UH beats UTEP, 70-68
By Bill Knight
Special to The Advertiser
EL PASO, Texas — Hawai'i looked deep into the eyes of its oldest conference enemy last night and stared it down.
Associated Press
The Rainbow Warriors, who have been so meek away from home so many times in years past, won their Western Athletic Conference road opener last night, edging Texas-El Paso, 70-68, in front of 6,582 at the Don Haskins Center.
Texas-El Paso center Justino Victoriano, left, pulls down a first-half rebound from Hawai'i's Phil Martin.
"We just decided it was time for us to win on the road," said senior guard Predrag Savovic, who scored a season-high 29 points.
Hawai'i improved to 12-2 overall with its sixth consecutive victory and remained atop the WAC standings at 3-0. It is UH's best overall start since the Anthony Carter/Alika Smith team of 1997-98 also started 12-2, and its first 3-0 WAC start since 1994.
The struggling Miners dropped to 5-8 overall with their fourth consecutive loss, and 0-3 in the WAC. Prior to last night, UH had not won in El Paso since 1994, and was 3-18 against UTEP in games in El Paso.
Hawai'i trailed UTEP 30-26 at halftime, but took control in the second half, leading by as many as 11 before holding off a late Miners' run.
When asked the difference in the second half, Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said simply, "Savovic."
Indeed, the 6-foot-6, 225-pounder with the muscular build and the shooting touch of an angel hoisted his teammates on his back in the final 20 minutes, scoring 23 of his game-high 29 points. He made seven of his nine field goals in that final half, including 3-of-4 from three-point land.
But it was a team effort, with the rest of the 'Bows moving in perfect coordination with Savovic. Carl English had 15 points, Phil Martin added 13 point, and Haim Shimonovich had only seven points, but 10 rebounds and four assists.
Savovic scored 15 in the first eight minutes of the second half, allowing Hawai'i to take a 46-38 lead. The Miners tied it at 46, but Savovic added five more during a 14-3 run that put UH back in control at 60-49 with 6:41 remaining.
UTEP got as close as 66-62, but English drew a crucial offensive-charge call against Eugene Costello with 1:30 to play. The Miner guard made a layup and thought he was going to the free throw line to cut the gap to one. Instead, the basket was waved off and the 'Bows took a collective deep breath.
English made two free throws with 35 seconds left, making it 68-64, and then Savovic swished a pair with 10 ticks left, making it 70-66 and guaranteeing a happy ending.
"I had confidence," English said. "Everyone's always busting me about my free throws. My percentage is down a little (.594). But I love a game situation like that."
Wallace said: "I think in the second half (Savovic) really picked it up for us. He's a senior, a good leader for us, and he didn't want to lose. Any time you win on the road in this league, it's big."
Hawai'i played without reserve forward Luc-Arthur Vebobe, who missed the flight out of Honolulu, then notified Wallace he intended to return home to France. Not that it mattered last night.
"We just couldn't guard Savovic in the second half," UTEP coach Jason Rabedeaux said. "There was not a huge difference in what we did against him in the second half. The kid just hit some shots."
Savovic said: "We need to take these things one game at a time. Now we have to focus on Boise State (tomorrow night). Is this a different team on the road this year? We'll see in March how different."
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