A short putback attempt by Phil Martin bounced off the rim just before time expired, expiring the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team's stay in the McCaffrey Western Athletic Conference Tournament with a 70-68 quarterfinal loss to Rice yesterday.

"I swear it went in and came back out," Martin said. "It just stinks to have it end that way."

An afternoon crowd of around 2,000 at the Save Mart Center watched the Rainbow Warriors drop to 19-11 with their third consecutive loss. Hawai'i's only chance at extending this season hinges on a longshot selection to the National Invitation Tournament on Sunday.

"I'm proud of this team," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "(Rice) beat us, we didn't beat ourselves."

The Owls improved to 22-9 and advanced to today's semifinals against Nevada. Before yesterday, Rice had never advanced past the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament.

In a game typifying a No. 4 (Rice) vs. a No. 5 (Hawai'i) seed, neither team led by more than eight points at any stage of the game. It took the broad shoulders of Michael Harris to carry Rice to a second-half edge.

Harris, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound junior forward, scored 29 points, including 18 in the second half, and grabbed seven rebounds. He connected on 13 of 20 shots, and 12 of his field goals came from within five feet of the basket.

"Second half, I think I was more aggressive," Harris said. "Coach told me to stop fading away and attack the rim."

Early on, it was the 'Bows who were attacking.

A change in the starting lineup sparked a fast start for Hawai'i. Senior point guard Jason Carter, making his first start since November, drained a 3-pointer to cap a 10-2 run in the first two minutes of the game.

"We just came out playing the way we're supposed to," Carter said. "Everybody was knocking shots down."

The Owls responded with a 10-1 surge to take a 12-11 lead, and the game stayed close the rest of the way.

Michael Kuebler led Hawai'i with 15 points, Julian Sensley added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Jeff Blackett contributed 13 points off the bench.

Sensley had 10 points and seven rebounds in the first half, leading the 'Bows to a 39-35 advantage at intermission. But Rice opened the second half with a 13-5 surge to take a 48-44 lead.

"I think the biggest difference tonight was our defensive effort," Rice head coach Willis Wilson said. "We were able to rebound the ball much better in the second half."

There were two key factors to that. First, Rice shuffled its second-half lineup, using 6-6 J.R. Harrison in place of 6-foot Brock Gillespie. Second, Hawai'i's 6-10 starting center Haim Shimonovich was limited to 10 ineffective minutes in the second half due to foul trouble.

"Haim is the biggest factor for our team, especially in a game like this, where so much of the play was in the (low) post," said Martin, who finished with four points and eight rebounds. "When he wasn't in there, we all had to change our roles."

Kuebler kept the 'Bows in the second half by scoring 13, including three 3-pointers. He scored 10 consecutive points for Hawai'i during one stretch, mostly because his coaches instructed him to.

"He's one of the best shooters in the nation and he's not shooting," Wallace said. "I yell at him when he doesn't shoot."

Kuebler added: "I haven't been shooting it very good the last two games, so I had a couple of open looks and I knew I needed to do something to help my team."

The 'Bows tied the game at 61 on a free throw by Blackett with 5:19 remaining, but Rice scored the next six points and appeared to be in control at 67-61.

The Owls allowed Hawai'i to make it exciting at the end by making just one of three free throws in the final 24 seconds.

A driving shot by Blackett cut the Owls' lead to 70-67, then Rice's Rashid Smith missed the first free throw in a one-and-one bonus situation with 11.7 seconds remaining. Sensley grabbed the rebound, and handed it to Logan Lee.

Lee got fouled with 3.4 seconds remaining. He made the first free throw to make it 70-68, and intentionally missed the second.

The rebound got tipped in the air before Martin came down with it. He went back up with the shot, but as he put it: "The basketball gods said no."

"It was a good look," he said of the final attempt. "I scooped up the ball and kind of went up without looking because I knew the time was running out. But nobody put a hand in my face. I was so sure it was going in, I started running back the other way already."

Hawai'i finished with a 43.3 field goal percentage, including 37.9 percent in the second half. In two previous games against Rice, the 'Bows shot 62.5 percent and 54.5 percent.

In contrast, the Owls shot 56.4 percent yesterday, including 66.7 percent in the second half.

"We don't want the season to end like this," Carter said. "But even if it does, at least we can say we battled all the way to the end."