UH men's basketball team whips Little Rock in debut
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Opening night was a smashing success for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team last night.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Led by their wrecking-ball of a center, Haim Shimonovich, the Rainbow Warriors crushed Arkansas-Little Rock, 81-65, in the feature game of the Hawaiian Airlines Tip-Off Tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center. It was the season opener for both teams.
Hawai'i's Haim Shimonovich, right, battles Arkansas-Little Rock's Mark Green for a loose ball in last night's game.
Hawai'i will play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for the tournament championship tomorrow around 7 p.m. UALR will play Cal State Fullerton for third place at 5 p.m.
"It was better than I thought it would be," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "We were patient on offense and hit some good shots early. And then our defense was really what surprised me."
Shimonovich, a 6-foot-10, 265-pound junior, provided the biggest surprise.
He finished with a career-high 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 15 in the decisive first half. He also contributed a game-high eight rebounds and three assists, and helped force UALR's two tallest players to foul out.
"Haim was active down inside and you can see what happens when he gets it going like that," Wallace said.
Newcomer Michael Kuebler added 17 points in his UH debut, and Carl English, the leading returning scorer from last season's 27-6 team, chipped in 15.
Senior point guard Mark Campbell contributed seven points and had five of Hawai'i's 21 assists. "This being the first game, I wasn't sure our offense would work like it did," Wallace said. "But the guys were all making the right cuts and looking for each other."
It was that way from the start, as the 'Bows raced to a 13-3 lead to open the game. Shimonovich scored eight of his points in those opening six minutes.
His early contribution was especially crucial since 6-8 power forward Phil Martin went to the bench just two minutes into the game after picking up two fouls.
"When Phil got out, yeah, I guess I kind of figured out that I needed to score more," said Shimonovich, who is originally from Israel.
By halftime, Shimonovich had 15 points and missed only one shot — an ill-advised 3-point attempt — to guide UH to a 44-28 halftime lead.
The Trojans never got closer than 11 points in the second half.
Kuebler, a 6-5 guard, scored 14 in the first half, including 3-of-3 shooting from 3-point range. He cooled off in the second half, but Wallace said "as he settles in, he won't miss those."
Above the offensive numbers, Wallace praised his team's defensive effort. Only five nights earlier, he was critical of the UH intensity in an exhibition loss.
"When our guys hustle and give 110 (percent), we can be a pretty good defensive team," Wallace said.
The 'Bows limited the Trojans to 41 percent shooting (23-of-56), including just 20 percent from 3-point range (3-of-15).
Nick Zachery, who averaged more than 16 points for UALR last season, was held to two points on 1-of-10 shooting.
"Mark (Campbell) did one heck of a job on that shooter," Wallace said.
Jibrahn Ike led UALR with 15 points. Jake Yancey, a 6-10 forward, fouled out with 6:39 remaining while guarding Shimonovich. Darius Eason, a 6-9 forward, fouled out two minutes later.
"We got in too much of a hole and never could get out," UALR head coach Porter Moser said. "But I thought Hawai'i's execution was excellent. Every time we made a run, they executed and put us back in the hole."
In last night's first game, Brian Evans (24) and Travis Bailey (22) combined for 46 points to lead Texas A&M-Corpus Christi over Cal State Fullerton, 83-76.
