UH takes wins over honors

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

That seems to be the stance the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team is taking so far this season.

The Rainbow Warriors are slowly gaining national attention with their 14-3 record, but continue to get snubbed for honors from their own Western Athletic Conference.

"It doesn't bother me one bit," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "That's the way we developed this team. We wanted to become a winning team without any stars, and I guess that's what we're doing."

The 'Bows arrived in Houston yesterday for a WAC game tomorrow against Rice. Hawai'i is on a six-game winning streak and in first place in the conference at 6-1; Rice is 13-5 overall and 5-2 in the conference.

"This will be a tough one," Wallace said. "But it's important for us to keep this thing going because people are starting to take notice."

The 'Bows received 14 points in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll, and four points in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top 25.

They also climbed to No. 31 in the national Rating Percentage Index (RPI), according to collegerpi.com, ahead of ranked teams Purdue, South Carolina and Oklahoma. The RPI is one of the determining factors in the selection of at-large teams for the NCAA Championship Tournament.

In ESPN.com's "Bracketology" — a mock bracket of the 65-team NCAA Tournament — Hawai'i was picked as a No. 7 seed yesterday.

"We've won 12 of 13, so I think that's why we keep going up," Wallace said.

Even the other coaches in the WAC are impressed.

"They're a very, very close-knit team and very unselfish," Rice head coach Willis Wilson said of the 'Bows. "Take (Michael) Kuebler for example. He gets a lot of points, but he gets it within what they do. He's not trying to manufacture shots for himself."

Kuebler is the WAC's leading scorer with 19.5 points per game, and its best long-range shooter with 47 3-pointers. He has scored 20 or more points in 10 games this season, yet has never been named the WAC Player of the Week.

Louisiana Tech's Paul Millsap received the honor yesterday.

There have been 10 WAC Player of the Week awards this season. Hawai'i players have not received a single one, even though the 'Bows have the best record in the conference.

"You just keep playing the way you're playing, and if it happens, it happens," Wallace said. "If we don't get any awards and keep winning, then I'll take that."

UH basketball media relations director Derek Inouchi said he nominates a Hawai'i player each week for the award. WAC officials pick the player of the week each Monday.

Hawai'i and Fresno State are the only teams not to have a Player of the Week this season.

Kuebler has been nominated four times this season. Julian Sensley, Phil Martin and Haim Shimonovich have also been nominated. Last season, UH's Carl English won the award three times.

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