Posted on: Thursday, December 18, 2003

'Bows open Festival vs. Texas Southern

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

There is only one way the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team can make this weekend's adidas Festival festive.

"We need to win both (games)," UH head coach Riley Wallace said.

A simple statement, but a not-so-simple task for the 3-2 Rainbow Warriors.

Hawai'i will play Texas Southern tomorrow and New Orleans Saturday. Idaho State is also participating, but the matchups were predetermined.

The opponents might be no-names in the world of big-time college basketball, but Wallace insists that they are no pushovers.

Texas Southern, for example, was an NCAA Tournament team last season and is predicted to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference this season.

"They're real quick," Wallace said. "They like to take you one-on-one off the dribble, which is the kind of thing that gives us problems."

Making the Tigers even more difficult to defend, they rotate 10 players into games, and have varied their starting lineup from game to game.

The Tigers are 3-4, but have won their last two games. Allen Lovett, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, is averaging a team-high 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, even though he has started only once.

New Orleans, has six seniors on its roster, including four returning starters. The Privateers participated in the adidas Festival last season, beating Cal Poly, then losing to Hawai'i, 68-56.

"They're better than they were last year," Wallace said. "And they're coming in here after playing a tough schedule, so they're tested."

New Orleans is 3-2, with the losses to No. 11 Texas and undefeated Mississippi State.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.