UH receives good news for tourney

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

•

Western Athletic Conference Tournaments At The Reynolds Center, Tulsa, Okla. Men Hawai'i times First Round Today San Jose State vs. Texas-El Paso, 2 p.m. Quarterfinals Thursday Southern Methodist vs. Boise State, 8 a.m. Nevada vs. Louisiana Tech, 10:30 a.m. Rice vs. Hawai'i, 2 p.m. Tulsa vs. San Jose St.-UTEP winner, 4:30 p.m. Semifinals Friday SMU-Boise St. winner vs. Nevada-Louisiana Tech winner, 2 p.m. Rice-Hawai'i winner vs. Tulsa—San Jose St.-Boise St. winner, 4:30 p.m. Championship Saturday Semifinal winners, 4 p.m. Women Hawai'i times First Round Today Southern Methodist vs. Nevada, 8 a.m. Boise State vs. Texas-El Paso, 10:30 a.m. Quarterfinals Tomorrow Rice vs. SMU-Nevada winner, 8 a.m. Fresno State vs. San Jose State, 10:30 a.m. Louisiana Tech vs. Boise State-UTEP winner, 2:30 p.m. Tulsa vs. Hawai'i, 5 p.m. Semifinals Friday Rice—SMU-Nevada winner vs. Fresno St.-San Jose St. winner, 8 a.m. Louisiana Tech—Boise St.-UTEP winner vs. Tulsa-Hawai'i winner, 10:30 a.m. Championship Saturday Semifinal winners, 9 a.m.

Shimonovich, a 6-foot-10 center, returned to practice for the Hawai'i men's basketball team yesterday for the first time since severely spraining his right ankle in a regular-season game against Tulsa on Feb. 27.

He will definitely play Thursday, when the Rainbow Warriors open the Western Athletic Conference Tournament with a quarterfinal game against Rice. However, UH head coach Riley Wallace was still undecided on whether to start Shimonovich.

The 'Bows, who are the No. 5 seed for the nine-team tournament, are 17-10 overall and 9-9 in the WAC. Rice, the No. 4 seed, is 19-9 overall and 11-7 in the WAC. The teams split a two-game series this season, with each team winning at home.

"I'll play," Shimonovich said. "I just don't know how fit I'll be to play. I know I'm not going to be 100 percent, but I hope to be able to play some minutes and help the team."

Shimonovich's return was well recognized by his teammates.

Because he was getting his injured ankle wrapped in a brace, Shimonovich was the last to arrive on the practice court. As he jogged slowly toward the basket, his teammates gave him an ovation.

"As long as Haim is ready, I feel like we have a shot against anybody," senior captain Mark Campbell said. "When we have all our guys in there, we feel like we can match up with any team in the conference on a neutral court."

Shimonovich practiced with the first team, although he was still moving gingerly. While running warm-up laps around the court, senior Lance Takaki lapped Shimonovich and yelled, "Hurry up, slowpoke!"

"It's still sore," Shimonovich said after the 90-minute practice. "But today was the first day on it, so I think it will get better tomorrow and the day after that."

Shimonovich is averaging 8.1 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game. Perhaps more unnoticed, he ranks second on the team with 64 assists.

"He does so many different things for us, and a lot of it is stuff people don't see," Wallace said. "But everybody on this team knows how much he means to us."

He did not play when Hawai'i lost at Rice, 75-58, on March 1. Rice center Yamar Diene took advantage with the best game of his career with 24 points and 12 rebounds.

"I didn't like just sitting and watching the games," Shimonovich said. "I would rather have stayed home because I'm so used to playing. The other guys did their best, I know. But I wanted to be in there."

Wallace added: "I like our chances a lot better with Haim in there. Even if he's not 100 percent, he's such a big presence inside that he creates problems for the other team."

If Shimonovich is ready to start by Thursday, Nkeruwem "Tony" Akpan will return to his role as sixth man. Akpan, a 6-8 sophomore, started in place of Shimonovich the past two games, averaging 13.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Carter sits out: Reserve point guard Jason Carter did not practice yesterday because of a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

He walked around the court and up and down stairs with the injured knee wrapped in a heavy brace. He has made significant progress since injuring his knee in the first half of Saturday's victory over Texas-El Paso, so there is still a possibility he could play Thursday.

"I could run and jump a little if I wanted to right now, but I can't make (lateral) cuts," Carter said. "But the swelling went down a lot and it doesn't hurt nearly as much as before. When I got out of bed (Sunday), I couldn't even walk. So to be up and around a day later feels good."

Hail Hale: Teams participating in the WAC Tournament will not be allowed to practice in the Donald W. Reynolds Center this week.

That's not a problem for the 'Bows who will practice at nearby Hale High School. The Hale boys basketball team is coached by Brent Mackey, who used to play for Wallace at Seminole (Okla.) junior college in the mid-1980s.

The 'Bows also practiced in that gym the past two years and went on to win the WAC Tournament both years.

Happy 23rd: Junior forward Phil Martin celebrated his 23rd birthday on Sunday, although it wasn't quite as memorable as his last two.

"I just kind of hung out with the guys, and then we had to catch our flight (from Honolulu to Tulsa)," he said.

In the previous two years, Hawai'i won WAC Tournament games on Martin's birthday.

Bid is in: Wallace confirmed yesterday that Hawai'i has submitted a bid to host a first-round NIT game next Wednesday.

If the 'Bows do not win the WAC Tournament — and the automatic NCAA Tournament bid that comes with it — they are hoping to be selected to the field of 40 for the NIT.

"You don't want it to happen because you'd rather be in the NCAAs," Wallace said. "But you have to have a back-up plan ready so that's what we did."