TULSA, Okla. - For the first time this week, the Hawai‘i men’s basketball team will not be the hometown favorite when it plays Tulsa for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship tonight.
The Rainbows had about 7,000 of the 7,669 in attendance at the Donald W. Reynolds Center last night rooting for them in a 76-67 victory over Fresno State. On Thursday, a majority of the crowd also cheered for Hawai‘i to beat Texas Christian and its coach, Billy Tubbs.
Tonight, the "Reynolds Rowdies" return to the side of the Golden Hurricane.
"Yeah, I hear they’re turncoats that way," Hawai‘i coach Riley Wallace said jokingly.
In three of the last five WAC Tournaments, the host team has won the championship. The Golden Hurricane has never won the championship, and lost, 75-72, to Fresno State in last year’s title game at Fresno, Calif. This is the first year Tulsa is hosting the event.
"Tulsa’s got the complete package," Wallace said. "The experience, quickness, shooters, big men, shot blockers, rebounders, home crowd. They got it all."
Still, the Golden Hurricane struggled to a 59-56 victory over Texas-El Paso in last night’s other semifinal. Tulsa shot just 32 percent (19-of-60) from the field.
Tulsa and Hawai‘i split a two-game series during the regular season. The Rainbows won, 68-65, on Jan. 13 at Honolulu; the Golden Hurricane won, 79-67, on Jan. 28 at Tulsa.
Tulsa coach Buzz Peterson said the biggest difference between the Rainbows he will face tonight and the ones he did earlier this season is "confidence."
"I don’t know if you’re going to find a team in the country that runs its half-court offense as well as Hawai‘i," Peterson said. "You’ve got to be on your toes or you’re going to get beat."
The Rainbows won their only WAC championship in 1994 at Salt Lake City. Led by star guard Trevor Ruffin, Hawai‘i beat Brigham Young, 73-66, to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1972.
Today will be the Rainbows’ fourth appearance in the WAC championship game in the 18-year history of the tournament. In addition to the 1994 victory, they lost title games in 1990 (75-58 to Texas-El Paso) and 1995 (67-54 to Utah).
First and last, perhaps: Texas Christian is on the verge of leaving the Western Athletic Conference, and could take its first women’s basketball championship with it.
The Lady Frogs (23-7) clinched the regular-season title early and were the only team to sweep Hawai‘i this season, winning in overtime two months ago and by six in Fort Worth two weeks ago.
Yesterday, they took out defending WAC champion Rice with a lineup that is deep - eight players went at least 14 minutes- and experienced. TCU starts all upperclassmen, including all-WAC players Jill Sutton and Kati Safaritova. Senior Amy Porter - Sutton’s twin sister - moved into No. 3 on the school’s scoring list yesterday with 15 points.
TCU has won more conference tournament games this week (two) than in all its previous seasons combined. It is the only WAC team in the Top 50 in both power indexes, and is enjoying its first 20-win season.
"TCU is very talented, they have a lot of depth," Hawai‘i coach Vince Goo said.
Doubling up: WAC commissioner Karl Benson nudged Wahine coach Vince Goo yesterday.
"Coach," Benson said, "Hawai‘i is the leader in the clubhouse."
The only school with both its teams in the Williams WAC Tournament semifinals is now the only school with two teams in today’s finals. The Rainbows and Wahine are band-less and in a place far removed from paradise, but they go for the gusto today.
