Sensley ignites UH

The forward scores 15 in the second half as the Rainbow Warriors pull away for a win

It took a little while for the Hawaii basketball team and Julian Sensley to warm up last night. But once the Rainbow Warriors found their shooting touch in the second half, they were able to pull away from Boise State for a 72-61 win at the Stan Sheriff Center as Sensley reached a career milestone.

Sensley recovered from a slow start and scored 15 of his game-high 17 points in the second half to become just the fourth UH player to earn membership in both the program's 1,000-point and 500-rebound clubs.

HAWAII - 72 BOISE ST. - 61 NEXT UP: at Nevada, Saturday

"In past years, if he was 1-for-7, he might have dropped his head," UH coach Riley Wallace said of Sensley's rough first half. "He's matured a lot as a player and he's working hard to improve every day."

The Rainbows remained perfect at home in WAC play to improve to 10-6 overall and 4-2 in the conference. Boise State (9-8, 2-4) remains winless in Honolulu since joining the conference in the 2001-02 season.

Sensley, who now has 523 rebounds, entered the game with 992 career points. He became the 12th 1,000-point scorer in school history by making a free throw to complete a three-point play with 7:35 left in the game.

"It feels good whenever you establish something like that," Sensley said. "Of course, I wouldn't have been able to do that without my teammates throughout the years I've been here, and coach giving me the opportunity to come in and play as many minutes as I do."

Sensley made just one of seven shots in the first half, but was able to find a groove in the second half.

"The second half I just let shots come to me," Sensley said.

UH guard Matt Lojeski scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Center Chris Botez came off the bench to set season highs with 12 points and eight rebounds. Forward Ahmet Gueye finished with 12 points and six boards.

"(After making his first two shots) I was feeling I had the energy inside me that I could score down low," Botez said.

"When he hit that banker, you knew it was his night," Wallace said.

Hawaii recovered from a cold first half to shoot 52 percent (15-for-29) after intermission. The Rainbows, who entered the game shooting 60 percent from the free-throw line, made 17 of 18 attempts last night, all of them coming in the second half.

The Broncos made eight of 22 shots in the first half and finished at 34.8 percent from the field in the game.

Boise State guard Coby Karl finished with 12 points on 3-for-14 shooting and didn't score from the field until the 8:06 mark of the second half. The junior's 3-pointer pushed him to the 1,000-point mark as well.

Guard Eric Lane hit four 3-pointers in the first half and finished with a team-high 15 points.

"We didn't shoot the ball well, but I'll tell you what, they defended well," Boise State coach Greg Graham said. "Their overall size causes problems for everybody and when you can't get very many second shots, it makes it tough."

Points were tough to come by for much of the first half as Boise State took a 24-23 lead into intermission.

Sensley and Karl, the teams' leading scorers, were both held to two points in the first half and were a combined 1-for-10 from the field.

UH found the range from outside midway through the half as Deonte Tatum drained a trey from the right side and Lojeski followed with two more from long range as part of an 11-0 UH run. Botez's hook gave the Rainbows a 17-12 lead.

Boise State eventually reclaimed the lead on two free throws by Karl just before halftime.

The Broncos made only four of their first 21 shots of the second half and UH capitalized with a 19-5 run to take control of the game.

Gueye had eight points in the run, converting a three-point play to start the run, and he later scored on a tip-in of a miss by Sensley and a reverse layup off a feed from Hiram Thompson to put UH up 46-35.

The Broncos didn't get the deficit under 10 points the rest of the way as the Rainbows continued to pull away and led by as many as 18, going up 60-42 on a Sensley 3-pointer with 5:40 left.

The Rainbows will seek their first WAC road win on Saturday when they face defending regular-season champion Nevada in Reno. They then play at Utah State on Monday before returning home. UH defeated both teams earlier this season at the Sheriff Center.