Rainbow Warriors ready to defend WAC title

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

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Western Athletic Conference Tournaments At The Reynolds Center, Tulsa, Okla. Hawai'i times Quarterfinals Today 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. Texas-El Paso, 4:30 p.m. Semifinals Tomorrow SMU-Boise State winner vs. Nevada-Louisiana Tech winner, 2 p.m. Rice-Hawai'i winner vs. Tulsa-Texas-El Paso winner, 4:30 p.m. Championship Saturday Semifinal winners, 4 p.m.

The last time the University of Hawai'i was here, it was cold and miserable.

The weather was pretty bad, too.

But yesterday, the sun was shining, temperatures were in the 70s, and the Rainbow Warriors' spirits fittingly rose right along.

"It's a new season," UH junior Phil Martin said. "Everybody's equal from here on out. We're the defending champions; that's how we're looking at it."

Hawai'i will open play in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament today with a quarterfinal game against Rice. The 'Bows are the No. 5 seed in the nine-team tournament after finishing the regular-season 17-10 overall and 9-9 in the WAC. The Owls went 19-9 and 11-7, and are the No. 4 seed.

Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. (Hawai'i time) at the Donald W. Reynolds Center, the same arena where Hawai'i won the past two WAC Tournament titles.

"You throw out the last game against Tulsa (a 76-51 loss on Feb. 27) when we were hurt and sick, and we've played as well in this city as anywhere else," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "We're comfortable here."

That comfort zone has been built around several superstitions that Wallace has continued in Tulsa this year. The last three days, for example, the 'Bows practiced in a tiny gym at Hale High School, rather than in a practice gym on the Tulsa campus (the Reynolds Center is off-limits for all teams — including Tulsa — until game day).

"There's less distractions here," Wallace said. "We can close up the doors, get our work done and get out."

Yesterday's two-hour workout was UH's best of the week, according to Wallace. Mostly, the 'Bows practiced defensive strategy while slowly working Haim Shimonovich back into the rotation.

Shimonovich, a 6-foot-10 junior center, has not played since severely spraining his right ankle in the first half of that last loss at Tulsa. He will not start tonight, but should be able to contribute.

"It feels a lot better," Shimonovich said of his ankle. "I can play, for sure. The only thing I have to worry about is the conditioning."

Nkeruwem "Tony" Akpan, a 6-8 sophomore, will start his third consecutive game in place of Shimonovich. He is averaging 12.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in his last two starts.

The low-post play of Akpan, Martin, Shimonovich and possibly freshman Milos Zivanovic will be crucial tonight.

Twelve days ago at Houston, Rice defeated Hawai'i, 75-58. With Shimonovich absent, the Owls dominated inside. Rice center Yamar Diene was especially effective, recording a career-high 24 points and 12 rebounds.

"They had so much success inside last time, I expect them to try and jam it inside again," Wallace said. "We'll try some different things — traps and zones — and see how it goes."

Earlier in the season, with Shimonovich healthy, the 'Bows beat Rice, 85-70, at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Martin has had two of his best games of this season against the Owls, with averages of 18.0 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. In the last meeting at Rice, he had the best game of his career with 23 points and 14 rebounds.

"It makes me confident, individually," Martin said. "And I feel more confident with Haim backing us up now. But we still lost that last game, so we need to step up our defensive effort."

On the 'Bows' last trip to Tulsa, Shimonovich got injured and at least half the team came down with flu-like symptoms. It resulted in UH's worst loss in more than two years.

Even with that, Hawai'i has a 7-3 record in games played in the Reynolds Center.

"Unless you play Tulsa, you're on a neutral court with everybody else," leading scorer Carl English said. "We feel like we can beat any team in this conference on a neutral court."

MORE FROM TULSA: There is obvious importance in tonight's game — the loser is eliminated from the WAC Tournament. Wallace said there could be added significance as far as UH's chances for a National Invitation Tournament bid. "We lose this first one, we lose everything," he said. "Obviously, we'd be out of the WAC and NCAA, but it would probably take us out of the NIT, also." UH has already submitted a bid to host a first-round game next week in the NIT. ... Hawai'i reserve point guard Jason Carter sat out his third consecutive day of practice yesterday because of a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee. Because of that, Wallace said he will not play Carter tonight, even though the 5-10 junior was able to jog around the court yesterday. "He needs his quickness to be effective," Wallace said. "If he doesn't have that, there's no reason to use him until he's ready."

TONIGHT'S LINEUP

Notes: The Rainbow Warriors are coming off a 77-64 home victory over Texas-El Paso last Saturday. ... Michael Kuebler scored a game-high 26 points in the victory. ... Hawai'i finished the regular season with a 15-1 record in home games, and 2-9 on the road. ... Carl English ranks second in the WAC in scoring, and fourth in 3-pointers per game (2.8). He led Hawai'i in scoring in 16 of the team's 27 games this season. ... Haim Shimonovich is expected to play for the first time since spraining his right ankle against Tulsa Feb. 27. The 6-10 junior is averaging 8.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. ... Phil Martin is averaging 15.5 points and 6.6 rebounds over his last eight games, while shooting 62.1 percent from the field. ... Mark Campbell leads the WAC and ranks 14th in NCAA Division I with 6.3 assists per game. ... Hawai'i has won six consecutive WAC Tournament games in the Donald W. Reynolds Center, including championship victories over Tulsa each of the last two seasons. The 'Bows are 18-16 all-time in WAC Tournament games.

Notes: The Owls are coming off a 92-71 home victory over Fresno State last Saturday. ... Michael Harris scored a game-high 25 points in the victory, and was named the WAC Player of the Week. Harris, a 6-6 sophomore forward, is considered the best sixth man in the conference. He leads the Owls with 15.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, and was a second-team All-WAC selection. ... Omar-Seli Mance ranks second in the WAC with 2.9 3-pointers per game. ... Jason McKreith leads the WAC with a .851 free throw percentage. ... Rashid Smith ranks second in the WAC with 4.4 assists per game. ... Rice and Hawai'i split a two-game series this season, with each team winning at home. The Owls won the last meeting, 75-58, on March 1 at Houston. Yamar Diene had the best game of his career with 24 points and 12 rebounds in that victory. ... Hawai'i leads the all-time series with Rice, 11-3. The teams have never met before in the WAC Tournament. ... Rice is 2-5 all-time in WAC Tournament games, and has never advanced past the quarterfinals.