UH defeats Tulsa, 90-82

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

TULSA, Okla. — If you didn't believe in the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team before, you can start now.

These guys are for real, folks.

The Rainbow Warriors proved that last night with an improbable 90-82 victory over Tulsa in a game that determined first place for the first half of the Western Athletic Conference season. A sellout crowd of 8,355 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center was raucous even before tip-off, but went home in hushed tones as the 'Bows stopped Tulsa's five-game winning streak.

As has been the case all season, several Hawai'i players took turns in the spotlight. Senior guard Mike McIntyre put on a shooting clinic with 22 points and six 3-pointers to lead five 'Bows in double-figures. Predrag Savovic added 20, Phil Martin 16, Mindaugas Burneika 13 and Carl English 10.

Only two other 'Bows saw action — Haim Shimonovich and Mark Campbell — and their contributions were equally important. Shimonovich finished with six points, eight rebounds and six assists; Campbell played all 40 minutes and chipped in three points and seven assists.

"It's time to stop doubting us," UH sophomore guard Carl English said. "We're 17-3. You don't get to be 17-3 without being a pretty good team."

At the halfway point of the WAC season, Hawai'i has been better than pretty good. The 'Bows are having their best season in 30 years at 17-3 overall, 8-1 in conference.

"This team is special," UH head coach Riley Wallace said for about the 1,000th time this season.

But for perhaps the first time in his 15 seasons as UH head coach, he added: "You can say they're really special because they're winning on the road. That's been our bugaboo for years in Hawai'i."

With yesterday's victory, UH is now 4-1 on the WAC road this season. In the previous three regular seasons, the 'Bows were 2-22 on the WAC road.

Last night's victory was especially impressive when considering that the Golden Hurricane was 43-6 in the Reynolds Center since it opened in 1998. Now, Hawai'i is one of only two visiting teams to own two victories there (Fresno State is the other).

UH's other Reynolds Center win came in last season's WAC Tournament championship game. In the days leading up to last night's contest, some of the media in Tulsa hyped it as a "revenge game."

Instead, the 'Bows staged a rally of their own, erasing a 13-point first-half deficit to drop the Hurricane to 15-4 overall and 6-2 in the WAC.

"Their quickness in the first half caused us a lot of problems," Wallace said. "They got some penetration and that allowed them to get the ball to their big guys."

Tulsa's starting forwards, 6 foot 7 Kevin Johnson and 6-7 Charlie Davis, combined for 18 points and 11 rebounds in the first half.

But UH scored the final five points of the half to cut the deficit to 41-34 at halftime, prompting Wallace to tell his team "we're there."

"We knew that if we stayed focused and kept our heads in the game, it would change," McIntyre said.

Just like in a victory at Rice last Thursday, McIntyre led the rally. He scored eight points — including two 3-pointers — during a 12-2 run that turned a 55-50 deficit into a 62-57 Hawai'i lead with 9:17 remaining.

The 'Bows would never relinquish the lead, even though 6-10 Shimonovich and 6-8 Martin stayed on the bench with four fouls for the game's final 11 minutes.

"Everything fell in place," Wallace said. "Luck have it, Haim got in foul trouble and we went to the small lineup and got all the shooters in there and they were hot."