Tulsa routs UH, 76-51
• English's illness was tip-off to bad night
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
 |
| Tulsa's Seneca Collins puts up a shot over Hawai'i's Haim Shimonovich (14) during their game in Tulsa, Okla.
Associated Press |
Last night, the Rainbow Warriors shot ice-cold and got blown away by the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 76-51, before a near-capacity crowd of 8,182 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
"Of all the things that could happen, I don't think anybody anticipated this," said UH junior forward Phil Martin.
He was right.
Prior to last night, Hawai'i had won seven consecutive games in the Reynolds Center, including Western Athletic Conference Tournament championships in 2001 and 2002. The 'Bows also had a five-game winning streak against the Golden Hurricane, their primary rival the past three seasons.
Tulsa got more than its share of redemption, handing Hawai'i its worst loss since the 'Bows lost by 39 points at Texas Christian two seasons ago.
"It's almost like we hated them and we just wanted to beat them," Tulsa senior guard Dante Swanson said. "That's what we came out and did."
After the game, the 'Bows exited the Reynolds Center quietly into the 25-degree Tulsa night, sick in more ways than one.
Hawai'i dropped to 15-9 overall and remained in seventh place in the WAC at 7-8. Tulsa improved to 16-9 overall and climbed into a tie for third place at 9-6. The 'Bows have only three more regular-season WAC games to climb out of the "play-in" games on the opening day of the WAC Tournament (the bottom four teams in the conference have to play on the first day of the tournament to earn a spot in the quarterfinals; the top six are seeded into the quarterfinals).
"This is one of those games you just have to put out of your mind," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "We have to move past this, forget about it, and try to win our next one. There's no reason to talk about this game."
It was forgettable because of several uncontrolled circumstances.
Foremost, at least six Hawai'i players were suffering from flu-like symptoms yesterday, including starters Carl English, Michael Kuebler and Haim Shimonovich. English, UH's star player, had the worst case of it.
There was even speculation prior to the game that English was not going to play last night after he sat out the team's shootaround yesterday afternoon.
English did indeed start, but finished with just seven points on 3-of-9 shooting, and four rebounds in 29 minutes. He entered the game as the WAC's leading scorer with an average of 20.4 points per game.
"We knew his condition, but we had to try him because of who he is and what he's capable of doing," Wallace said.
English said simply: "I wasn't myself out there."
Even with all the sick players starting, the 'Bows stayed with the Golden Hurricane for the first 10 minutes of the game.
A 3-pointer by Kuebler with 9:33 remaining in the first half put Hawai'i ahead, 16-14. But moments before that shot, Shimonovich crumpled to the court in agony, clutching his right ankle.
He was diagnosed with a severely sprained ankle and did not return the rest of the game. In the first 10 minutes, Shimonovich had two points, three rebounds and two blocked shots.
"He looked like he was going to have one of his good games," Wallace said. "I think we all dropped our heads a little bit when we saw him go down."
Tulsa took advantage with a 13-3 run to turn the deficit into a 27-19 lead. The 'Bows went without a field goal in the final five minutes of the first half, allowing the Golden Hurricane to take a 31-21 lead at intermission.
Shimonovich came out of the locker room at halftime with a soft cast around his ankle. Tulsa center Kevin Johnson then put the hurt on the 'Bows in the second half.
He scored 12 of his game-high 19 points after intermission. He scored seven in the first three minutes of the second half, when the Golden Hurricane pushed the lead to an insurmountable 41-23.
Shimonovich's absence forced Martin and Nkeruwem "Tony" Akpan, who filled in at center for Shimonovich, to play extensive minutes. "It screwed up our whole rotation," Wallace said.
Meanwhile, Tulsa head coach John Phillips rotated four players at Martin and Akpan throughout the second half.
"I thought conditioning was going to be a factor," Phillips said. "I wanted to run the basketball and try to get their big guys running back every time."
The strategy worked. Hawai'i never got closer than 15 in the final 17 minutes.
"It was frustrating as heck," Martin said. "It was not at all the real Hawai'i team out there. It was so far from us ... it was sad."
Martin still finished with a team-high 12 points and seven rebounds. Kuebler added 10 points; Akpan contributed nine points and six rebounds; Mark Campbell had five points and nine assists.
Hawai'i shot just 37.7 percent from the field (20 of 53), including 30.8 percent from 3-point range (4 of 13). Even more dreadful, the 'Bows shot 43.8 percent from the free-throw line (7 of 16).
"I know I missed some shots I usually make — open ones, too," said Martin, who was 6 of 16 from the field. "And it was like every time we missed, (Tulsa) went down and made a big shot."
With Shimonovich — UH's leading rebounder — out, the 'Bows also lost the rebounding battle, 43-33.
Tulsa made nine 3-pointers, including three each by Johnson and Swanson. Swanson and Jason Parker contributed 15 points each for the Golden Hurricane. Trevor Meier even made his first 3-pointer of the season for Tulsa, and Aliou Keita scored his first point of the season, much to the delight of the home crowd.
"Everything goes your way at home sometimes," Wallace said. "We've had those games at home, too. This just wasn't our day."
Unfortunately for the 'Bows, the game was also televised nationally on ESPN2.
"Out of all the games people could see, it had to be this one," Martin said. "That's what sucks. We know we're better than that."
• • •
English's illness was tip-off to bad night
TULSA, Okla. — Riley Wallace had a bad feeling his University of Hawai'i men's basketball team was in trouble some 10 hours before tip-off last night.
That's when he realized his top player, Carl English, was seriously ill.
"I went to his room and he said he didn't want to eat because he couldn't keep anything down," Wallace said. "And he was just bundled up in bed."
English started, but scored only seven points in a 76-51 loss to Tulsa in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
English, a 6-foot-5 junior guard, shot 3 of 9 from the field, including 1 of 6 from 3-point range. It was his second-lowest output of the season.
"I was feeling bad most of the day," English said. "But I still wanted to play."
It didn't take long for English to figure out he wasn't in top condition.
"I wasn't breathing right," he said. "My mouth felt dry all the time; every time I moved, I felt like I was going to throw up."
English did not participate in the team's afternoon shoot-around, and even skipped the pregame meal at the Golden Corral — one of Wallace's good-luck superstitions in Tulsa. Still, Wallace started English "because of who he is and what he's capable of doing."
But Hawai'i starting forward Phil Martin, English's roommate, said: "You could tell he wasn't himself. He wasn't getting open; he wasn't getting off his shot like he normally does."
English was one of at least six UH players suffering from flu-like symptoms yesterday.
Tulsa head coach John Phillips was unaware of English's condition, and credited his team's defense, especially that of Jarius Glenn and Dante Swanson.
"I was really proud of our overall defense," Phillips said. "But the defense we played on him was really special."
Haim's hurt: Starting center Haim Shimonovich was diagnosed with a severely-sprained right ankle midway through the first half of last night's game.
When he left the court, the 'Bows were ahead, 16-14. He did not return the rest of the game.
His ankle will be examined by a doctor in Tulsa today.
"It's either a high sprain or a break," Wallace said. "Let's hope it's not a break because we need him. You can see how much we lose when he's not in there."
Bracket Buster success: The Hawai'i game at Kent State last Saturday — part of ESPN's Bracket Buster Saturday — received a 0.29 rating on ESPN2. One rating point is equivalent to 850,000 households.
"That number is favorable to other major college basketball games," said WAC commissioner Karl Benson, who attended last night's game at Tulsa. "I think the (pregame) hype helped. There was awareness generated in advance and I think the match-ups (involving the WAC teams) were attractive."
The Hawai'i-Kent State game was the third-highest rated game among the five Bracket Buster games televised on ESPN or ESPN2. The Tulsa-Gonzaga game had a 0.54 rating; the Fresno State-Creighton game had a 0.45 rating.
Up next: The 'Bows are scheduled to fly to Houston today to continue their 12-day road trip with a game at Rice tomorrow. Today is the 10th day of the trip.
— Dayton Morinaga
