UH center Haim Shimonovich returned to the starting lineup after missing two games with a sprained knee. He managed two points and two rebounds in seven minutes.
The Rainbows are scheduled to return to Honolulu tonight and will begin its final homestand of the season on Friday against Tulsa. The five UH seniors will then make their final regular-season appearances at the Stan Sheriff Center in Sunday's game against Rice.
"We're just trying to make sure everyone stays positive," Kuebler said. "We're in kind of a slump here, but we just need to put it behind us and make the most out of the rest of our season."
WAC standings
Conference All Games W L Pct. W L Pct UTEP 11 4 .733 20 5 .800 Rice 10 4 .714 19 7 .731 Nevada 10 5 .667 17 8 .680 Hawaii 9 5 .643 17 8 .680 Boise St. 9 6 .600 17 8 .680 Fresno St. 8 7 .533 12 13 .480 Louisiana Tech 7 7 .500 13 11 .542 SMU 4 10 .286 10 14 .417 Tulsa 3 11 .214 7 17 .292 San Jose St. 1 13 .071 6 18 .250
Yesterday
Rice 63, Fresno State 60
UTEP 71, Hawaii 62
Thursday (All times Hawaii time)
UTEP at Louisiana Tech, 3 p.m.
Boise State at SMU, 3 p.m.
Friday
Rice at San Jose State, 5 p.m.
Tulsa at Hawaii, 7:05 p.m.
UTEP 71, Hawaii 62
WARRIORS (17-8, 9-5 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Martin 0 4 3 4 32 3 2 3 Sensley 6 12 4 6 36 9 2 18 Shimonovich 1 3 0 0 7 2 0 2 Lee 2 6 0 0 20 2 0 5 Kuebler 8 17 3 3 37 4 1 22 Carter 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 Peciukas 2 3 1 2 13 2 1 6 Nash 1 2 0 0 19 3 0 2 Blackett 1 5 2 2 31 3 1 4 Jesinskis 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 Team 1 Totals 21 55 13 17 200 29 7 62
MINERS (20-5, 11-4 WAC)
fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Smallwood 4 4 3 4 35 9 2 13 Tofi 9 11 4 6 30 10 2 22 Williams 1 10 0 0 33 2 1 2 Craig 4 8 3 3 35 2 1 14 Rivera 4 7 4 7 38 3 7 14 Murphy 1 2 0 0 5 0 0 3 Devance 0 0 0 0 0+ 0 0 0 St. Amant 0 2 0 0 14 0 0 0 Duran 0 0 0 0 0+ 0 0 0 Mattear 0 0 0 0 0+ 0 0 0 Thomas 1 3 1 4 10 2 1 3 Team 6 Totals 24 47 15 24 200 34 14 71
Key -- fg: field goals; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.
Halftime -- UTEP 40, Hawaii 27
3-point goals -- Hawaii 7-21 (Kuebler 3-9, Sensley 2-5, Peciukas 1-1, Lee 1-4, Nash 0-1, Blackett 0-1), UTEP 8-15 (Craig 3-7, Smallwood 2-2, Rivera 2-4, Murphy 1-1, St. Amant 0-1). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 19, UTEP 18.
Steals -- Hawaii 8 (Sensley 3, Nash 2, Martin, Lee, Kuebler), UTEP 5 (Rivera 3, Craig, Tofi). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 3 (Martin, Sensley, Blackett), UTEP 3 (Smallwood 2, Tofi). Turnovers -- Hawaii 14 (Martin 5, Kuebler 3, Lee 2, Sensley, Carter, Peciukas, team), UTEP 17 (Rivera 7, Smallwood 4, Craig 3, Tofi 2, Williams). Officials -- Christman, Batsell, Cota. A -- 12,000.
