Rainbow Warriors to play first NIT game in Vegas

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team might want to stay away from the gambling in Las Vegas for the next few days.

The luck of the draw was not with the Rainbow Warriors when the pairings for the National Invitation Tournament were announced last night.

Instead of hosting a game at the Stan Sheriff Center — as head coach Riley Wallace said he was told would happen — the 'Bows will play at Nevada-Las Vegas in a first-round game of the 40-team NIT. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. (Hawai'i time) at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"There were a lot of shakeups in the NCAA (Tournament) and that affected everything for the NIT," Wallace said. "It's obviously a bad situation for us, but you take what ever they give you."

On Saturday, Wallace said he was told by NIT officials to "be ready" to host Eastern Washington in a first-round game Wednesday.

Eastern Washington is scheduled to play at Wyoming in another first-round NIT game Wednesday.

"It's a pretty big change in 24 hours, but that's how these things go sometimes," Wallace said.

The worst part for the 'Bows is that they received the news of their first-round opponent just moments after arriving in Honolulu yesterday afternoon following a week-long stay in Tulsa, Okla., for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.

The 'Bows will be at home for less than 24 hours. The flight to Las Vegas is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. today (they are scheduled to arrive there shortly before midnight).

"In all the past years, we would stay (on the Mainland) to find out where we had to go," Wallace said. "This time, we came all the way home and look what happens. We'll be at a disadvantage, no question."

Because of the all-day travel yesterday, the 'Bows did not practice. Because of the all-day travel today, they will not practice again. That leaves them with just one day of practice (tomorrow) to prepare for the Rebels.

"We actually took a vote to see if the team wanted to go through with this because you don't have to accept the (NIT) bid," Wallace said. "But they all said they wanted to go, so we're going."

Now, they hope to be in it for the long haul.

If Hawai'i continues to win in the NIT, it will not return to Honolulu to host any games. If the 'Bows beat UNLV Wednesday, they will play at the winner of a game between Minnesota and Saint Louis.

"Our goal is still to get to New York and win the whole thing," Wallace said. "We would have liked to start it off at home, but if we can't, there's no use crying about it."

The 'Bows must win three games to get to the NIT final four in New York's Madison Square Garden.

Hawai'i is 18-11 after losing to Tulsa in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament last Friday. UNLV is 21-10 after losing to Colorado State in the championship game of the Mountain West Conference.

"We have tape of their conference championship game," Wallace said. "Other than that, we're going to have to do a lot of studying on them."

UNLV is led by Marcus Banks, a 6-foot-2 senior guard considered one of the best overall players in the Mountain West. He ranked second in the conference with 20.2 points per game, and first with 5.6 assists and 2.8 steals per game.

He was a first-team all-conference selection, and is the two-time Defensive Player of the Year in the conference.

Teammate Dalron Johnson, a 6-10 senior forward, averages 15.4 points and 6.4 rebounds, and was second-team all-conference.

The Rebels are 13-5 in the Thomas & Mack Center this season. They led the Mountain West with 75.6 points per game.