honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, February 9, 2003

Road woes continue as Warriors fall to SMU

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

DALLAS — The tour of frustration through the Western Athletic Conference continued for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team last night.

SMU's Bryan Hopkins drives between Mark Campbell, left, and Carl English in the first half. The Mustangs dropped Hawai'i to 1-7 on the road this season.

Associated Press

The Rainbow Warriors lost another coulda-woulda-shoulda game on the road, this one in the form of a 78-69 defeat at Southern Methodist.

A crowd of 4,072 at Moody Coliseum — and a regional television audience on Fox Sports Southwest — watched the 'Bows fall to 13-7 overall and 6-6 in the WAC. Hawai'i, which has already surpassed the loss total of last year's record-setting 27-6 team, is now 1-7 on the road, including six consecutive losses to WAC opponents.

"It's the same story every game on the road," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "We play 36 minutes of decent basketball and then lose it down the stretch."

In this latest chapter, Hawai'i led by as many as six points midway through the second half before faltering down the stretch.

"We're just not finishing games on the road," UH junior guard Carl English said. "We didn't play great tonight, but we played good enough to win. Every loss we had, we should have won. That's the worst part to think about."

English did his part, finishing with team-highs of 21 points and eight rebounds. He shot 8-of-18 from the field, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range. However, he missed his last two 3-point attempts in the closing moments of the game with the outcome still in doubt.

Forward Phil Martin added 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Point guard Mark Campbell had one of his best all-around games of the season, finishing with 12 points on a perfect shooting night — 4-of-4 overall, 2-of-2 from 3-point range, and 2-of-2 on free throws — as well as eight assists and five steals.

Haim Shimonovich, coming off the bench for the first time in two seasons, contributed eight points and five rebounds. Nkeruwem "Tony" Akpan, who started in place of Shimonovich, had just two points and one rebound.

"Carl hit some shots for us early," Wallace said. "But at the end, we weren't running our offense. And not just him. We were breaking down and becoming individuals."

The game was tied at 60 with 4:55 remaining, but the Mustangs went on a 12-5 surge over the next 4:33 to win it.

Much of the credit went to SMU guard Quinton Ross, who finished with a game-high 27 points. The 6-foot-6 senior shot 9-of-17 from the field and 8-of-9 on free throws.

He scored seven points in the final 3:08 of the game to help seal the victory for the Mustangs. SMU improved to 12-9 overall and 7-4 in the WAC.

"Ross took over the game and we had no answer for him," Wallace said.

SMU head coach Mike Dement added: "Quinton was great. He played (37) minutes and he was guarding English so hard all game. He worked so hard defensively, yet hit so many big shots at the end."

SMU's Bryan Hopkins attempts to get a shot off while being guarded by Hawai'i's Mark Campbell. SMU won the WAC game, 78-69.

Associated Press

He got help from forward Patrick Simpson, who recorded a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds, and reserve guard Kris Lowe, who shot a perfect 3-of-3 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line for 13 points.

Led by Simpson, the Mustangs out-rebounded the 'Bows by a surprising 36-25 margin. It was the largest rebounding deficit of the season for Hawai'i, which entered the game as the WAC's best rebounding team.

"(SMU) is athletic and they were going strong to the boards," Wallace said. "But we were also shooting too many jump shots."

Dement agreed, and noted that "Hawai'i got tired at the end there, the last seven or eight minutes.

"Rebounding is a physical thing," he added. "And when you're tired, you don't get rebounds."

Still, Hawai'i battled throughout. The Mustangs made the final margin appear larger by connecting on 9 of 10 free throws in the final 1:17.

English drained two 3-pointers during a 10-2 run by Hawai'i midway through the first half that turned a 20-14 deficit into a 24-22 UH lead. The surge was capped by a breakaway dunk by 5-10 Jason Carter.

SMU responded with Ross. He scored all the Mustangs' points during an 8-4 run in the final 3:31 of the first half to put SMU up, 30-28, at halftime.

"I think the key was actually defense," Ross said. "We knew we had to come out with intensity and defend them because they run such a great offense."

Hawai'i fell behind by as much as 35-28 at the start of the second half before going on a 19-6 spurt to take a 47-41 lead with 10:54 remaining. English (8) and Martin (7) combined for 15 of the points.

The Mustangs eventually caught the 'Bows at 55 on a 3-pointer by Lowe with 7:01 remaining.

"They turned it up a notch on us and we didn't respond," English said. "I know we're preaching the same thing after every loss, but it's really the case."

English fouled out with 27.7 seconds remaining, all but securing the victory for SMU.

"I don't care what point of the game it is, it helps when a player like Carl English fouls out," Dement said.

One month ago today, the 'Bows beat SMU by 17 in Honolulu.

"I think we just defended them better," Lowe said. "We wanted to make every shot tough for them, and I think we did."

The 'Bows shot 46.6 percent from the field (27-of-58), including 8-of-19 from 3-point range. Perhaps more telling, they were just 7-of-11 on free throws while SMU was 26 of 30.

"I can't argue about that," Wallace said. "We were shooting jump shots and they were being the aggressors. They just beat us."

With that, the 'Bows finished another long road trip in disgust. They left Honolulu last Sunday and are scheduled to return this afternoon.

The only good news is that they are 12-0 at the Stan Sheriff Center, where they will host San Jose State on Saturday.

"We're gonna go ahead and win again at home," English said. "But we can't be satisfied with that. We need to get it going on the road or nobody will believe in us."

• • •