Boise State stops UH in overtime, 65-63

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

BOISE, Idaho — Proof that nightmares can occur during afternoon naps, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team suffered a humbling 65-63 overtime loss to Boise State yesterday.

Boise State's Jason Ellis, left, strips the ball from Hawai'i's Michael Kuebler during the first half. Associated Press

The Rainbow Warriors, who swept Boise State last year on the way to a Western Athletic Conference championship, had a six-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 8-2 overall and 1-1 in the WAC. Boise State, which was predicted to finish near the bottom of the WAC standings, improved to 8-4 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

"We're supposed to win all our games, so I can't say this is a bigger (loss) than any of the others," UH head coach Riley Wallace said.

Bryan Defares' baseline drive and subsequent layup with 12.8 seconds remaining in overtime proved to be the winning basket. It was his second game-winner in three days (he scored with two seconds remaining in a 58-56 victory over San Jose State on Thursday).

"Another big bucket for Bryan," Boise State head coach Greg Graham said. "He's been clutch for us three or four times now this year with game-winning baskets."

As far as Hawai'i is concerned it never should have come down to that. The 'Bows controlled virtually the entire second half, and led by seven points (55-48) with 1:34 remaining in regulation.

Two controversial calls by the officials, including a delayed "good" signal of a putback by Boise State's Aaron Haynes at the buzzer, may have helped the Broncos' rally to force overtime.

"That's the way it goes on the road," UH senior captain Mark Campbell said. "There were some questionable calls, the ones you get when you're the home team."

Yesterday's game started at 1 p.m. (10 a.m. Hawai'i time) as part of an "experiment" with afternoon games for Boise State. Only 3,911 fans showed up to The Pavilion, so the crowd was not much of a factor.

Instead, the 'Bows appeared to be sleepwalking from start to finish.

Hawai'i's flex-motion offense was brought to a standstill by the Broncos. The 'Bows passed for a season-low eight assists while committing a season-high 24 turnovers.

"They took away a lot of our stuff," English said. "Guys would be open for a split-second, but it was like we were always a split-second too late."

English scored a game-high 20 points, Jason Carter came off the bench to add 15, and Michael Kuebler had 11. But as Wallace noted, "most of our (points) came outside the offense. Guys were just doing their own thing."

What's more, Wallace said the 'Bows played "absolutely terrible" defense. The Broncos shot just 42.6 percent (23-of-54) from the field, but 19 of their 23 baskets came from within six feet of the rim. Most came on either fast-break layups or dribble-drives through the heart of the Hawai'i defense.

"You can talk about the officials, or talk about anything else, but our defense sucked," Wallace said. "When they get 19 out of 23 baskets from point-blank range, they're going to win."

Graham said: "We talked about attacking in general, whether it was inside or on the (fast) break. We wanted to be the aggressor, and I think we were."

The Broncos led by as many as five points early in the game before UH tied it at 25 on a 3-pointer by Carter. Hawai'i scored just nine points in the final 10 minutes of the first half, and all nine were scored by Carter.

However, Haynes scored on a putback at the halftime buzzer — this one clearly in time — to give Boise State a 27-25 lead at halftime.

Wallace was so enraged with starting forward Phil Martin's defense at the end of the first half that he benched the 6-foot-8 junior for the first 18 minutes of the second half. Martin returned to the game only after starting center Haim Shimonovich fouled out.

"I'm not going to pinpoint one guy," Wallace said. "Our team defense did not work and they were all involved."

Even without Martin, the 'Bows opened the second half with a 10-2 run to take a 35-29 lead. They would increase it to 47-38 behind the shooting of English and Carter.

"We had them down," English said. "We just never finished them off."

Nkeruwem "Tony" Akpan, who came off the bench to grab nine of UH's 35 rebounds, made four consecutive free throws to give the 'Bows a seemingly commanding 55-48 lead with 1:34 remaining.

But the Broncos scored seven points in the final 1:25 to tie it and force overtime. The tying basket came when Haynes put back Booker Nabors' missed layup as the buzzer sounded.

Neither team ever led by more than two points in the five-minute overtime.

Carter's lay-up after a length-of-the-court drive through the Boise State defense gave UH a 63-62 lead with 38.2 seconds remaining.

After Defares' go-ahead basket put the Broncos ahead 64-63, Carter was forced into a turnover by the Boise State defense. He claimed he was pushed out of bounds on the play, forcing him to throw a wild pass to Boise State's Kenny Gainous.

Gainous made one of two free throws with 4.3 seconds to provide the final margin. Joe Skiffer then stole UH's subsequent inbounds pass to seal the victory.

"It's a big win, long or short run," Graham said. "It's a great win, but it's still the first week of the (WAC) season and we need to stay focused."

Four players scored in double-figures for the Broncos: Haynes (16), Jason Ellis (15), Defares (13) and Nabors (10). Ellis finished with a statistical double-double, added 10 rebounds.

"I can't take anything away from them because they played a good game," English said. "But what makes this so hard is that we know that's a game we should have won, against a team we should beat anywhere."

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