Wallace cautions against overconfidence
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Rice will be without its leading scorer tomorrow, but University of Hawai'i men's basketball head coach Riley Wallace is still wary of the wise Owls.
The first-place Rainbow Warriors will play a Western Athletic Conference game at Rice tomorrow. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. (Hawai'i time) at Autry Court in Houston.
"It doesn't make much of a difference who's playing and who's not for them," Wallace said. "They all do a good job of setting each other up with picks and screens. They run their offense as good as anybody."
Still, the Owls will be without freshman sensation Jason McKreith, who leads the team with 14.8 points per game. The 6-foot-4 guard was diagnosed with a broken bone in his left foot last weekend. He has already missed Rice's last four games, and could be out for another month.
Ferron Morgan, a 6-10 reserve center, will also miss tomorrow's game with a broken right foot.
In the four games without McKreith, Rice is averaging 56 points per game. In the 12 previous games, the Owls averaged 71 points per game.
"(McKreith) should be able to make it back, but when is the question," Rice head coach Willis Wilson told the Houston Chronicle. "We'll just keep plugging along as we have been."
Actually, the Owls have been struggling along lately. Rice has lost five of its last six games — all in the WAC — and those five losses have been by an average of 18.2 points per game.
"But it's like any other team in the WAC, they're a different team at home," Wallace said.
Indeed, Rice is 6-2 at Autry Court, and 0-8 on the road. Beginning tomorrow, the Owls will play four of their next five games at home.
"These two become very significant," Wilson said of tomorrow's game with Hawai'i and then Saturday's with San Jose State. "Obviously, winning these games will be a confidence boost and give us an opportunity to continue a trend of playing well at home."
The 'Bows are hoping to bounce back from a stunning 57-53 loss at last-place San Jose State Saturday. It was the first conference loss of the season for Hawai'i, which is 15-3 overall and 6-1 in the WAC.
"People are talking like that loss ended our season," Wallace said. "But we're still legitimate contenders. Every year, San Jose State or Rice or some other team that doesn't have a good record knocks off the leader. So we're not hanging our heads over it. We just have to come back strong (tomorrow)."
NOTES: Yesterday was the sixth day on UH's current 11-day road trip. ... The 'Bows practiced at the University of Houston yesterday. ... The 'Bows dropped another spot to No. 56 in the latest Rating Percentage Index released yesterday. ... Hawai'i is ranked 10th among all NCAA Division I teams in scoring defense, allowing an average of 59.7 points per game. ... Senior tri-captain Mike McIntyre celebrated his 22nd birthday yesterday.
