Rainbows come up short for Nash

All of the elements for a storybook start to Bob Nash's head coaching career had converged.

With their floor leader on the bench with an injury, Hawaii had pulled off a stirring comeback sparked by the coach's son. And with 17 seconds left, the Rainbow Warriors set up the potential game-winner as the final seconds flew off the clock.

But the fairy tale ending belonged instead to San Diego, and new head coach Bill Grier, as the Toreros pulled out a 73-72 win to stun a crowd of 4,623 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

With the score tied at 72, the Rainbows -- who trailed by as many as 14 in the first half -- had possession and positioned themselves for a shot coming out of a time out. But San Diego forward Gyno Pomare came up with a steal and bolted up court. He was fouled and made one of two free throws with 2.2 seconds left and UH couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer.

"We kept chipping away and battling back," said senior Bobby Nash. "We kept chipping away and built confidence and we gave ourselves the best chance to succeed and it just came down to one possession."

While the Toreros gave Grier a win in his head coaching debut, Bob Nash will have to wait another week for a shot at win No. 1, when the Rainbows host Illinois at the Sheriff Center.

"A lot of crazy things for a first game. I'm really proud of these guys, being able to hold on in a game with crazy things happening that goes down to the last play," Grier said. "We told them coming in here they're going to make some runs at us."

Hawaii played without senior point guard Matt Gibson, who was held out with an injured knee suffered in practice on Wednesday. Gibson confirmed that an MRI showed damage to his MCL, a sprain that usually takes at least two weeks to repair itself.

Bob Nash said Gibson might be able to return for the Illinois game.

"After sitting out this game I was told I can practice. It's really up to me. We'll see," Gibson said.

With Gibson out, Bobby Nash, normally a forward, started out handling the point guard duties on offense, while Jared Dillinger played in the backcourt on defense. The shuffle also pushed sophomore forward Bill Amis into the starting lineup in his Division I debut.

Bobby Nash sparked the Rainbow comeback, scoring 14 of his career-high 22 points in the second half and grabbing nine rebounds. Dillinger made the tying 3-pointer with 1:30 left to finish with 14, while Riley Luettgerodt and Stephen Verwers finished with 11 each.

Gibson's absence also led to freshman point guard Kareem Nitoto playing 24 minutes in his first collegiate game, finishing with three points, three assists and three turnovers.

"It's just a learning process," Bob Nash said. "We had guys playing somewhat out of their normal positions. With two days to correct those things it just didn't go the way we hoped it would."

San Diego guard Brandon Johnson led an early salvo from the perimeter on his way to a 19-point night as the Toreros made their first six 3-point attempts and seven of nine in the first half.

Pomare finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and the pivotal steal.

"He showed his experience. That kid's a fourth-year junior," Grier said of Pomare. "We didn't exactly plan for the big guy to come up with a steal at the end."

After falling behind 37-23, the Rainbows turned up the intensity on defense to spark a rally to close the half, outscoring the Toreros 10-3 in the final 2:47.

The Rainbows continued to chip away after the break and Bobby Nash knotted the game with a 3-pointer followed by a tip-in to tie the game at 51 with 13 minutes left.

But San Diego broke away again, scoring the next eight points, going up 59-51 on a putback by Rob Jones.

San Diego 73, Hawaii 72

Toreros (1-0)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Lewis	2	7	2	2	24	5	0	7
Pomare	7	13	2	8	33	11	1	16
Jones	4	10	0	3	32	9	3	8
Johnson, B.	8	17	0	0	33	4	4	19
Jackson	0	0	0	0	12	1	1	0
Ginty	0	0	0	0	0+	0	0	0
Johnson, T.	0	0	4	4	17	0	4	4
Brown	3	3	1	2	13	1	0	6
Murdock	3	8	0	0	24	5	2	8
Houston	1	1	0	0	2	1	0	2
Lozeau	1	2	1	2	10	1	0	3
TEAM						6
Totals	28	61	10	21	200	44	15	73

Rainbow Warriors (0-1)

	fg	fga	ft	fta	min	reb	a	tp
Nash	7	14	4	5	37	9	1	22
Amis	2	5	2	2	20	6	0	6
Verwers	3	5	5	7	28	7	2	11
Dillinger	5	12	2	4	37	2	3	14
Luettgerodt	5	15	1	2	39	7	4	11
Nitoto	1	10	1	2	24	4	3	3
Mayen	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
Owsley	2	4	1	1	12	2	0	5
TEAM						3
Totals	25	65	16	23	200	40	13	72

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 -- San Diego 40, Hawaii 33.

3-point goals -- San Diego 7-13 (Johnson, B. 3-4, Murdock 2-4, Lewis 1-2, Brown 1-2, Jones 0-1), Hawaii 6-20 (Nash 4-8, Dillinger 2-8, Luettgerodt 0-1, Nitoto 0-3). Personal fouls -- San Diego 19, Hawaii 18.

Steals -- San Diego 8 (Brown 3, Johnson, B. 2, Pomare, Lozeau, Murdock), Hawaii 7 (Dillinger 4, Nash, Verwers, Nitoto). Blocked shots -- San Diego 2 (Lewis, Murdock), Hawaii 3 (Amis, Verwers, Nitoto). Turnovers -- San Diego 16 (Jones 4, Johnson, B. 4, Pomare 3, Johnson, T. 2, Murdock 2, Brown), Hawaii 14 (Dillinger 4, Verwers 3, Nitoto 3, Luettgerodt 2, Nash, Mayen).

Officials -- Shawn Lehigh, Doran Gotschall, Ryan Wells. A-- 4,623.

Big night from little Bob can’t save big Bob

In his father's first game as head coach, Bobby Nash did everything he could -- except get off Hawaii's last shot.

Nash took the ball at the top of the key with about 15 seconds left and the game tied 72-all, but his pass to Stephen Verwers was broken up by San Diego's Gyno Pomare. The Toreros forward drove the other way, was fouled and nailed one of two free throws to win the game, 73-72.

It overshadowed a career night from Nash in terms of both performance and leadership.

Nash matched his career high with 22 points on 7-for-14 shooting, including 4-for-8 on 3-pointers, and grabbed nine rebounds.

He also filled a void at point guard early, with senior starter Matt Gibson out with an injured knee and scratched before the game. It fell upon Nash to be the primary ballhandler for much of the first half as freshman guard Kareem Nitoto warmed into the position.

"We've got versatility," coach Bob Nash said. "Some guys were forced to play out of the positions they're used to."

But the younger Nash wasn't concerned about accepting the role of distributor.

"You have to remember that it's not all about me," he said. "It's about the other guys who are on the court. Being a point guard at the time, I'm looking for everybody else."

With Nitoto (1-for-10) and Riley Luettgerodt (5-for-15) struggling from the field, contested shots from Nash were often Hawaii's best option anyway. To open the second half, he curled around a screen and nailed an off-balance 3-pointer to bring the Rainbows to within 40-36.

"You gotta look for yourself sometimes to be a threat," he said. "I think the guys handled it well, me being at the point, but when somebody goes down, you gotta make adjustments and back each other up."

It wasn't all good -- there were a couple of airballs, too -- but his energy was consistent all night. That included several outbursts of emotion after fouls and big baskets, straight out of Nash Sr.'s handbook.

Nash opened up at the point in a similar flex motion offense used during Riley Wallace's 20-year tenure. With no go-to playmaker, the Rainbows found themselves down by as many as 14 and looked tentative at times in the halfcourt.

But Nash willed the Rainbow Warriors to a 51-51 tie with 13 minutes left, nailing a 3-pointer and tipping in a fast-break miss.

"We kept chipping away and battling back, battling back, Jared (Dillinger), Riley," the 6-foot-6 Iolani graduate said. "We all made big shots."

Nash's primal roar after that basket got the loudest cheers from the Stan Sheriff crowd of 4,623 until the game's final moments.

"Well, I'm a very emotional person," Nash said. "That helps me, and it helps my teammates to get excited, and the crowd gets excited, and good things happen. I'm a captain, so that's what I contribute."