'Bows look to bounce back against Nevada
| • | Today's Lineups |
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team has to learn how to rebound in more ways than one.
Two days after a "completely embarrassing" home loss to Fresno State, the Rainbow Warriors will host Nevada in another Western Athletic Conference game tonight.
"We've been good about fighting back after a loss, so I'm hoping that's the personality of this team," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "I think we're going to come out with a lot of fight."
The 'Bows showed very little fight on Saturday.
"It was completely embarrassing," senior guard Michael Kuebler said. "Not only for me individually, but as a team."
Most glaring, Hawai'i was out-rebounded by Fresno State, 38-16. It was the lowest rebounding total for a UH team since 1989.
"I don't know if I've ever seen it that bad," Wallace said. "But it's all correctable. We know what we did wrong."
The 'Bows responded with a spirited two-hour practice yesterday.
"We're pretty fired up," Kuebler said. "The best thing we can do is use that loss as motivation."
Hawai'i, which is 8-3 overall and 0-1 in the WAC, will need to be at its best against a Wolf Pack team that was the preseason pick to win the conference.
Nevada, which is 7-3 and 1-0, routed San Jose State, 74-45, on Saturday. Because that was an afternoon game, the Wolf Pack was able to arrive in Honolulu by Saturday night, only a few hours after the 'Bows lost to Fresno State.
"A day early, two days early, it doesn't matter," Nevada head coach Trent Johnson said. "In this conference, you have to be ready to play regardless of who you're playing or when you're playing."
Aside from one "really poor weekend," the Wolf Pack has been ready for most games this season. Nevada made national headlines last month with a 75-61 victory over then-No. 6 Kansas. It was part of a five-game winning streak the Wolf Pack will bring to Honolulu.
"On film, they're the best team we've seen this year," Wallace said.
Nevada may also have the WAC's best player in Kirk Snyder, a 6-foot-6 junior shooting guard who is averaging 16.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
"Kirk is as good as it gets when he's right," Johnson said. "What I mean by that is when he's really into it mentally and making good decisions, he's as good a player as any player in this conference, maybe in this country."
Hawai'i senior forward Phil Martin will draw the initial assignment of defending Snyder when the 'Bows employ a man-to-man scheme.
"It's going to be a task," Martin said. "I have to chase him all over the place, basically. He's different from any guy I've guarded this year. He can do so many things."
The 'Bows can counter with Kuebler, who is the WAC's leading scorer at 19.9 points per game. He had his worst shooting night of the season on Saturday (3 of 16), but stayed after practice yesterday to refocus his trigger.
"I know my shot is not going to be there every day," he said. "But I can't let it get me down. I'll keep shooting 'til I get it right."
Johnson is well aware.
"He's as improved as anybody in this conference," Johnson said. "He's not scoring 20 points a game by osmosis."
Oddsmakers in Nevada's home city of Reno are listing the game as a "pick 'em," or even.
"Hawai'i, Tulsa and Fresno State have been the perennial powers in this conference since we've been a part of it (in 2001)," Johnson said. "If we want to be thought of as one of the upper-echelon teams, we have to show we can compete with a team like Hawai'i."
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
