ASSOCIATED PRESS Rice's Michael Harris, who had 30 points and 24 rebounds, was fouled by Hawaii's Julian Sensley yesterday in Houston.

Harris buries ’Bows

The forward has 30 points and
24 rebounds to become Rice’s all-time
leading scorer and rebounder

HOUSTON » These are the road trips Hawaii coach Riley Wallace won't miss.

When Rice, Tulsa, UTEP and SMU depart the Western Athletic Conference for Conference USA this summer, Wallace, while deeply respectful of the competition, won't shed a single tear.

Staggered by a 12-3 closing burst from Tulsa in an 83-76 loss on Friday, the Rainbow Warriors were knocked cold by Rice yesterday afternoon, falling 80-61 at Autry Court.

The loss marked the second consecutive game in which UH suffered its largest margin of defeat this season. After encountering yet another travel snafu en route to Houston -- some of the Rainbows' luggage arrived in town a day late -- Hawaii (14-11, 6-10 Western Athletic Conference) was overwhelmed by Rice senior forward Michael Harris and the Owls (16-10, 10-6), who were riding a wave of emotion that frequently accompanies senior day.

"If you challenge Mike Harris, it looks like he accepts your challenge," Wallace said of Harris, who had 30 points and a career-high 24 rebounds to become the all-time scoring and rebounding leader in Rice history. "He's a great player. He's a man among boys."

Harris, who needed 27 points and 17 rebounds to surpass Brent Scott (1989-93) atop the lists, recorded a double-double by the 5:24 mark of the first half. He had 14 points and 12 rebounds at the half, and had his way with whomever Wallace assigned to defend him. Harris worked over Chris Botez, who had a 6-inch height advantage, in the first half, then spent the second half spinning around or shooting over UH forward Julian Sensley.

Harris had plenty of help in extending the UH losing streak to four games -- the longest such skid since the 1999-2000 season. Senior guard Jason McKrieth scored a season-high 22 points, while Brock Gillespie, one of four Rice seniors recognized in a pregame ceremony, chipped in 11 points, including a handful of momentum-swinging jumpers.

"You hate (being) the senior night team coming in because it's tough," Wallace said. "You like your senior night because you know your guys are going to be ready to play.

"They had a tremendous energy and were ready. We were a little bit flat. First time that we have been whipped. We've been down 20 before and come back and won games. But we didn't have that energy to come back, and they played too good to let us."

UH traded baskets with the Owls for the first 11-plus minutes, pulling to within 18-15 on a tip-in by Bobby Nash with 8:26 left in the first half. But Harris rebuilt the Rice lead to five with a pair of free throws, and McKrieth added an alley-oop following the sixth UH turnover of the half. From that juncture, things quickly turned sour for the Rainbows.

The Owls were executing with ease on offense as UH offered little defensive resistance. To compound matters, Matt Gibson and Jake Sottos -- the WAC leader in 3-point percentage -- combined to shoot 2-for-9 as Rice extended its lead to 32-15.

UH had eight turnovers by the 3:20 mark. In the meantime, Rice converted 13 of its first 23 shots.

"We had a couple of possessions at the first where we took the whole time (shot clock) and scored some easy layups, and then we went away from it," said Gibson, who scored 20 of his team-high 22 points in the second half, when the outcome had already been decided. "We started shooting quick, and when we're not hitting, that will kill us."

Once the Rainbows began to wilt, the Owls were quick to apply the knockout blow. UH hit just one 3-pointer in the first half, and when Sottos nailed a 3 with 18:10 left, the Owls buckled down and didn't allow another until Gibson converted some 5 minutes later. UH scored a season-low 20 points in the first half and shot just 37.5 percent overall.

"We put a lot of energy into defense the last week in practice," Rice coach Willis Wilson said. "We've had some very, very intense practices. The day before the Fresno game (a 76-68 Rice road win Feb. 21) was very intense, and every practice we've had since has been very intense. (Saturday) was one of those days where we spent a good 45 minutes to an hour just working on defense and defensive situations. It obviously paid off for us."

Most conspicuous by his absence was Sensley, who came off the bench for a third consecutive contest and finished with four points, seven rebounds and two assists. Sensley was held scoreless (on 0-for-3 shooting) in 17 first-half minutes, and didn't record his first points until scoring on a putback of a missed free throw with 8:51 left.

Sensley is averaging 8.5 points (on 12-for-36 shooting) and 6.3 boards during the skid.

"For the last three or four games he's been that way. We just can't get him into that energy mode," Wallace said. "That's been the problem. He just doesn't have that really serious work ethic about him, he's just kind of a floating kind of guy. He did hurt his knee three games ago. He's got a slight tear in there, so that could be some of it, too."

Whatever the case, the Rainbows don't have much time to rekindle their intensity. With two home games left before the WAC tournament, a seismic jolt of energy is needed.

"Our guys have to reach down and get it," Wallace said. "Every team I've ever had, it's a long season. We always find energy at the end and always play well at the tournament."

Rice 80, Hawaii 61

Rainbow Warriors (14-11, 6-10 wac)
	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Nash	4	9	0	0	24	4	0	8
Blackett	0	2	1	3	21	4	0	1
Botez	3	4	1	1	21	1	5	7
Gibson	9	19	0	1	30	2	4	22
Sottos	5	16	0	0	35	2	2	13
Gipson	0	2	1	2	12	1	1	1
Groce	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Zivanovic	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	0
Peciukas	0	1	3	4	11	3	0	3
Tatum	1	4	0	2	13	5	0	2
Sensley	2	7	0	2	29	7	2	4
TEAM						3
Totals	24	64	6	15	200	33	15	61
Owls (16-10, 10-6 wac)
	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Harrison	4	5	1	2	25	2	3	9
Harris	11	14	8	9	34	24	2	30
Gillespie	4	9	2	2	20	1	1	11
Chancellor	0	1	0	0	9	1	4	0
McKrieth	9	15	3	3	36	1	1	22
Williams	1	5	0	0	23	3	6	2
Culver	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Packevicius	1	1	0	0	9	2	0	2
Okrzesik	0	1	0	0	9	0	0	0
Almond	1	1	1	2	5	0	1	3
Moore	0	1	1	2	16	3	1	1
Killings	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
Britton	0	1	0	0	10	1	1	0
TEAM						1
Totals	31	54	16	20	200	39	20	80

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 -- Rice 38, Hawaii 20.
3-point goals -- Hawaii 7-23 (Gibson 4-9, Sottos 3-10, Nash 0-1, Sensley 0-3), Rice 2-8 (McKrieth 1-3, Gillespie 1-5). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 20, Rice 18. Fouled out -- Gibson. Technical fouls--Gibson.
Steals -- Hawaii 6 (Peciukas 2, Tatum, Sensley, Nash, Gibson), Rice 4 (Harrison, Harris, Chancellor, McKrieth). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 3 (Blackett, Botez, Sensley), Rice 6 (Harris 3, McKrieth 2, Williams). Turnovers -- Hawaii 11 (Gibson 5, Sensley 2, Tatum, Sottos, Nash, Blackett), Rice 12 (Harris 5, Williams 2, Gillespie, McKrieth, Almond, Packevicius, Okrzesik). Officials -- Hooker, Stith, Allen. A -- 2,433.

WAC standings

	WAC				Overall
	W	L	Pct.	GB	W	L
Nevada	14	2	.875	--	22	5
UTEP	13	4	.765	1 1/2	23	7
Rice	10	6	.625	4	16	10
Fresno State	8	8	.500	6	14	12
SMU	8	8	.500	6	13	12
Louisiana Tech	8	8	.500	6	13	13
Hawaii	6	10	.375	8	14	11
Boise State	6	11	.353	8 1/2	13	16
Tulsa	5	11	.313	9	9	17
San Jose State	3	13	.188	11	6	20

Yesterday's results
Rice 80, Hawaii 61
Tulsa 80, San Jose State 48
Boise State 79, Louisiana Tech 75
UTEP 79, SMU 74