RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Jared Dillinger grabbed a rebound in front of Utah State's Jaycee Carroll in the second half last night at the Stan Sheriff Center. Dillinger finished with 14 points.
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’Bows roar back for win
Hawaii overcomes a 14-point deficit to stun the Aggies
STORY SUMMARY »
The Hawaii basketball team battled back from a 14-point second-half deficit to stun Utah State 71-66 last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
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HAWAII 71, utah st. 66
NEXT UP
at Fresno St. on Wednesday
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The Rainbow Warriors trailed 57-43 with 9:49 left, but clawed back into contention and went ahead for good on Jared Dillinger's layup while being fouled with 1:03 left. The win moved Hawaii (11-12, 7-4 WAC) to within two games of conference leader Boise State while Utah State dropped to 18-8 and 8-3.
All five UH starters scored in double figures as UH coach Bob Nash didn't substitute in the second half. Riley Luettgerodt and Matt Gibson led Hawaii with 16 points each, while Dillinger finished with 14 points and Bobby Nash and Bill Amis had 10 each.
Utah State guard Jaycee Carroll scored 17 of his game-high 27 points in the first half, but went scoreless in the final 5 minutes as UH pulled out the rally before a frenzied crowd of 4,449.
FULL STORY »
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
UH's Jared Dillinger and Riley Luettgerodt dove for a loose ball with Utah State's Jaycee Carroll and Pooh Williams last night.
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Rainbow Warriors rally to beat Aggies
Generally, road wins in conference play are considered "steals."
Hawaii's home win over Utah State last night might fall under that category as well.
On a night when the school honored its past, the current Rainbow Warriors built on the celebratory atmosphere by storming back from a 14-point second half deficit to stun the Aggies 71-66 before a crowd of 4,849 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
"To be able to beat one of the top teams in the conference when nobody gives you a chance, I think it speaks volumes for how hard these guys work every day," UH coach Bob Nash said. "It's just one of those teams that no matter what the situation is we're never going to give up. ... I think you saw evidence of that tonight."
The Rainbows (11-12, 7-4 WAC) were to leave this morning for a road trip to Fresno State and are among five teams vying for the league lead.
"Like Coach Nash always says, we control our own destiny," said swingman Riley Luettgerodt, who scored 16 points and came up with six steals.
Trailing 57-43 with 9:45 left, the Rainbows outscored the Aggies (18-8, 8-3) 28-9 the rest of the way to earn their fifth straight home win.
Luettgerodt tied the score at 63-63 when his jumper bounced high off the rim and fell through the net with 1:41 left.
After the Aggies went back ahead on a free throw, Bobby Nash spotted Jared Dillinger open under the basket for the go-ahead layup while being fouled at the 1:03 mark, and the Rainbows made six free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
"It was one of those things where these guys are unselfish, they see the open man and they got the ball to the guy when he was open," Nash said. "That's what these guys do, they work together and they're a unit and they did a nice job of that tonight."
Nash didn't substitute in the second half and all five starters scored in double figures. Luettgerodt and Matt Gibson finished with 16 points each, Dillinger had 14 and Bobby Nash and Bill Amis had 10 each. Amis also pulled down nine rebounds.
But it was on the defensive end of the court that the Rainbows reversed their fortunes, swiping 12 steals while forcing 20 Utah State turnovers and turning up the pressure in the second half.
"Our guys made up their minds that they wanted to play good, solid team defense," Nash said. "And we did an excellent job of switching out on their shooters as they came off of screens and did a good job of fighting for rebounds."
Utah State guard Jaycee Carroll, the WAC Player of the Year front-runner, lived up to his reputation as one of the nation's top shooters. The senior scored 17 of his game-high 27 points in the first half and made nine of 17 shots from the field, including five of seven from 3-point range.
But he went without a field goal in the final 5 minutes as UH completed its comeback.
"I'm sure they felt like they won it, I feel like we lost it, just gave it away, just handed them the game," USU coach Stew Morrill said. "We panicked and didn't make solid plays."
Hawaii's aggressive switching man-to-man defense spurred them to a 12-6 lead as the Rainbows forced four straight turnovers, including three steals by Luettgerodt.
But the Rainbows missed their next seven shots during an 11-1 Utah State run.
The Aggies, meanwhile, couldn't miss following a 3-for-9 start. They hit their next 10 shots from the field, with Carroll raining in three 3-pointers, to steadily edge away from the Rainbows for a 36-27 lead at the break.
The Aggies opened up a 14-point cushion with 9:49 left when Hawaii scratched back into the game with a 15-2 run over the next 4 minutes, drawing to within a point at 59-58 on Luettgerodt's short jumper.
After a Carroll putback gave USU a 61-58 cushion, the Rainbows missed four straight 3-pointers and a Tai Wesley layup pushed the lead back to five.
But Hawaii came back to tie the score at 63 when Luettgerodt's mid-range jumper bounced high off the rim and fell back through the net. And after Stephen DuCharme made one of two free throws, Nash found Dillinger under the basket for a layup and a foul. Dillinger's free throw gave UH a 66-64 lead with 1:03 left.
"All it was was a screen," Dillinger said. "They went for the guy coming off the screen so I just slipped (to the basket) and I just put the ball in the bucket."
WAC standings
|
WAC |
Overall |
|
W |
L |
Pct. |
GB |
W |
L |
| Boise State |
10 |
3 |
.769 |
-- |
19 |
6 |
| New Mexico State |
9 |
3 |
.750 |
1/2 |
15 |
12 |
| Utah State |
8 |
3 |
.727 |
1 |
18 |
8 |
| Nevada |
9 |
4 |
.692 |
1 |
17 |
9 |
| Hawaii |
7 |
4 |
.636 |
2 |
11 |
12 |
| Fresno State |
4 |
8 |
.333 |
5 1/2 |
11 |
15 |
| San Jose State |
3 |
8 |
.272 |
6 |
11 |
13 |
| Idaho |
3 |
10 |
.231 |
7 |
6 |
18 |
| Louisiana Tech |
1 |
11 |
.083 |
8 1/2 |
4 |
20 |
Yesterday
San Jose St. 71, Louisiana Tech 61
Hawaii 71, Utah State 66
Nevada 85, Idaho 72
Boise State 84, Fresno State 72
Tomorrow
Utah State at San Jose State
Hawaii 71, Utah State 66
Aggies (18-8, 8-3 wac)
|
FG-A |
FT-A |
RB |
PF |
PTS |
A |
TO |
MIN |
| Wesley |
5-6 |
2-2 |
3 |
5 |
12 |
0 |
1 |
21 |
| Wilkinson |
6-9 |
4-5 |
8 |
2 |
16 |
0 |
2 |
36 |
| Clark |
2-9 |
0-0 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
9 |
9 |
35 |
| Carroll |
9-17 |
4-5 |
8 |
3 |
27 |
2 |
3 |
40 |
| Newbold |
1-2 |
0-0 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
31 |
| Williams |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
| Spraggins |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Stephens |
0-1 |
0-0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
| DuCharme |
1-1 |
3-4 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
24 |
| TEAM |
|
|
3 |
|
| Totals |
24-45 |
13-16 |
31 |
22 |
66 |
13 |
20 |
200 |
Rainbow Warriors (11-12, 7-4 WAC)
|
FG-A |
FT-A |
RB |
PF |
PTS |
A |
TO |
MIN |
| Luettgerodt |
6-10 |
4-5 |
2 |
1 |
16 |
5 |
1 |
40 |
| Nash |
3-9 |
3-4 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
40 |
| Amis |
4-9 |
2-2 |
9 |
3 |
10 |
0 |
2 |
40 |
| Gibson |
5-13 |
3-4 |
1 |
3 |
16 |
3 |
2 |
34 |
| Dillinger |
5-14 |
4-6 |
4 |
2 |
14 |
2 |
1 |
33 |
| Nitoto |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| Campbell |
0-0 |
0-0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| Mayen |
2-2 |
0-0 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
| TEAM |
|
|
2 |
| Totals |
25-57 |
16-21 |
22 |
16 |
71 |
11 |
8 |
200 |
Key -- fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; rb: rebounds; pf: personal fould; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.
Halftime -- Utah State 36, Hawaii 27
3-point goals -- Utah State 5-10 (Carroll 5-7, Clark 0-1, Newbold 0-1, Stephens 0-1), Hawaii 5-18 (Gibson 3-8, Mayen 1-1, Nash 1-4, Dillinger 0-5).
Steals -- Utah State 2 (Wilkinson, Clark), Hawaii 12 (Luettgerodt 6, Dillinger 3, Gibson 3). Blocked shots -- Utah State 1 (Wesley), Hawaii 3 (Amis 2, Gibson).
Officials -- Ronnie Hernandez, Newton Chelette, Frank Harvey. A-- 4,849.
