Posted on: Wednesday, February 9, 2005

'Bows' Bracket Buster will be televised

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team will get a rare chance to show off its home arena and fans next week, and head coach Riley Wallace wants to make the most of the opportunity.

Hawai'i's Bracket Buster Saturday game against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Feb. 19 was selected yesterday to be televised nationally on ESPN2.

To accommodate ESPN2's schedule, the game will start at 3 p.m. (Hawai'i time).

It will be the first nationally televised basketball game in the Stan Sheriff Center since January of 1999, when ESPN televised a game between Hawai'i and Utah.

"It's good for our program because anybody in the country can turn it on and watch us," Wallace said. "We just have to make sure we put on a good show."

The UH athletic department is promoting the game as both "Sellout Saturday" and "Green-Out."

UH students can get in free for that game, and all fans are being encouraged to wear green. What's more, the first 7,000 fans through the turnstiles will receive a "Spirit Towel" to wave during the game.

"If it all works out, and we get the sellout we're looking for, it'll be a great atmosphere," Wallace said. "I don't think the afternoon start should make a difference. It might actually be better because we can get more kids in there."

Wallace said he will even encourage the coaches and student-athletes from the other sports at UH to attend the game.

"I'd like to see the football players and some of the other athletes get all crazy in that student section to really make it fun," Wallace said. "That's the kind of thing that ESPN loves."

Hawai'i, which will play a Western Athletic Conference game at Louisiana Tech tomorrow, is 13-5 overall and 5-5 in the WAC. Wisconsin-Milwaukee is 17-5 overall and in first place in the Horizon League at 10-2.

There are 32 games in this year's Bracket Buster Saturday, but only six were selected for broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2. Two other games featuring WAC teams will be nationally televised: Vermont at Nevada on ESPN2, and Texas-El Paso at Pacific on ESPN.

UH has been selected for a television game in each of its three years in the Bracket Buster. In 2003, the 'Bows beat Kent State on ESPN2; last season, Southern Illinois beat Hawai'i on ESPN.

This is the first year that Hawai'i is hosting a Bracket Buster game. The 'Bows have three more games before the Bracket Buster — at Louisiana Tech tomorrow, at Southern Methodist on Saturday, and then a home game against Boise State next Wednesday.

"We have to take care of business first with those three league games," Wallace said. "But if we can win all three, it'll make that TV game even bigger."

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