Warriors' WAC reign ends
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Tulsa's Charlie Davis battles for a rebound with Hawai'i's Phil Martin in their WAC Tournament semifinal contest.
Associated Press |
There will be no dancing this year for the Hawai'i men's basketball team.
The Rainbow Warriors had their two-year streak of trips to the NCAA Tournament stopped by Tulsa last night in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
The Golden Hurricane beat the 'Bows, 66-56, before a home crowd of 6,134 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Hawai'i had defeated Tulsa the previous two seasons for the WAC Tournament championship, and the NCAA Tournament bid that comes with it.
"This team has shown a lot of heart all year," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "But we don't have quite the firepower we had a year ago."
Still, the 'Bows are 18-11, and have submitted a bid to host a first-round game in the National Invitation Tournament. The NIT pairings will be announced tomorrow.
Tulsa, which improved to 21-9, will play Nevada for the WAC Tournament championship tonight.
"You gotta give them credit, they played a great game," UH guard Carl English said. "They're a great team."
English was a virtual one-man offense for Hawai'i, tying his career-high with 33 points. He played only nine minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, but then shot 10 of 14 in the second half, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range.
"I don't have a whole lot to say," said English, a 6-foot-5 junior. "It doesn't matter what I score, it matters if we win or lose. Tonight we lost, so nothing else matters."
But there was the matter of free-throw shooting.
Tulsa finished 30 of 33 on free throws, while Hawai'i was 4 of 9. The 'Bows were assessed 23 fouls to Tulsa's 13, and starters Mark Campbell and Nkeruwem "Tony" Akpan fouled out late in the game.
The 30 made free throws by the Golden Hurricane established a WAC Tournament record.
"Tulsa's good; they beat us tonight," Wallace said. "We're not poor losers. We don't like to lose, don't get me wrong. But when you get nine free throws to (Tulsa's) 34, you're going to get beat."
Tulsa got the advantage by controlling the low post. Kevin Johnson, a 6-8 senior, proved his worth as a first team All-WAC forward with 20 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. His partner in the paint, 6-7 forward Charlie Davis, contributed eight points and 13 rebounds. They combined to shoot 10 of 11 on free throws.
"We made a concentrated effort to get the ball inside, so it doesn't surprise me that the stat looks that way," Tulsa head coach John Phillips said. "When you get the ball inside, you're going to get fouled. And we made our free throws, which was a crucial ingredient."
Johnson epitomized the game for Tulsa. He had just five points — all on free throws — in the first half. He was 0 of 4 from the field, and wasn't the only Tulsa player struggling.
"I was taking the shots I would hit 80 percent of the time," Johnson said. "I don't think I was forcing it, they just weren't going down."
The Golden Hurricane shot 24.0 percent from the field (6 of 25) in the first half, but still somehow managed to take a 27-17 lead at intermission.
That's because the 'Bows shot just 25.8 percent (8 of 31) in the first half, and already started to fall behind in the foul calls. In the first half, UH was was 1 of 2 on free throws; Tulsa was 15 of 16.
"Neither team shot the ball exceptionally well, especially Tulsa, but the defense was very fierce," Phillips said. "Even though there was the frustration of missing some easy shots, we never let it affect our defensive end of the floor."
What's more, English was assessed his second foul only 2 minutes, 10 seconds into the game. He finished the first half with six points on 3 of 8 shooting.
"We came out and struggled a little bit in the first half," English said. "I got a couple of fouls and it took me out of my rhythm."
Wallace defended his decision to leave English on the bench for most of the first half, even though English never picked up his third foul until 34.6 seconds remained in the game.
"We're early in the game and still in the game at that point, so he's gotta sit," Wallace said. "I told him don't penetrate (to the basket) and the first three times, he penetrates. He scares you. That's why you have to take him out."
In English's absence, junior forward Phil Martin kept the 'Bows close for most of the first half with eight points. Hawai'i got as close as 19-17, but then did not score in the final 5:14 of the half.
Meanwhile, Tulsa went on an 8-0 run during that time to seize the momentum at 27-17.
"We let them get away from us with some lulls and foul trouble in the first half," Wallace said.
Behind the sharpshooting of English, Hawai'i got as close as 46-42 with 6:01 remaining in the game.
"He was hitting some shots that were not guardable," Phillips said. "I could tell that he didn't have the flu this time."
In UH's regular-season loss at Tulsa on Feb. 27, English was held to seven points while suffering from the flu.
Last night, it was Johnson who made the 'Bows sick.
He scored six points during a 12-3 surge that put Tulsa in control for good at 58-45. His final points came on a driving dunk that brought the crowd to a deafening roar.
"It was too much Johnson tonight," Wallace said. "We cut it to four and they went right to Johnson. He hit a couple of big shots and showed what a great player he is."
Tulsa converted 8 of 10 free throws in the final 90 seconds to clinch the victory, but Wallace said that only padded the discrepancy in calls.
"All I was screaming was 'Give me some consistency,' " he said. "If we drive and lay it up and get fouled, call it because they were calling it on the other end."
English added: "Bottom line is we lost. The officiating doesn't control the game, we control the tempo and what goes on. They might make some calls here and there, but you just gotta suck it up."
Martin added 13 points and five rebounds for the 'Bows, meaning he and English combined for 46 of the team's 56 points.
"Carl's a winner," Wallace said. "He did everything he could possibly do to win this game. And Phil's been the most consistent guy on this team for the last six or seven games."
Take away English and Martin, and the rest of the 'Bows combined to shoot 4 of 26 from the field. Only four other UH players scored, led by Michael Kuebler's five.
"We're an offensive player away from being really good," Wallace said. "That's the way it's been all year."
