’Bows done

Other life of Riley begins

LAS CRUCES, NM » With the end came a certain sense of liberation.

"The referees missed more calls tonight. I can say that. They can't fire me," Riley Wallace said with a grin.

"They were lousy, they suck, they got no game. I hate referees. ... No, not really."

Utah State 73, Hawaii 70 Another Western Athletic Conference tournament. Another heartbreak. For the third time in the last four years, the Hawaii basketball team's tournament run ended with a last-second shot bouncing off the rim in a quarterfinal game. This time it was a deep 3-pointer by Matt Lojeski that stayed out of the net as the buzzer sounded, sending the fifth-seeded Rainbow Warriors to a 73-70 loss to fourth-seeded Utah State yesterday at the Pan American Center. The loss likely ended the season for the Rainbows (18-13), as well as coach Riley Wallace's 20-year career at UH. Wallace said the 'Bows probably needed to win yesterday to put themselves into consideration for the National Invitation Tournament. Utah State guard Jaycee Carroll led all scorers with 24 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for the Aggies (22-10). UH forward Bobby Nash led the 'Bows with 22 points, matching a career high. Lojeski posted his second career double-double with 20 points and 11 boards in a game that included nine ties and six lead changes. With Utah State leading 72-70, Nash missed a 3-pointer from the corner with 11 seconds left and Carroll grabbed the rebound and made one of two free throws. UH had one more opportunity with 2.2 seconds left, but Lojeski's desperation shot hit off the back of the rim and didn't fall.

The Hawaii basketball coach's levity in his postgame press conference brightened the mood for a moment on an otherwise heart-breaking afternoon for the Rainbow Warriors, who likely saw the end of Wallace's 20-year UH career.

Even the players beside him -- who entered the interview room teary-eyed following a 73-70 loss to Utah State moments earlier -- cracked a smile at Wallace's performance, which included him telling media members that he nearly became an undertaker after high school, "but I didn't want to be the last one to let you down."

Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson played along after Wallace's final league game, announcing that Wallace would be suspended for the first game of next season.

The humor cooled some of the sting of the reality that the Rainbows' exit in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament likely signaled the end of the season and Wallace's tenure as coach.

"I wanted to win for these guys," Wallace said. "I told them I've tasted that Big Dance and I know what it feels like and I wanted these guys to feel it. That was my biggest disappointment, that we couldn't quite get them there. But, I'm telling you, we laid it all on the line."

Wallace said the 'Bows (18-13) probably needed a win yesterday to put themselves in consideration for the National Invitation Tournament.

"I would think we had to win tonight," he said. "Our RPI was probably right on the bubble, and we've got some quality wins and we deserve probably to be there, because there will be some teams in there a lot worse than if they put Hawaii in there."

Benson also wouldn't shut the door completely, though UH faces some long odds.

"If they won that game today, I think they would put themselves into a very favorable spot with the NIT," Benson said.

"I think Hawaii will be a team that the NIT will take a good hard look at. How many 20-win teams with RPIs in the 70s to 90s are going to be left out of the NCAA Tournament? That's going to be who they're going to be evaluated against and compared to. ... Are they deserving? Absolutely, they're deserving. There are a lot of teams that are deserving that unfortunately don't get into the NCAA or NIT."

Yesterday's loss marked the fourth straight season that the Rainbows lost in the WAC tournament quarterfinals and the third time in that stretch that the game wasn't decided until a last-second shot refused to fall.

In 2004, it was a Phil Martin putback that rimmed out in the final seconds of a 70-68 loss to Rice. Last year, shots by Julian Sensley and Matthew Gipson bounced off the rim before the buzzer sounded in a 58-57 defeat to New Mexico State.

Yesterday, with Utah State (22-10) leading 72-70, Bobby Nash missed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left. The Aggies then gave UH one more chance by missing a free throw with 4 seconds remaining, and Lojeski's desperation toss to tie also banged off the back of the rim.

It was the seventh time this season UH lost a game decided by three points or less. But Wallace refused to dwell on the "what ifs."

"I'm not looking back at all," he said. "If I look back then that's putting them down a little bit. ... We did everything possible to win. I have no regrets, none. Teams beat us because they were better that night than we were, but we gave it everything we had every night."

Wallace also said this year's team ranked among, "one of the five best teams I've ever had for attitude, travel, working together, coachability, all those things. That says why they won 18 ballgames, and fought everybody right to the end. So I'm very proud of my team."

The players returned the compliment to Wallace (334-265) after he coached his 599th game at UH.

"He's a great person, a great leader, he's a class act all the way and he manages to get the best out of his players," Nash said. "He's a great guy and you can't say enough about him."

As he closed his remarks, Wallace got in one last quip, saying he wouldn't miss the road trips and, "That travel beats you up. I'm really only 45, I look this old."