By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
One day after relying on fancy footwork in an upset of Southern Methodist, the Hawai‘i men’s basketball team was rewarded with ... new shoes.
Many Rainbows will use the Nike Air Total Max II, which are white with green trim, when they play host to Rice in a Western Athletic Conference game at the Stan Sheriff Center tonight at 7:05.
Hawai‘i coach Riley Wallace said the players have a choice of wearing either the new shoes that match the team’s uniforms, or the old black-and-white models. But as he put it: "These are the kind they usually go out and buy themselves. It’s pretty stylish."
The Rainbows are in the final year of a three-year shoe contract with Nike, and the latest shipment arrived yesterday. Now, they are hoping it takes them to new heights against the Owls, who beat the Rainbows, 70-64, on Jan. 25 in Houston.
After a 79-65 upset of second-place SMU on Thursday, Hawai‘i is 11-12 overall and in sixth place in the WAC at 5-7. Rice is on UH’s heels at 4-7 in the conference (12-11 overall).
"If we can win this one, it separates us a little bit," Wallace said.
Once again on Thursday, the Rainbows proved to be a home-team force. They won their fifth consecutive game in the Stan Sheriff Center by running their motion-oriented offense to near-perfection, dishing out a season-high 26 assists while shooting for a .585 percentage against the Mustangs.
"It’ll be hard to play like that every night," Wallace said. "But we want to get as close to that as we can."
Even more impressive, Hawai‘i did it without starting point guard David Hilton, who was not in uniform because of a sprained ankle. Junior Mike McIntyre started in his place and recorded nine points and six assists. When McIntyre got into early foul trouble, Carl English filled in with three points, four rebounds and three assists. Neither McIntyre nor English is considered a true point guard.
"It was a matter of getting my mindset into being a point guard," said McIntyre, who is expected to start again tonight. "In our offense, both the guards have pretty much the same responsibilities, so it wasn’t hard at all."
Tonight, McIntyre’s importance will increase, as he is expected to defend Rice senior guard Mike Wilks, who ranks second in the WAC with 20.3 points per game.
"They have a legitimate all-conference candidate in Wilks," Wallace said. "If we’re making a run, he can break it with a good (3-pointer) or a penetrating shot."
However, the Owls have struggled ever since beating Hawai‘i, losing five of their last six games. But they have also played the last six games without 6-foot-11 center T.J. McKenzie, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the game against the Rainbows.
"They seem to have adjusted without him," Wallace said. "I thought they’d be a different team, but they beat TCU and they played everybody tough without him."
To be sure, the Rainbows are not looking past the Owls. "Why would you let down?" Wallace said. "That’s a team that beat you."
Said McIntyre: "We respect them all the way because they beat us in their house. But we want revenge."
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