FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Matt Gibson of Hawaii had 12 points and four assists against San Jose State on Saturday.

‘Little Matt’
grows up

The JC transfer is playing well
after struggling to adapt to
coach Riley Wallace's style

A wave of the arms is accompanied by the familiar voice that brings practice to an immediate halt.

SMU at Hawaii When: Today, 7:05 p.m. Where: Stan Sheriff Center TV: Live, KFVE (Ch. 5) Radio: Live, KKEA 1420-AM Internet: HawaiiAthletics.com Tickets: $17 (lower level, single seats only), $13 (upper level, adult), $5 (upper level, student), $3 (upper level, UH students), $5 (Super Rooter/Manoa Maniacs). Parking $3 Promotion: "Welcome Back Students Night" -- UH students receive a free ticket with a valid ID at Gate A an hour before tipoff. Tickets are limited and will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis.

"Hold up!" Riley Wallace barks upon seeing something amiss in the play in progress. And on this occasion guard Matt Gibson is the object of his ire after not running a cut hard enough for the Hawaii basketball coach's liking.

Just a few weeks ago, the reprimand might have drawn an incredulous look or a retort from the Rainbow Warrior sophomore -- neither of which usually sits well with coaches.

This time, Gibson absorbs the instruction, nods his head, slaps the ball and triggers the next play.

The shift in demeanor over the course of his first season at UH has been part of Gibson's basketball education, a process that has extended beyond simply improving his skills.

"Coach Wallace has shown me a better way to go about things, a better way to handle myself," Gibson said.

"Maybe I didn't want to learn things besides basketball from Coach, but I have and I appreciate everything he's done for me. Especially keeping me around through hard times, times when maybe he should have suspended me or maybe should have let me go. But he stayed on and helped me through it."

Gibson still has his moments, but his efforts to stay focused and positive on the court haven't gone unnoticed by Wallace, UH's 18th-year coach.

"He's getting better," he said. "He's working, he's coming into the fold. He's not perfect by any means, but he's trying and that's all I ask."

The transition to Division I ball has involved a series of adjustments for the transfer from Three Rivers (Mo.) Community College, both in his attitude and his game.

Along the way, Gibson has been one of the Rainbows' steadiest scorers this season.

Gibson has scored in double figures in seven straight contests and ranks second on the team with 12.9 points per game entering tonight's Western Athletic Conference contest against Southern Methodist at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Gibson, the Most Valuable Player of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic, leads the Rainbows with 15 3-pointers and is shooting 86 percent (37-for-43) from the free-throw line. An aggressive on-ball defender, he has a team-best 17 steals.

Matt Gibson: Averages 12.9 points per game, second best on the Rainbows

Gibson started two games early in the season before a disciplinary issue landed him on the bench. He rejoined the starting five against Nevada on New Year's Day and has scored 31 points and dished out 10 assists in the two games since.

"He played as unselfishly as he's played all year," Wallace said after Gibson's 12-point, four-assist night against San Jose State last Saturday. "He made some good passes, he got us into our offense, he played hard defensively.

"This is the longest period of time that he's stayed focused on what he had to do and that's a good sign."

The naturally loquacious Gibson's tendency to talk resulted in an early turning point in his career. After hearing too much from Gibson during an early-December practice, Wallace ordered him to the locker room early and gave him the next day off to consider his options.

Gibson returned with a new outlook on his situation.

"I didn't want people changing me. I'd shake my head 'yes' and I wouldn't hear you," he said. "But I'm a young man, I don't know a lot, so I'm going to listen and try to learn as much as I can while I'm here."

Gibson developed his scoring ability under the tutelage of his father, Lon, a highly successful high-school girls coach in Oklahoma City. Matt Gibson was among the nation's top junior-college scorers as a freshman at Three Rivers C.C., where he averaged 25.8 points last season.

Although he grew up most comfortable with the ball in his hands, either dribbling to the basket or shooting, Gibson has gradually learned to contribute in other aspects.

"It's making harder screens, making tougher cuts, moving without the ball, seeing the whole game instead of just when I have the ball," Gibson said.

Said Wallace: "Everything in his whole game was geared to the basketball itself. Now he's learning to make good passes. He's got a great first step, now he's feeding (his teammates) and he's a much better player."

Gibson said his daily conversations with his father helped him weather the growing pains this season and the family's connection with UH could extend beyond Matt's eligibility. His younger brother, Hunter, is a 6-foot-3, 170-pound seventh-grader tearing up his youth league back in Oklahoma.

"He wants to be a Rainbow," Gibson said.

Flu bug tests
Hawaii’s depth

The last time Julian Sensley played basketball when he was really sick, he was at St. Thomas More School in Connecticut in 2001.

He played one of his best games ever.

"I was in high school, 28 (points), 21 (rebounds)," the Hawaii junior forward said after yesterday's practice, his first after missing the Monday and Tuesday workouts with the flu.

The Rainbows (9-2, 1-2 Western Athletic Conference) spent much of yesterday working on full-speed transition drills, and Sensley held up well enough to start tonight against SMU (7-5, 2-2) at the Stan Sheriff Center, coach Riley Wallace said. But fellow big men Matthew Gipson and Milos Zivanovic, as well as guard Seth Caine, did not practice yesterday. Those three and Wallace all have the bug, too.

It's no fun, Sensley said.

"It was a lot of vomiting, coughing. That lasted about a day. The next day was like a bad cold. Today I'm better, just really fatigued," he said.

Wallace said he felt lousy yesterday, but that he'll be ready to coach tonight.

As for the lineup, he said Sensley and Jeff Blackett are the tentative starting forwards. Wallace added that Gipson would probably be available to play, but maybe not Zivanovic.

Gipson told Wallace he'd practice, but the medical staff wouldn't let him, and that he'd be ready to play against the Mustangs.

"We'll see how they are (tonight)," Wallace said.

The Rainbows have seven players averaging 20.5 minutes or more a game, and three more with at least 7.9 per game. Swingman Vaidotas Peciukas can spell Sensley if he's not recovered enough for heavy minutes, or if Sensley needs to fill in at power forward for Gipson.

"We've got enough depth on this team where anyone can step up and play any given night. I don't think (the flu bug) will affect us," said Sensley, who leads UH in points (13.5), rebounds (7.2), assists (2.9) and minutes (37.5) per game.