'Bows fall short at Rice

• Rice holds off UH with best player on bench

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

UH's Haim Shimonovich gets behind Rice's Michael Harris and gets off a short shot. Associated Press photos

Led by a swooping defense, the Rice Owls defeated the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team, 76-73, last night.

A crowd of 2,923 at Autry Court watched the Rainbow Warriors' six-game winning streak end. The 'Bows dropped to 14-4 overall and lost sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference at 6-2.

Rice improved to 14-5 overall and moved into a three-way tie atop the WAC with Hawai'i and Fresno State at 6-2.

"It was like our minds weren't in it," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "We were going through the motions and you can't do that against a good team like Rice."

The 'Bows committed a season-high 24 turnovers, including at least three by each of the five starters. They entered the game averaging 13.5 turnovers per game.

"It wasn't anything special they were doing," said Hawai'i senior guard Michael Kuebler. "We were just careless with the ball."

Kuebler proved his worth as the WAC's leading scorer, finishing with 24 points on 10 of 16 shooting. Sophomore forward Julian Sensley had the best statistical game of his career with 20 points and 11 rebounds. They were the only 'Bows to reach double-figure points.

In a game of flows, the 'Bows led by as many as eight early in the game, trailed by as many as 13 in the second half, then got within two in the closing minutes.

But in between all of that were the turnovers, most of which led to easy baskets for the Owls.

"They were showing a lot of energy and pressuring the ball," Sensley said. "I don't think we were ready for that. Teams don't normally pressure us like that."

Rice played a basic man-to-man defense, but its mission was to disrupt the UH offense at the point of attack. In particular, the Rice defenders applied in-your-face pressure on any Hawai'i player who got the ball on the perimeter.

"We really felt like we needed to extend our defense," Rice head coach Willis Wilson said. "We pushed them out, and when we did that, they had to play side to side rather than straight to the basket."

Hawai'i's Haim Shimonovich gets a piece of J.R. Harrison's shot while teammate Julian Sensley looks on. Rice won, 76-73.

"I was just trying to stay aggressive on the floor," McKreith said. "From practice and stuff, we know Hawai'i's offense pretty well. A few (of the steals) I anticipated just from recognizing what Hawai'i's offense does."

As Kuebler put it: "We kept trying to pass the ball across the court and they'd step out and steal it. We should have been attacking the basket because they were overplaying us all game."

When the 'Bows were able to avoid turnovers, they were actually quite effective. Hawai'i shot a season-high 62.5 percent from the field, including 64 percent in the second half.

"That's the frustrating part," Kuebler said. "There wasn't anything wrong with our offense, it was just the decision-making."

The 'Bows came out efficient from the start, racing to an 18-10 lead. In the first 10 minutes of the game, Hawai'i made 10 of its 12 field goals and maintained a 23-16 lead.

But in a sign of things to come, the 'Bows committed four turnovers on four consecutive possessions. Rice converted all four of those turnovers into points to take a 24-23 lead.

By the time the Owls took a 43-34 lead at intermission, Hawai'i already had 13 turnovers.

"We were making bad passes, but we also weren't playing good defense," Wallace said. "I got on the guys a little bit at halftime and we made some adjustments."

Hawai'i trailed 56-43 early in the second half before rallying. Kuebler and Sensley combined to score nine points during a 13-4 surge that cut the Rice lead to 60-56 with 9:56 remaining.

The 'Bows got as close as 65-63, but failed to score on two possessions with a chance to tie or go ahead.

Late in the game, Hawai'i cut it to 70-68, but Rice converted six of eight free throws in the closing seconds to secure the win.

"We showed a lot of heart coming back like that," Sensley said. "Most teams would have flopped and not put up a fight. But we're staying focused. We know we're still in first place."

Wallace added: "The only good thing all night was that we were able to come back on them like we did. We could have dropped our heads and quit, but this is not that kind of team."

McKreith led the Owls with 19 points, while Michael Harris added 18. The 6-foot-6 Harris also had five rebounds to lead the shorter Owls to a 28-22 advantage on the boards.

Rice holds off UH with best player on bench

HOUSTON — Rice's defense cramped the style of the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team last night.

Making it more impressive, the Owls defeated the Rainbow Warriors, 76-73, without its best player, Michael Harris, for most of the second half.

Harris, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound forward, played only seven minutes of the second half because of cramps in his legs and stomach.

"It was a real credit to the guys to be able to play without him," Rice head coach Willis Wilson said. "We went a full 12 minutes down the stretch without him, and he's a guy we really count on for rebounds and points."

Harris entered last night's game averaging a team-high 18.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. In just 24 minutes last night, he finished with 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting, and five rebounds.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Hawai'i made a late charge while Harris was on the bench. When Harris first left the court with his cramps, Rice led 56-43 with 15:41 remaining. Twice, he tried to return to action but had to leave within seconds of running both times.

The 'Bows got within two late in the game, but Rice sealed the victory at the free-throw line.

"I think mentally our big guys might have felt a lot better with him out of the game," UH head coach Riley Wallace said.

Hawai'i's 6-10 center Haim Shimonovich was limited to 28 minutes because of foul trouble. He finished with eight points on 4 of 5 shooting, two rebounds and five assists before fouling out with 1:36 remaining.

Even though the Owls did not start a player taller than 6-6, they out-rebounded the 'Bows, 28-22.

Inside the numbers: While looking over the final statistics, Wallace pointed out two categories — turnovers and free throws.

The 'Bows committed a season-high 24 turnovers, and got out-scored at the free-throw line, 25-5. Rice converted 25 of 34 free throws to Hawai'i's 5 of 7.

"It had nothing to do with the officiating," Wallace said. "They were aggressive and we weren't."

Hawai'i fans: The UH coaches and players used up their entire allotment of 50 tickets for last night's game. Sophomore point guard Logan Lee took up more than 20 of those tickets for his family and friends from his home city of San Antonio.

Rice fans: Among the 2,923 fans at last night's game were about 1,000 Rice students, all wearing white T-shirts with the number 6 printed on the back. The student section, which was right behind the Hawai'i bench, stood for the entire game.

Streaks end: Last night's loss ended a school record-tying six-game WAC winning streak for Hawai'i. The 'Bows also snapped a three-game road winning streak, one short of the school record.

On to Tulsa: The 'Bows will continue their seven-day road trip by flying to Tulsa, Okla., today. Hawai'i will play a WAC game at Tulsa on Saturday.

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