Hawaii forward Julian Sensley went up for a shot against Texas-El Paso's Thomas Gehrke and Will Kimble during yesterday's WAC tournament quarterfinal in Reno, Nev.
Under-Mined
UTEP ends Hawaii’s season
with a rout in the WAC
quarterfinals
RENO, Nev. » In a state where it can be hard to find a clock, the Hawaii basketball team missed its wake-up call yesterday.
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Scores & scheduleAt Reno, Nev.All times HST
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UTEP (25-7) improved to 4-0 in day games this season with its 80-62 trampling of UH (16-13 and 2-4 in matinees).
"A lot of us aren't really morning people," said Hawaii guard Bobby Nash, one of the few bright spots yesterday for the Rainbows, who finish a once-promising season at 16-13. Nash's team-high 13 points in just 17 minutes was matched by Julian Sensley.
Hawaii coach Riley Wallace knew the opening tip could've been at 5 a.m. and the Miners would be full-throttle from the start. He was disappointed -- in himself, as well as the Rainbow players -- that his team looked like it needed a jump-start.
"Our goal was to come out and match their intensity," said Wallace, who conceded that his team will be excluded from national postseason play for the first time in five years. "For these early games you have to have your people ready to play and I must not have done a good job of getting our guys ready."
Miners coach Doc Sadler did have the right prescription, though, as UTEP strengthened its case for an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. A win in today's semifinal against Rice might guarantee a dance invite.
"The biggest key of all was we needed to come out and play hard the first 5 minutes," Sadler said. "We had to let them know we're here to play for the whole 40 minutes. Hawaii is very dangerous. Any time you've got guys who shoot the ball as well as they do, they can score points."
But so can Omar Thomas and Filiberto Rivera -- and, as the Rainbows sadly discovered, so can Jason Williams and Miguel Ayala.
Hawaii forward Matt Gipson fouled UTEP's Omar Thomas on Thomas' shot yesterday.
Williams' two free throws and 3-pointer in the first 2 minutes put the Miners up 5-0, and forced the first of many attempts by Wallace to right the ship. After the 30-second timeout, UH closed to 7-4.
But Ayala scored all 10 of his points in the first half, and the Rainbows had no lasting answer to Rivera's orchestration and penetration that facilitated a barrage of successful first-half treys.
"We were late on our (defensive) rotation," Nash said. "They had some good screens, too."
Rivera controlled the tempo (a fast one), and finished with four assists and no turnovers.
"I think we've got the best point guard in the nation, as far as 94 feet. If you're guarding that you get tired of running 94 feet," Sadler said.
Wallace said he didn't mind running with the Miners; the Rainbows were able to do so in both regular-season games that ended with UTEP winning 74-71 and 71-67.
It all started on the boards, Sadler said, and the Miners manhandled the Rainbows with 40 caroms to 26. They got 14 on the offensive end compared to seven for UH.
The Rainbows' flex offense didn't produce many half-court layups, and they only got one in transition.
"No backdoor cuts," Thomas said, when asked about defensive points of emphasis. "If they hit shots, they hit shots. We wanted to play hard, not give up too many offensive rebounds and no easy baskets."
UTEP increased the bulge to 53-35, but Hawaii scrapped back to 62-50 with about 10 minutes left. The Miners regained control with 12 of the next 14 points.
"We knew they'd make their runs," Thomas said. "When they made theirs we wanted to make ours and put the game away."
Hawaii guard Jake Sottos, the team's leading scorer in WAC play, saw his recent shooting woes continue. He made two of seven shots, and he and fellow guard Matt Gibson combined for just one 3-pointer in seven tries.
Sottos finished with seven points and couldn't shake Rivera, his former junior college back-court mate.
"Fili knows every move I have. He was right there whenever I caught the ball," Sottos said. "He did not give me a shot."
UTEP 80, Hawaii 62
Rainbow Warriors (16-13) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Gibson 4 11 1 2 21 1 3 9 Sottos 2 7 2 2 24 5 5 7 Blackett 3 6 0 0 21 1 0 6 Sensley 4 12 5 6 36 4 2 13 Botez 1 3 2 2 31 2 1 4 Gipson 0 0 0 2 10 2 1 0 Zivanovic 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 Peciukas 3 5 0 0 14 3 2 6 Tatum 2 3 0 2 21 1 2 4 Nash 4 5 1 3 17 3 1 13 TEAM 4 Totals 23 52 11 19 200 26 17 62 Miners (25-7) fg fga ft fta min reb a tp Williams 6 11 3 4 34 7 0 18 St. Amant 0 3 4 4 22 2 4 4 Rivera 7 10 5 5 33 5 5 19 Thomas 7 14 6 6 36 8 0 21 Tofi 1 7 0 0 21 6 0 2 Murphy 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 Davis 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Ayala 3 7 2 2 25 2 2 10 Gehrke 0 2 0 0 6 1 0 0 Carr 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 Branch 2 2 0 0 2 0 0 4 Kimble 1 2 0 1 15 4 0 2 TEAM 5 Totals 27 58 20 22 200 40 13 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 -- UTEP 45, Hawaii 33
3-point goals -- Hawaii 5-17 (Nash 4-4, Sottos 1-3, Tatum 0-1, Peciukas 0-2, Sensley 0-3, Gibson 0-4), UTEP 6-14 (Williams 3-4, Ayala 2-3, Thomas 1-2, Rivera 0-2, St. Amant 0-3). Personal fouls -- Hawaii 19, UTEP 18.
Steals -- Hawaii 5 (Sensley 2, Blackett, Botez, Gipson), UTEP 9 (Williams 2, St. Amant, Rivera, Thomas, Tofi, Ayala, Branch, Kimble). Blocked shots -- Hawaii 1 (Sensley), UTEP 5 (Tofi 2, Gehrke 2, Williams). Turnovers -- Hawaii 14 (Tatum 3, Gibson 3, Gipson 2, Sensley 2, Peciukas, Botez, Blackett, Sottos), UTEP 14 (Rivera 3, Tofi 3, Kimble 3, Ayala 2, Murphy, Thomas, Williams). Officials -- Kennedy, Batsell, Heimerman. A -- n/a.
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