DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Vaidotas Peciukas put up two of his nine points during last night's loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

UWM flies above
Horizon

Horizon League champ Panthers
may avoid NCAA "bubble" after
running past Hawaii

The Hawaii basketball team could run with Wisconsin-Milwaukee for only so long.

The Rainbow Warriors tried to keep pace with UWM's up-tempo attack for much of yesterday's ESPN Bracket Busters game at the Stan Sheriff Center. But the quicker Panthers eventually ran away from UH to claim an 87-81 win.

An energetic crowd of 6,281 and a national television audience watched the Panthers force UH into 21 turnovers. They outrebounded the Rainbows, as well, to earn their 10th road win of the season.

"They got us playing more of their game than we did getting them to play our game," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "They got transition baskets in the second half, and I think they wore us down with their game plan."

The loss was UH's second at the Sheriff Center this season and ended a streak of 14 home wins over nonconference opponents.

Both teams are now 1-2 in the Bracket Busters event designed to highlight mid-major programs as they head toward the postseason.

"We're on the bubble and we need maybe another big win to push us into the (NCAA) tournament and this one's certainly going to help," UWM coach Bruce Pearl said.

Hawaii (14-8) shot 51.7 percent from the field and made 11 3-point goals. But UWM's quickness led to 17 steals and 30 trips to the free-throw line. The Panthers (21-5) made 19 of those free throws and won the rebounding battle 37-32.

UWM's pressure defense not only produced steals, but also forced the Rainbows into quick shots.

"We might have gotten a little bit out of control at times when we should have been buckling down and trying to get set up a little bit more," UH forward Jeff Blackett said.

UWM, the Horizon League's regular-season champion, led by as many as 14 points in the second half. UH rallied to within three with 6:39 left, but UWM bolted away each time the Rainbows threatened to catch them.

All 10 Panthers who got into the game scored, and none played more than 29 minutes.

"They made some terrific runs at us in the second half. At least two times they came back, but they couldn't make a third," Pearl said. "I think it was the tempo and they just didn't have the energy."

The loss overshadowed UH guard Matt Gibson's best shooting performance of the season. The sophomore made nine of 13 shots from the field and led all scorers with 26 points. He tied a UH record for 3-point percentage by hitting all six attempts beyond the arc.

"I didn't think I played that good," Gibson said. "I shot the ball OK and picked the team up offensively when we needed something, but it wasn't enough."

After a cold start, UWM guard Ed McCants heated up in the second half and finished with 20 points.

He drained three 3-pointers in the Panthers' 16-5 run to open the second half that gave them control of the ballgame.

Forward Adrian Tigert was 6-for-6 from the field, including four 3-pointers, en route to a career-high 19 points.

"That was something we had not gotten from Adrian," Pearl said. "He really stepped up and that's what you have to do to win big games on the road."

Blackett posted 12 points and nine rebounds for the 'Bows while guards Jake Sottos and Bobby Nash had 11 points each.

Forward Julian Sensley was slowed by a sprained right knee, but played 37 minutes. He didn't score in the first half and finished with eight points and five rebounds.

"He played long minutes and played hard, but he didn't play a Julian Sensley game," Wallace said.

Defense dominated early as the teams combined for 14 steals in the first 20 minutes.

UH took a 23-17 lead on a 3-pointer by Gibson, prompting Pearl to call a 30-second timeout.

Tigert then hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to trigger a 12-2 UWM run. The spurt was highlighted by Boo Davis' spectacular alley-oop dunk while being fouled.

The Panthers led 34-32 at halftime and Tigert and McCants provided all the scoring in UWM's run to open the second half.

"The start of the second half did us in," Wallace said. "(UH) came out flat and they came out really motivated to get after it. ... And we didn't have the same intensity we had in the first half."

After UWM opened up a 14-point lead with 9:18 left, UH went on a 12-1 run to close to within three, 69-66, on a tip-in by Sensley.

But UWM scored the next five points and held off the Rainbows the rest of the way.

"We have a bunch of older guys who have played together for a while, so we don't get too worried," Tigert said. "We kept our poise; we know our game is a game of runs."

The Rainbows have little time to recover. They return to Western Athletic Conference play tomorrow against Texas-El Paso at the Sheriff Center.

UW-Milwaukee 87, Hawaii 81

Panthers (21-5)
	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Hill	1	4	6	6	29	3	4	8
Tucker	3	11	1	4	24	7	2	7
McCants	7	21	2	4	29	5	5	20
Davis	4	10	3	3	24	2	1	13
Tigert	6	6	3	4	24	4	0	19
Pancratz	1	2	0	1	22	5	0	2
Hanson	0	0	2	2	4	0	2	2
McCoy	2	4	0	0	16	2	0	4
Wright	4	5	1	4	24	3	1	9
Ford	1	2	1	2	4	1	0	3
TEAM						5
Totals	29	65	10	26	200	37	15	87
Rainbow Warriors (14-8, 6-7 wac)
	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Gibson	9	13	2	3	37	1	1	26
Sottos	4	7	0	0	30	3	6	11
Nash	4	9	2	2	21	1	1	11
Blackett	5	11	2	2	38	9	2	12
Sensley	3	10	2	2	37	5	3	8
Gipson	1	1	0	0	3	0	1	2
Peciukas	3	5	2	3	14	2	2	9
Tatum	1	2	0	0	15	5	0	2
Botez	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0
TEAM						6
Totals	30	58	10	12	200	32	16	81

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 -- UW-Milwaukee 34, Hawaii 32.
3-point goals -- UWM10-26 ( Tigert 4-4, McCants 4-16, Davis 2-5, Hill 0-1), Hawaii 11-20 (Gibson 6-6, Sottos 3-6, Peciukas 1-1,Nash 1-2, Tatum 0-1, Sensley 0-4). Personal fouls -- UWM 16, Hawaii 21. Fouled out -- Sottos.
Steals -- UWM 17 (Hill 4, Wright 4, Davis 3, McCoy 3, Tucker 2, Pancratz), Hawaii 8 (Gibson 3, Sottos 2, Tatum 2, Peciukas). Blocked shots -- UWM 1(Tigert), Hawaii 6 (Sensley 2, Sottos, Blackett, Tatum, Botez). Turnovers -- UWM 13 (Hill 4, McCants 3, Davis 3, Tucker, McCoy, Wright), Hawaii 21(Sottos 7, Gibson 3, Sensley 3, Tatum 3, Blackett 2, Nash, Peciukas, TEAM). Officials -- Mayborg, Williams, Carpenter. Attendance-- 8,024.

WAC Standings

	WAC				Overall
	W	L	Pct.	GB	W	L
Nevada	12	2	.857	--	20	5
UTEP	10	4	.714	2	20	7
Louisiana Tech	8	6	.571	4	13	11
Fresno State	8	6	.571	4	14	10
Rice	7	6	.538	4 1/2	13	10
SMU	7	7	.500	5	12	11
Hawaii	6	7	.462	5 1/2	14	8
Boise State	4	10	.286	8	11	15
San Jose State	3	10	.231	8 1/2	6	17
Tulsa	3	10	.231	8 1/2	7	16

Yesterday's games
Wis.-Milwaukee 87, Hawaii 81
Nevada 74, Vermont 64
New Orleans 87, Louisiana Tech 85, OT
Drake 73, San Jose St. 57
Toledo 78, SMU 67
Murray St. 69, Rice 63
Tulsa 79, N. Arizona 64
Boise St. 80, Weber St. 66
Buffalo 52, Fresno St. 49
Pacific 73, UTEP 66