Syracuse too much for Rainbows, 79-69

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

DAYTON, Ohio — The Hawai'i men's basketball team danced the opening dance, but the next song required an Orange pass.

Apparently, no Rainbows allowed.

Nerijus Puida, left, Mike McIntyre, middle, and Troy Ostler know the end is near. The Rainbows stayed close, but fell to Syracuse, 79-69, last night in a first-round of the Midwest Regional. Associated Press

It was just Hawai'i's third appearance in the "Big Dance," but each time, the Rainbows have bowed out in the opening round.

Hawai'i, which was 10-12 just over a month ago, finished its season 17-14. Syracuse improved to 25-8 and advanced to play Kansas in the second round of the regional tomorrow.

"Tonight was a very special night for the state of Hawai'i," coach Riley Wallace said. "It's been a while. This is only the third time in history. We would've liked a better outcome, but I was proud of the way we fought and played hard."

But tradition, much like Syracuse last night, has no substitutes.

The Orangemen, playing in their 27th NCAA Tournament, used just seven players, but four of them scored in double figures, led by forward Damone Brown's 20.

Most important, the Syracuse seven employed an effective two-three zone defense that took the Rainbows' out of their comfort zone. The Orangemen limited Hawai'i to 39 percent field goal shooting (23-of-59), including 27 percent from 3-point range (7-of-26).

"I think it was a little more than we expected," said Hawai'i senior center Troy Ostler, who scored a game-high 21 points. "They're so fast and so long, and they get to the spots so quick, we didn't have time to settle down and relax. I think it panicked us a little bit."

That was evident from the start as the Rainbows missed their first eight 3-point attempts of the game. Before even four minutes had elapsed, Hawai'i missed four 3-pointers and fell behind, 8-2.

"I think they all wanted to do it," Wallace said of his team's questionable early shot selections. "We've been hitting those shots in practice all week and they all had that good feel. But it was too much from the outside early."

As a result, Syracuse jumped to the early lead and never lost it. Ignited by an alley-oop dunk by Brown, the Orangemen went on a 7-0 surge late in the first half to increase the lead to 31-18.

"I think our offense was very efficient," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "We got the ball down low to Damone and he either found a shot or someone else who was open."

The Orangemen shot 52 percent from the field (29-of-56), with each of the seven players scoring at least one basket.

Still, the Rainbows refused to fold. Behind Ostler, who scored 13 in the first half, the Rainbows closed the half with an 11-4 run, but still trailed, 35-29, at halftime.

Ostler scored the first two points of the second half to pull Hawai'i within four, but that was as close as it would get. Brown and Preston Shumpert scored all the points during a 9-0 run that increased the lead to 44-31 with 16:50 remaining.

"Usually, if someone makes a run on us, we can kick it into a higher gear and make a run back at them," Ostler said. "But I think that zone was a little too much tonight."

With freshman Carl English once again leading the charge, the Rainbows made one last run at the Orangemen, getting as close as 74-67 with 1:31 remaining in the game. However, Syracuse made five free throws in the final minute to secure the victory.

"Coach talked a lot about heart," said English, who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench. "We just came out ready to go in the second half and we just got better shot selection."

After making just two of 10 3-point shots in the first half, the Rainbows were five of 16 in the second half.

"They got the lead in the beginning and it just stayed that way," said Hawai'i guard Predrag Savovic, who scored 12 points. "Once we started figuring out how to score against them, it was a little too late."

Wallace knew of the Orangemen's athleticism, and so he preached to his team the importance of patience. With enough passing, he reasoned, a crack in the zone could eventually be found.

"But they got us standing and we didn't get the motion stuff going off of it," Wallace said. "And we shoot a little better on the move than we do with a guy's hand in our face."

The Orangemen also forced 13 turnovers, including seven steals.

"One thing about our zone, it's smothering," said Shumpert, who scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds. "We have long players and we get up on people, force them to take tough shots."

What's more, Boeheim said he instructed his players to play an even wider zone to contest the Rainbows' 3-point shooters. In its six games prior to last night, Hawai'i made 54 3-pointers at a 41 percent rate.

"We did a good job defending their 3-point shooters," Boeheim said. "They got a few opportunities in the interior because of it, but I thought we did a good job overall."

Ostler, playing his final game as a Rainbow, was the primary benefactor, although forward Mindaugas Burneika came off the bench to contribute 13 points and five rebounds.

Nerijus Puida, the Rainbows' do-everything senior forward, was not so fortunate. He suffered a case of food poisoning on Thursday night, and was still feeling the effects yesterday. He was held scoreless in 21 minutes.

"Nerijus is our energizer," Wallace said. "He's the guy that pushes the fastbreak, and can knock down a big 3 when we need it. He's a warrior, no question about that, but he had to take himself out. That hurt us on the transition."

In truth, the Orangemen appeared to be one step ahead of the Rainbows throughout. Every time Hawai'i seemed ready to make a game of it, Syracuse pulled ahead just enough to make it disinteresting.

"We have big-game experience," said Shumpert, who was on the Syracuse team that advanced to the Sweet 16 last season. "We've all been in this stage before, so we know what it takes."

With six of its top eight players from this season expected to return, Hawai'i is hoping to get there, too.

"We've got a good group coming back, and I think we've added some excitement for next year for the University of Hawai'i," Wallace said. "But I don't want people to forget this team, because I've said before, this team was really special."