Rainbows vying for piece of WAC lead

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

New coach. New players. Same old Fresno State.

That's the way the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team is looking at it.

The Rainbow Warriors will host Fresno State tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center with first place in the Western Athletic Conference at stake.

"No matter who's the coach or who the players are, I think it's always going to be a rivalry with Fresno State," UH junior guard Carl English said. "Every year I've been here, I get goose bumps before that game. It just seems like we always have great games and it's always an important game."

Tonight is no exception.

Fresno State is 11-2 overall and in first place in the WAC at 4-0 under first-year head coach Ray Lopes, who replaced legendary coach Jerry Tarkanian. Hawai'i is 10-2 overall and in second place in the conference at 3-1.

"I know Hawai'i is going to be gunning for us," Lopes said. "The key is our kids have to be fired up to play Hawai'i."

The teams were originally scheduled to play this game on Feb. 22, but because both got invited to ESPN's Bracket Busters Saturday on that date, it was moved up.

For both teams, it will be the third game in a five-day span.

After routing Texas-El Paso, 84-58, on Saturday night, the Bulldogs departed Fresno, Calif., at 7 yesterday morning to get to Honolulu by afternoon. The Bulldogs' four WAC victories this season have all been at home.

"We've taken care of our business at home," Lopes said. "We're a good basketball team, but if we want to be an upper division team, we have to prove that we can win on the road."

This week will certainly provide a stern test. Yesterday's flight was the start of a three-game road swing for Fresno State that will take the Bulldogs to Hawai'i, Southern Methodist and Louisiana Tech. The eight-day itinerary will cover 8,465 miles, making it the longest conference road trip of any team in the nation.

Not that UH head coach Riley Wallace was impressed.

"We'll travel 51,000 miles this year," he said. "So don't talk to me about how hard it is to travel."

But it has been difficult for teams to travel to Hawai'i and win.

The 'Bows have won 21 consecutive home games, the seventh longest current streak in NCAA Division I. Included in that streak are wins over SMU last Thursday and Louisiana Tech on Saturday.

Because of the scheduling situation, the 'Bows are treating tonight's game like "the championship of the Rainbow Classic," said Wallace.

"This stretch is sort of like a tournament," he said. "And it worked out where the biggest game is at the end here."

Unlike the Tarkanian-coached Fresno State teams, this season's Bulldogs run a disciplined offense with inside and outside threats, but no real superstar. Like the Tarkanian-coached teams, they run a tenacious zone defense that leads the WAC in fewest points allowed per game (62.5).

"Fresno State has always had great players, and they got some again this year," UH junior forward Phil Martin said. "That's one of the reasons we get so fired up to play them."

Hawai'i has won four of the last five meetings in the past two seasons, including a two-game sweep last season.

English did his part, recording 55 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in the two victories over the Bulldogs last season.

"I take pride in every game," he said. "But it just seems easier to get excited for the big ones, and this is a big one."

NOTES: Anze Sagadin, a 6-5 guard from Slovenia, joined the 'Bows as a walk-on yesterday. He is a transfer from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where he did not see any game action. He is a former member of Slovenia's junior national team, and will have four seasons of eligibility. Another walk-on, junior Eli Carlone from Ontario, Canada, joined the team last week. Both will become eligible to play next season.

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