McIntyre WAC Player of Week
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| McINTYRE: Converts 10-of-15 3-pointers |
As he waited in an airport terminal for the flight back to Honolulu, a passerby noticed McIntyre and said, "You still on fire? That was unbelievable."
The Western Athletic Conference noticed as well by rewarding McIntyre with the men's basketball Player of the Week award yesterday.
McIntyre scored 42 points to lead the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team to victories at Rice and Tulsa last week. With the wins, UH improved to 17-3 overall, and remained atop the WAC standings at 8-1.
The 6-foot-3 senior guard scored 20 at Rice, and 22 at Tulsa to win the award for the first time in his four-year career. He converted 14-of-23 shots from the field, including an astonishing 10-of-15 from 3-point range. He also contributed nine rebounds and four assists in the two games.
"I work on my shots every day," McIntyre said. "They were just going in."
More impressive, all his points came in a reserve role. Despite starting only one game this season, McIntyre is third on the team in scoring with 10.1 points per game, and second with 35 3-pointers.
"It was nice that they voted that way because Mike is coming off the bench for us," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "But he's getting his minutes and playing a valuable role for us. It shows that you don't have to be a starter to be important."
Against Tulsa, McIntyre made a career-high six 3-pointers in eight attempts, and was the key contributor during Hawai'i's second-half rally.
Tulsa head coach John Phillips said after the game: "McIntyre got hot and basically kicked our butts in the second half."
Several of McIntyre's attempts came from deep in the corners of the court.
"I have no problems with the shots he took," Wallace said. "He's got that kind of range and he shoots those all the time in practice and makes it."
McIntyre added: "When you get into a certain mindset, when you get into what they call the zone, you just feel like everything you put up is going in. That's the best way I could describe that Tulsa game."
He also knows what the opposite feels like. Prior to the Rice game, he was held scoreless on 0-of-4 shooting at San Jose State.
"Of all the things he's improved this year, the biggest is probably his mental game," Wallace said. "He's a senior and he's become more mature at handling the highs and lows."
McIntyre is the second UH player to win the award this season. Predrag Savovic won one last month.
Back home: After an 11-day, three-game road trip, the 'Bows will play two games at the Stan Sheriff Center this week.
On Thursday, UH will play Boise State. The 'Bows defeated the Broncos at Boise, Idaho, last month 64-62.
On Saturday, Hawai'i will play Texas-El Paso. The 'Bows won at UTEP, 70-68, last month. The Miners were the only WAC team to beat UH at the Stan Sheriff Center last season.
Poll watch: Despite having won 11 of its past 12 games, Hawai'i did not break into either of the major top 25 polls this week.
UH is ranked No. 30 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll with 35 points, and No. 36 in the Associated Press Top 25 with 12 points.
Also, UH is No. 47 in the latest Rating Percentage Index. Tulsa is No. 48.
