WAC top spot on line for UH men's basketball

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

EL PASO, Texas — The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team was like a lost child greeted by a Big Daddy yesterday.

"It felt good just to see everybody again," Haim Shimonovich said.

He is expected to play today when the 'Bows visit Texas-El Paso in a game for first place in the Western Athletic Conference at 4:05 p.m. (Hawai'i time).

"It felt good just to see everybody again," Shimonovich said. "It was a little weird staying home and watching the rest of the guys play without me there. It made me want to get better quick."

The 'Bows lost both games without Shimonovich, and the dejected spirits appeared to lift immediately when the player nicknamed "Big Daddy" came strolling in. He was met with handshakes, huge smiles and lots of joking from his teammates.

"How was your vacation?" one of his teammates yelled out.

In truth, Shimonovich is still not 100 percent and his status for the game is still in doubt. He was on the court for about 90 minutes of last night's two-hour practice, but then had to sit out the final 30 minutes with an ice pack on his knee.

"It still hurts," he said. "I can't move that well, but it's way better than (last week). I don't know how effective I can be, but I will try."

Shimonovich worked with the first team at practice, but Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said he was not sure what his starting lineup would be.

"I won't decide until (today)," Wallace said. "I think (Jeff) Blackett showed he can do some things, too, so we're not afraid to go with him."

Blackett started the last two games in place of Shimonovich, but said he is willing to reclaim his previous role as sixth man.

"It was good to get that experience of starting," Blackett said. "But Haim is such a huge part of our team, we need to get him back in there. He brings so much size to the middle, and I don't have that."

Regardless of who starts, the 'Bows will need to rebound from their first two-game losing streak of the season. Hawai'i started this three-game road trip with a 74-57 loss at Boise State. That was followed by a 66-62 loss at 20th-ranked Southern Illinois in the ESPN Bracket Buster on Saturday.

As if the losses were not enough, the 'Bows had to endure an eight-hour trip from Carbondale, Ill., to El Paso yesterday before practicing in the Don Haskins Center on the UTEP campus last night.

"You can see we're tired and sluggish," Wallace said. "But this is the schedule we have to go with. We're not going to make excuses. We have tonight to rest and recover."

UTEP was not invited to participate in the Bracket Buster this year, so the Miners have played only one game in the last nine days, and that was a 65-52 win over San Jose State last Thursday.

Hawai'i is 17-7 overall and tied for second place in the WAC at 9-4. UTEP is 19-5 overall and alone in first place at 10-4.

"We put losses behind us," Wallace said. "We're still in the hunt; we're in the race. That's why this game is important, not because we lost two in a row."

Blackett added: "We're still in first place in the loss column, so we're not panicking. We know we can still control things."

But so can UTEP. The Miners, who finished in last place a year ago at 3-15 (6-24 overall), are trying to become the first team to go from worst to first in the conference since Utah did it in 1966.

UTEP was not in the WAC back then. In 1966, the Miners were making history by winning the NCAA championship.

The Miners are also looking to avenge an 85-63 loss at Hawai'i on Jan. 22.

"I'm sure they will come out fired up for us," Shimonovich said. "Their record shows they are a much better team than what we saw back home, so we have to be ready for anything."

Tonight is also senior night for the Miners, and a capacity crowd of 12,000 is expected to attend the final home game for starters Roy Smallwood and Chris Craig, and three other reserves.

"We'll have to be at our best," Wallace said. "Because there are a lot of factors against us."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.

Tonight's starting lineups:

HAWAI'I (17-7 overall, 9-4 WAC)

Head coach — Riley Wallace (279-223, 17th season at UH)

Notes: The Rainbow Warriors are coming off a 66-62 loss at Southern Illinois in ESPN's Bracket Buster Saturday. It was the first time this season that Hawai'i has lost back-to-back games. ... Michael Kuebler's UH record streak of 19 consecutive games with a 3-pointer was snapped against Southern Illinois. He still leads the WAC with 69 3-pointers, which is already the fifth-best single-season mark in UH history. ... Jeff Blackett averaged 13.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in his two games as a starter in place of Haim Shimonovich. ... Hawai'i ranks second in the WAC in scoring defense, allowing an average of 64.2 points per game. ... Logan Lee leads the team with 3.8 assists per game, and leads the WAC with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.97. ... Hawai'i has held its opponents below 90 points in 105 consecutive games. ... Hawai'i has won the last five meetings with UTEP, including an 85-63 victory in Honolulu last month.

TEXAS-EL PASO (19-5 overall, 10-4 WAC)

Head coach — Billy Gillespie (25-29, 2nd season at UTEP)

Notes: The Miners are coming off a 65-52 home victory over San Jose State on Thursday. ... UTEP has been the nation's most improved team (in terms of wins) over last season. The Miners finished 6-24 last season. ... Omar Thomas, a 6-5 junior forward, leads the team with 15.3 points per game off the bench. He scored 14 in an 85-63 loss at Hawai'i last month. ... The Miners are 15-1 at home this season, and their lone loss was by four points to Boise State. ... UTEP leads the WAC in scoring with an average of 79.8 points per game. The Miners also lead the conference in field-goal percentage (.482), 3-point field-goal percentage (.383), free-throw percentage (.755) and assists per game (16.7). ... Filiberto Rivera ranks third in the WAC with 4.6 assists per game. ... Chris Craig ranks second in the WAC with 62 3-pointers, and is first with a .428 percentage from 3-point range. ... UTEP leads the all-time series with Hawai'i 31-17, including 18-5 in games played in El Paso.