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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, February 20, 2005

Predatory Panthers steal win from Hawai'i

 •  Scoring spree no consolation for Gibson
 •  UTEP routs Rainbow Wahine, 71-50
 •  Ferd Lewis: 'Bows fall flat during prime time
 •  Rainbows box score

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

In the daylight hours of a hot Hawaiian afternoon, and under the bright lights of national television, Wisconsin-Milwaukee stole a victory from the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team yesterday.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Chris Hill, left, and Hawai'i's Vaidotas Peciukas battle for a rebound.

Photos by Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

A panther-quick defense led the Panthers to an 87-81 victory over the Rainbow Warriors.

"They came in here and took one away from us," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "I thought we could've and maybe should've won this game if we match the intensity in the second half. They out-hustled us, in the second half, especially."

A crowd of 6,281 at the Stan Sheriff Center went home disappointed for only the second time this season as the 'Bows dropped to 12-2 at home. Hawai'i is 14-8 overall, with all eight losses by six points or fewer.

UWM, which has already clinched the regular-season championship of the Horizon League, improved to 21-5.

"Hawai'i is a very good passing team so we knew we had to disrupt their passing with our ball pressure," UWM head coach Bruce Pearl said. "And I thought our kids did a good job of that."

The Panthers collected 17 steals — the most by any Hawai'i opponent this season — and forced the 'Bows into a season-high 21 turnovers.

"We didn't handle it bad, but we didn't handle it as well as we should have," Hawai'i guard "Little Matt" Gibson said of UWM's pressure defense. "And it cost us."

For the most part, the 'Bows were making shots when they weren't turning the ball over. Hawai'i shot 51.7 percent from the field, including 11 of 20 from 3-point range (55 percent).

Gibson led the 'Bows with a career-high 26 points. He shot 9 of 13 from the field, including 6 of 6 from 3-point range.

Jeff Blackett added 12 points and nine rebounds, and Jake Sottos and Bobby Nash contributed 11 points each for Hawai'i.

From left, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Joah Tucker, Ed McCants and Adrian Tigert battle for a rebound. The Panthers outrebounded Hawai'i 37-32 in posting an 87-81 non-conference victory.
"Good ball game, just kind of looks like they wanted it more down the stretch," Blackett said. "Not that they should want it more, but they were making the plays that we needed to."

Ed McCants led the Panthers with 20 points, including 13 during the decisive second half. Adrian Tigert added a career-high 19 points on 6 of 6 shooting, including 4 of 4 from 3-point range.

"We got stepped up play from Adrian Tigert — he doesn't miss a shot," Pearl said. "That's what you have to do to win games on the road."

Hawai'i controlled the first 15 minutes of the game, and held a 25-20 lead with 4:47 remaining in the first half.

But the Panthers responded with a 9-0 run, which was sparked by a spectacular alley-oop dunk from Boo Davis.

UWM eventually took a 34-32 lead at halftime, and then opened the second half with a 16-5 run to increase the lead to 50-37. McCants drained three 3-pointers during the surge — including a pull-up 3-pointer on a fast break.

McCants, who entered the game ranked sixth in NCAA Division I with 81 3-pointers, shot 4 of 16 from 3-point range yesterday.

"It should have been pass the ball a little more," he said. "I was kind of off early on and shot kind of anxious and forced a couple things. But for the most part, keep shooting ... that's a shooter's mentality."

The Panthers increased their lead to as many as 14 midway through the second half, but an energetic, towel-waving "Green-Out" crowd helped revive the 'Bows.

Gibson scored 14 in the second half, and Vaidotas Peciukas added all nine of his points off the bench in the second half to spark a Hawai'i rally.

A 12-3 run by the 'Bows cut the UWM lead to 69-66 with 6:39 remaining. However, more turnovers down the stretch sealed Hawai'i's fate.

The 87 points was the most scored against Hawai'i this season.

"I think they got us playing more of their game than we did getting them to play our game," Wallace said.

Blackett added: "Pushing the ball, yeah, we can do it. But we might have got a little out of control at times when we should have been buckling down and trying to get set up a little more."

The Panthers secured the win by sinking 7 of 10 free throws in the final 1:27.

UWM, which did not start a player taller than 6 feet 7, out-rebounded Hawai'i 37-32.

"If you're quick and you can jump, that makes up for size," Wallace said of the Panthers. "I thought they showed that tonight by out-hustling us on the boards."

It didn't help that Hawai'i's top player — 6-9 forward Julian Sensley — played with a sprained right knee. He finished with eight points, five rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes.

"Julian didn't have a lot of energy," Wallace said. "But you have to give him credit. He played long minutes and he played hard, but he didn't play a Julian Sensley game."

Yesterday's game was televised nationally on ESPN2, and the Panthers hope their performance will help position themselves for the postseason.

"We were on the bubble," of the NCAA Tournament, Pearl said. "And we needed another big win to maybe push us into the tournament, and this one is certainly going to help."

For the 'Bows, the only bracket they can probably think about busting now is the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.

"This team could still win the (WAC) Tournament, but we have to get better," Wallace said.

Hawai'i will return to WAC action tomorrow when it hosts Texas-El Paso at 7:05 p.m.

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

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