'Bows take day off, then prepare for rigors of WAC
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Seemingly every wish is being granted for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team this season.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
So it probably was fitting that Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace made like Santa Claus and gave the Rainbow Warriors a day off from practice yesterday.
Bobby Nash (No. 33) celebrated after his buzzer-beating 3-pointer put UH into the Rainbow Classic final.
"It's Christmas, for one," Wallace said. "But I also told the team that if we took (yesterday) off, then we'd have a very hard practice (today). They all agreed to it, and promised me that they'd come out ready to work."
The 'Bows are 8-0, but the most arduous part of their schedule begins this week with the start of Western Athletic Conference games. Hawai'i will play at Fresno State on Wednesday, and at Nevada on New Year's Day.
"Once you get into league play, it's an entirely different thing," Wallace said. "Everybody knows what you got; you know what everybody else has got. There are no surprises — you just have to be at your best every game."
Hawai'i is taking an undefeated record into the start of WAC action for the first time in its 26 seasons as a conference member. The 'Bows are one of 13 remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division I, and the only undefeated team in the WAC.
The WAC coaches picked Hawai'i to finish fifth in the conference during a preseason poll in October. UTEP was picked first, and Rice was second.
Wallace said the 'Bows would probably be only a few spots higher if another poll were conducted today.
"UTEP and Rice have a lot of players back (from last season), so you still have to look at them as the teams to beat," he said. "But I'm sure a lot of people are looking at us now because of our record."
Eight of the 10 teams in the WAC have winning records, and all eight are probably thinking it has a shot at the WAC title.
"It'll come down to who can win on the road," Wallace said. "Because the road is very, very difficult in our league."
The 'Bows will find out soon enough. Fresno State was the only team to sweep the home-and-home WAC series from Hawai'i last season; Nevada is the defending WAC champion.
Hawai'i has an all-conference candidate in 6-foot-9 junior forward Julian Sensley. He leads the team in scoring (12.9 points per game), rebounding (7.4) and assists (3.1).
The Matts — 6-9 junior forward "Big Matt" Gipson and 6-5 sophomore guard "Little Matt" Gibson — have become a productive reserve tandem. Gipson is averaging 8.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game; Gibson is second on the team with 12.6 points per game.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
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BOISE STATE
Record: 6-4
HEAD COACH: Greg Graham (42-30, 3rd season at BSU).
TOP PLAYERS: Jermaine Blackburn (6-6 senior forward) is averaging 15.5 points per game; Jason Ellis (6-7 senior forward) is contributing 11.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
SUMMARY: The Broncos finished 23-10 last season, and three key starters returned. But the team has been inconsistent and has not won more than two in a row so far this season. Blemishes on their record include a loss at Utah Valley State, and a home loss to Southeastern Louisiana. Boise State leads all WAC teams with 8.0 3-pointers per game.
HAWAI'I NOTE: The 'Bows beat out the Broncos for two recruits, Chris Botez and Kris Groce, last summer.
FRESNO STATE
Record: 6-3
HEAD COACH: Ray Lopes (40-26, 3rd season at FSU).
TOP PLAYERS: Junior college transfer Ja'Vance Coleman (6-3 sophomore guard) leads the team with 19.6 points per game, including 29 3-pointers in nine games; Mustafa Al-Sayyad (6-9 senior center) is averaging 8.2 rebounds.
SUMMARY: The Bulldogs won their first six games of the season — including a win at USC — but have since lost three in a row. They are running more than in recent years, and rank second in the WAC with 75.6 points per game.
HAWAI'I NOTE: The Bulldogs were the only team to sweep the WAC home-and-home series from the 'Bows last season.
LOUISIANA TECH
Record: 5-4
HEAD COACH: Keith Richard (111-73, 7th season at LaTech).
TOP PLAYERS: Paul Millsap (6-8 sophomore forward) leads all WAC players with 21.1 points and 12.2 rebounds per game; new point guard Daevon Haskins (6-4 junior) is averaging 5.8 assists per game.
SUMMARY: LaTech is undefeated at home this season, but it has only played two home games so far. The Bulldogs' latest victory came at Memphis, which was a top-25 team at the start of the season.
HAWAI'I NOTE: The 'Bows won at LaTech last season, but the Bulldogs won the rematch in Honolulu.
NEVADA
Record: 7-3
HEAD COACH: Mark Fox (7-3, first season at Nevada).
TOP PLAYERS: Nick Fazekas (6-11 sophomore forward) is averaging 19.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game; true freshman point guard Ramon Sessions (6-3) leads all WAC players with 6.2 assists per game.
SUMMARY: The Wolf Pack went 25-9 and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last season. Head coach Trent Johnson left for Stanford, allowing Mark Fox to move up from assistant to head coach. Nevada's record includes a road win at Georgia and a road loss at Kansas.
HAWAI'I NOTE: Among the current cities in the WAC, Reno is the only one where Hawai'i has not won a WAC game.
RICE
Record: 5-3
HEAD COACH: Willis Wilson (174-178, 13th season at Rice).
TOP PLAYERS: Michael Harris (6-6 senior forward) is averaging 20.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game; Jason McKreith (6-4 senior guard) is averaging 14.4 points per game and shooting 57.1 percent from 3-point range.
SUMMARY: The Owls broke through with a 22-11 record last season — their first 20-win season since 1953-54. They are 5-0 at home and 0-3 on the road, including losses at Syracuse and Connecticut. Rice leads the WAC with 77.1 points per game.
HAWAI'I NOTE: Rice eliminated Hawai'i from last season's WAC Tournament, 70-68.
SAN JOSE STATE
Record: 3-6
HEAD COACH: Phil Johnson (28-66, fourth season at SJSU).
TOP PLAYER: Marquin Chandler (6-7 senior forward) is averaging 19.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
SUMMARY: The Spartans opened the season 3-2, but have since lost four in a row. They rank last among WAC teams in scoring with 59.0 points per game, and in rebounding with 29.2 per game.
HAWAI'I NOTE: The 'Bows have struggled against the lowly Spartans in recent years, going 4-3 in the last three seasons.
SMU
Record: 5-3
HEAD COACH: Jimmy Tubbs (5-3, 1st season at SMU).
TOP PLAYER: Bryan Hopkins (6-0 junior guard) is one of the WAC's most exciting players, and he leads the team with 15.8 points and 4.9 assists per game.
SUMMARY: The Mustangs return their four leading scorers from last season's 14-18 team. SMU's record this season includes a home loss to Oklahoma State, and road losses at Texas Tech and TCU.
HAWAI'I NOTE: Jimmy Tubbs was an assistant coach at Oklahoma when UH's "Big Matt" Gipson was a freshman there.
TEXAS-EL PASO
Record: 8-2
HEAD COACH: Doc Sadler (8-2, first season at UTEP).
TOP PLAYERS: Omar Thomas (6-5 senior forward) leads the team with 18.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game; point guard Filiberto Rivera (6-2 senior) was a first-team All-WAC player last season and is averaging 10.6 points and 5.7 assists per game.
SUMMARY: The Miners were picked by the coaches to win the WAC. Their four leading scorers return from last season, and UTEP's only losses this season were to Texas Tech and Southern Illinois. UTEP went 6-24 two seasons ago, and then 24-8 last season, tying the NCAA record for best single-season turnaround.
HAWAI'I NOTE: UTEP and Hawai'i have met 49 times, with the Miners winning 32.
TULSA
Record: 2-5
HEAD COACH: Alvin Williamson (0-0, 1st season as interim head coach at Tulsa).
TOP PLAYERS: Jarius Glenn (6-6 senior forward) is averaging 18.1 points and 9.7 rebounds per game; Anthony Price (6-8 junior forward) is averaging 16.0 points per game.
SUMMARY: Four starters return from last season's 9-20 team, but Tulsa is continuing its struggles. Head coach John Phillips resigned yesterday. Interim coach Alvin Williamson is a former Tulsa player, and was an assistant the past three seasons.
HAWAI'I NOTE: The 'Bows have won eight of the last 11 meetings with Tulsa, including three "White-Out" home wins.
