Wallace concerned
about win No. 2
-- not No. 300
The Rainbow Warrior basketball
coach is close to a milestone
Riley Wallace is closing in on 300 career wins, but the Hawaii basketball coach's attention is centered on getting win No. 2 this season.
"It's taken awhile; it'll mean something later on probably," Wallace said of the milestone. "I'm concerned about this team and getting out there and keeping it going."
The Rainbow Warriors' 71-58 season-opening win over Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday gave Wallace 299 NCAA Division I victories. He began his career with 15 wins in two seasons at Centenary from 1976 to 1978 and has 284 at Hawaii.
UH's first shot at getting Wallace to the 300-win mark comes tomorrow night when the Rainbows host Coastal Carolina at the Stan Sheriff Center in the second game of a UH doubleheader. The Hawaii women's team plays Santa Clara at 5 p.m., followed by the men at 8:05 p.m.
After recovering from a shaky start Tuesday, the emphasis for the Rainbows will be to build upon a second-half performance in which they shot 50 percent from the field and pulled away from Mississippi Valley State.
"That's the way you get better," Wallace said. "The first half was your first-game jitters and after that they played."
UH will face a Coastal Carolina squad in the midst of an arduous five-game, 10-day road trip to open the season.
The Chanticleers (0-3) of the Big South Conference have lost the first three games of the trip, falling at UNC-Greensboro 79-73 on Tuesday. After playing Hawaii tomorrow, they end the trip with a game against Chaminade on Sunday.
Guard Pele Paelay led Coastal Carolina with 22 points and 11 rebounds and three steals in the loss. In three games, Paelay is averaging 19.3 points and 8.7 rebounds and has 14 steals. Freshman guard Jack Leasure has 11 3-pointers.
The Rainbows will probably have a chance to unveil their man offense against the Chanticleers after playing against a zone nearly the entire game Tuesday.
"They'll throw some different defenses in there and we'll have to be prepared for that," said UH associate coach Bob Nash, who prepares the team's scouting reports. "They'll mix it up. They'll be game-tested, road-tested and they've been in hostile environments."
UH had four players score in double figures against MVS, led by guard Matt Gibson's 22 points off the bench. Julian Sensley added 13 and center Chris Botez posted 15 points and 16 rebounds.
After letting only a few seconds run off the shot clock before hoisting jumpers in the first half, the Rainbows were patient in their attack in the second half, passing the ball around the zone to find open shooters.
"They seem like they're going to be an unselfish type team and that's good," Wallace said. "They're all willing to make the extra pass."
Said Sensley: "We kind of huddled together and just told everybody to slow everything down, work the ball around and get everybody touches. We were able to get (Gibson) open shots. Then when they started playing outside we started drilling inside, and that's when Chris and (forward Matthew Gipson) started getting their shots. Like coach said, we're an inside-out team."
The Rainbows' frontcourt of Botez, Sensley and forward Jeff Blackett appears solid, while point guard Deonte Tatum was steady on offense and impressive with his effort on defense. Wallace said shooting guard remains up for grabs and will probably be decided after today's practice, with Gibson, Bobby Nash and Jake Sottos in the mix.
Tomorrow's game has been designated "Family Night." Fans receive two free youth (ages 4-18) tickets with the purchase of an adult ticket. Monday's game against Southern Illinois will be "Black Out" night. The 'Bows will unveil their new black uniforms and the UH athletic department is asking fans to wear black shirts to the game.
