Rainbows notch 20th win of season, 85-76

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i's Carl English drove against Southern Methodist's Kris Lowe en route to a 21-point night in a Western Athletic Conference game in Dallas. Associated Press

The Rainbow Warriors simply shut down Southern Metho-dist, 85-76, to remain alone in first place in the Western Athletic Conference. A crowd of 3,662 at Moody Coliseum watched Hawai'i improve to 20-3 overall and 11-1 in the conference.

Only a few miles away from the historic site of the John F. Kennedy assassination, the 'Bows made some history of their own.

It is only the sixth 20-win season in UH history, including four under head coach Riley Wallace. None of the previous five 20-win UH teams reached that magic figure earlier during the calendar year — the "Fabulous Five" team of 1971-72 earned their 20th victory on Feb. 12.

"This really is a big win," Wallace said. "There are only (a few) teams out there with 20 wins right now and we're one of them.

"But more importantly is the WAC, and we're 11-1."

Indeed, no UH team has ever had a better WAC start in 23 years with the conference. This year's 'Bows have already tied a school record with five WAC road victories.

"To some people, it might be amazing," said senior tri-captain Mindaugas Burneika. "But we're just playing the way we have been all season."

As proof, two of UH's 20 victories have come over the Mustangs, who fell to 11-10 and 6-5. Just as they did in Honolulu last month, the 'Bows relied on uncanny 3-point shooting to beat SMU last night.

Hawai'i was 12-of-25 from 3-point range last night after making a school-record 14 against SMU on Jan. 12 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Senior guard Predrag Savovic led the way with 29 points, including a career-high six 3-pointers. He also had six rebounds and five assists before fouling out with 22 seconds remaining.

"Overall, I think he's the best player I've played against since I've been here," said SMU center Mike Niemi, who is in his fourth season with the Mustangs. "He goes out there and doesn't let anything affect him. He plays his heart out."

If Savovic was the star, his supporting cast was equally impressive.

Sophomore Carl English contributed 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists; Burneika and fellow senior Mike McIntyre scored 11 points apiece in reserve roles; junior point guard Mark Campbell had four points and five assists, and was the primary defender who held SMU leading scorer Damon Hancock to 13 points.

"Every victory is big for us," said Savovic, who has 61 points in his last two games. "We're not a team that can come in and relax and just show up and win. Every win is hard work for us."

To be sure, the Mustangs rallied from a 10-point first-half deficit to take a short-lived 66-65 lead with 6:17 remaining in the game. It was SMU's only lead of the game.

Wallace called a timeout shortly after that and said he told his team to "be patient on offense and get a couple of stops on defense."

The 'Bows did even better, going on an 11-2 run over the next 4:21 to take an insurmountable 76-69 lead with 1:56 remaining in the game. Savovic capped the surge with his sixth 3-pointer of the game. Overall, he shot 10-of-17 from the field, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range.

"We responded," Savovic said. "We got together and got the offense going and got good looks."

Hawai'i sealed the victory by converting 13 of 14 free throws in the game's final three minutes.

Defensively, the 'Bows held SMU to one field goal in the final six minutes. While Hawai'i shot 48 percent from the field (27-of-56) during the game, the Mustangs finished at 40 percent (27-of-68).

"We got some good looks, we just didn't make the shots down the stretch," said SMU guard Quinton Ross, who led SMU with 26 points, including six 3-pointers.

At the same time, the 'Bows frustrated the Mustangs with their patient — yet relentless — motion offense.

"They're so crafty with their offense," Ross said of the 'Bows. "When they make a cut, you have to react to it. When you don't, that's what gives them an open look and that's all they need."

That was clear from the start, as the 'Bows opened the game with a 7-3 run and kept the lead throughout the first half. A 15-6 surge pushed the lead to 22-12 with 10:23 remaining in the half. SMU countered with an 11-6 run to close the half and cut the UH lead to 40-37 at halftime.

Savovic scored 13 points in the first half, while English added 10. The 'Bows were 7-of-14 from 3-point range in the first half, with Savovic (3-of-5), English (2-of-5) and McIntyre (2-of-3) combining for all seven.

"We have a lot of weapons," English said. "That makes it hard for teams to defend us. And when we got more than one guy going, it's even harder."

In contrast, Ross was almost a one-man attack for the Mustangs. He was 9-of-22 from the field, including 6-of-16 from 3-point range.

Ross scored eight during a 10-3 SMU run midway through the second half that tied the score at 62-62. However, he did not score in the game's final six minutes when the 'Bows took control.

Hancock, who entered last night's game as the WAC's leading scorer with 21.4 points per game, shot 4-of-11 from the field, including 0-of-4 from 3-point range, and 5-of-11 on free throws.

The 'Bows, who are now 5-1 on the WAC road, will travel to Ruston, La., for another WAC game tomorrow at Louisiana Tech.