HAWAII 71, SOUTHERN METHODIST 59

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Matthew Gipson drove around SMU's Patrick Simpson in the second half last night.

’Bows feeling just fine

Jake Sottos hits for a
career-high 17 to spark flu-stricken
Hawaii past an ailing SMU squad

The Hawaii basketball team proved to have enough depth to overcome its ills and run past a wounded Southern Methodist squad 71-59 last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

A flu bug forced four UH players to miss at least a day of practice this week and coach Riley Wallace suffered through the effects on Wednesday.

But if Wallace was feeling at all queasy, a strong performance from the UH bench and lights-out shooting from the free-throw line proved a perfect remedy in the Western Athletic Conference contest.

"For the kind of week we had with the illnesses and everything I thought they came out and played hard," Wallace said. "It would have been easy for them to feel sorry for themselves and feel tired, and they didn't let themselves do that."

Guard Jake Sottos scored a career-high 17 points and forward Jeff Blackett added 13 off the bench and the Rainbows made 18 of 19 free throws to extend their home winning streak to 13.

"We've got so many weapons you never know," Sottos said. "We've got five guys on the court who can score and rebound and run. Everyone off the bench can, too."

"We knew (the ailing Rainbows) were going to be a little tired, so we just had to help them out."

Forward Julian Sensley, who missed two days this week with the flu, finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. Forward Matthew Gipson contributed nine points, five rebounds and five steals despite getting an IV before the game to replenish his fluids.

"It really saps your strength," Wallace said. "I feel for those guys, I know what they're going through."

Guard Matt Gibson had 14 points and five assists.

Wallace also credited the defensive play of center Chris Botez, who helped keep SMU's Eric Castro to five-of-21 shooting. The Mustangs center entered the game as the WAC's leader in field-goal percentage at 64 percent.

The Rainbows won for the seventh time in their last eight meetings with the Mustangs to improve to 10-2 overall and evened their conference record at 2-2.

The Mustangs (7-6, 2-3) were down two starters, including All-WAC guard Bryan Hopkins, and a third went to the bench in the first half.

Hopkins, the Mustangs' leading scorer, did not suit up for the game due to a sprained right wrist, and guard Derrick Roberts stayed in Dallas with a knee injury.

Mustangs guard Justin Isham went to the bench with 2:29 left in the first half with a sprained ankle and did not return.

The SMU coaches decided to hold out Hopkins after yesterday's shoot-around.

"I'd say losing Hopkins was a big loss for us, but injuries are a part of it," SMU coach Jimmy Tubbs said. "Hawaii was the better team; the better team won. You play with what you've got."

Forward Devon Pearson, who started in place of Roberts, led SMU with a career-high 24 points. But with Hopkins sidelined, the Mustangs struggled to generate offense.

Forward Patrick Simpson posted 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Castro finished with 11 points.

The injuries weren't limited to players. Referee Duane Smith left the game with 12:25 left in the second half with a strained calf and the game was completed with just two officials.

Hawaii shot 58.6 percent from the field and made all 10 of its free-throw attempts to double up the Mustangs 46-23 at the break.

"We had a lot of fast breaks, we were getting rebounds and were getting quick outlet passes," Gibson said. "It's easier when you can run and get layups and dunks."

Blackett enjoyed a perfect shooting first half, hitting all four of his shots from the field and all three from the line to score 11 points off the bench.

Hawaii used two spurts to assume control in the first half. After giving up the first bucket of the game, UH went on a 14-2 run with five Rainbows contributing points.

The 'Bows had a 14-4 rally later in the half and took a 35-18 lead on Blackett's three-point play with 4:33 left.

With Hopkins out, SMU couldn't get into its running game and the Mustangs made just nine of 25 shots from the field before the break.

UH continued to run away from SMU early in the second half and went up 52-27 when Gibson fed Sensley for a soaring dunk to finish a fast break.

SMU went on a 12-2 run to close to 15 with 9:52 left. UH pushed the lead back to 20 on Sottos' 3-pointer from the left wing.

SMU made another late push and closed to 65-55 with 2:39 left on two free throws by Simpson. But Sottos responded with a floater and Gibson hit two free throws to keep UH in control.

The Rainbows, who entered the game shooting 61 percent from the line, were 18-for-18 before missing on the last attempt of the game.

"If we shot that well all season we'd be undefeated right now," said Gibson, who was 6-for-6.

The Rainbows conclude their three-game homestand tomorrow against Louisiana Tech (6-8, 1-4) at the Sheriff Center. The Bulldogs lost at San Jose State 88-87 yesterday.

WAC standings

Yesterday's results
Fresno State 89, Boise State 82
San Jose State 88, Louisiana Tech 87
Hawaii 71, SMU 59

Tomorrow's games (Jan. 15)
Tulsa at Rice
SMU at San Jose State
UTEP at Fresno State
Boise State at Nevada
Louisiana Tech at Hawaii, 7 p.m.

Hawaii 71, SMU 59

HAWAII (10-2, 2-2 WAC)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Gibson	4	12	6	6	31	2	5	14
Gipson	2	7	5	5	26	5	2	9
Tatum	0	3	0	0	21	2	4	0
Sensley	4	10	2	2	34	9	1	10
Botez	3	5	0	0	30	8	1	6
Sottos	6	9	2	2	25	2	2	17
Blackett	5	8	3	3	23	5	0	23
Peciukas	0	1	0	0	7	0	0	0
Nash	1	1	0	0	2	0	0	2
Groce	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0
Kelly	0	2	0	0	0+	0	0	0
Caine	0	0	0	0	0+	0	0	0
Team						7
Totals	25	58	18	19	200	40	24	71

Key -- fg: field goals made; fga: field goals attempted; ft: free throws made; fta: free throws attempted; min: minutes played; reb: rebounds; a: assists; tp: total points.

Halftime--Hawaii 46, SMU 25.

3-point goals--Hawaii 3-16 (Sottos 3-6, Peciukas 0-1, Tatum 0-2, Sensley 0-2, Gibson 0-5). SMU 2-3 (Pearson 1-1, Isham 1-2). Personal fouls--Hawaii 11, Fresno St. 16. Fouled out--None. Technical foul--None.

Steals--Hawaii 11 (Gipson 5, Gibson 2, Sensley 2, Tatum 1, Botez 1), SMU 11 (Pearson 3, Killen 3, Ofoegbu 3, Castro 2. Blocked shots--Hawaii 7 (Botez 4, Gipson 1, Sensley 1, Sottos 1), SMU 1 (Castro). Turnovers--Hawaii 19 (Sensley 7, Gibson 2, Tatum 2, Gipson 1, Peciukas 1, Blackett 1, Team 1), SMU 17 (Simpson 5, Isham 4, Pearson 2, Killen 2, Castro 2, Ofoegbu 2. Officials--Paul Kaster, Duane Smith, Bryan Barr. Attendance--6,510.