'Bows keep optimistic outlook on postseason

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team may have lost three games on its last road trip, but it hasn't lost hope.

WALLACE

"This team doesn't give up," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "Even the games we lost, we always fought back. This team still has a lot to play for."

After the 0-3 road trip, the 'Bows dropped to 17-8 overall and 9-5 in the Western Athletic Conference.

When the 'Bows left Hono-lulu on Feb. 16, they were in first place in the conference. Now, they are in fourth place with only four games remaining.

After Monday's 71-62 loss at Texas-El Paso, Wallace said he addressed his team "with the facts."

He told them that the only way for the 'Bows to make the NCAA Tournament is to win the conference's automatic bid that comes with the WAC Tournament championship.

"We're out of any (NCAA at-large) chance," Wallace said. "So what we have to do now is build our momentum back. If we can win three of our last four games, that will get us to 20 wins (overall) and we'll be back in it mentally to make a run at the (WAC) Tournament."

After Wallace's post-game speech, the players held their own 20-minute meeting. Behind a locked door without any coaches present, every player was given a chance to speak.

"We needed to find out where each of us stood on this," said sophomore forward Julian Sensley. "It was like we lost our motivation on this trip, so we kind of challenged each other to step it up down this stretch."

The best cure for the road woes might be a return to the Stan Sheriff Center. Hawai'i will host Tulsa Friday and Rice Sunday in the last two home games of the season.

"I guarantee you, you'll see a different team out there," senior guard Michael Kuebler said. "We let our feelings out after the game. The thing we talked about most was that we only have a limited number of games left, and for some of us, it's the last games of our career. We plan on finishing this thing out the way we know we're capable of. The way we played these last three games wasn't us."

Despite being in fourth place, the 'Bows are still in the running for the WAC regular-season championship.

UTEP is in first at 11-4, followed by Rice at 10-4, and Nevada at 10-5.

After playing Rice Sunday, UH travels to Nevada the following Thursday. UTEP has three road games remaining.

"We know we're not completely out of it," Kuebler said. "But we definitely didn't make it any easier on ourselves."

The WAC Tournament is scheduled for March 9-13 at Fresno, Calif.

• By the numbers: Kuebler still ranks second in the WAC in scoring with 18.4 points per game. Nevada's Kirk Snyder is first at 18.7.

Kuebler is first in the conference with 69 3-pointers. The UH single-season record is 89 set by Carl English last season.

UH senior forward Phil Martin will tie a school record simply by stepping on the court Friday. It will be the 120th game of his career, which ties the record set by Phil Lott from 1988-92.

Martin will probably become UH's all-time ironman on senior day against Rice Sunday.

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