Rice puts hurt on Hawai'i
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
HOUSTON — The good news for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team is it did not lose a close game yesterday.
The bad news is the Rainbow Warriors got blown out by Rice, 80-61, in a game that was close only in the opening minutes.
"A good old butt whipping for us, Texas-style," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said.
The 'Bows lost their fourth consecutive game — their longest losing streak since the 2000-01 season — and dropped to 14-11 overall and 6-10 in the Western Athletic Conference.
Until yesterday, Hawai'i had not lost a game by more than seven points this season.
"First time that we've just been whipped," Wallace said. "We've been down 20 before and come back and won games. But we just didn't have that energy to come back and they played too good to let us."
Rice improved to 16-10 overall and 10-6 in the WAC. The 19-point victory was the largest margin ever by a Rice team over Hawai'i.
"Little Matt" Gibson led the 'Bows with 22 points, and Jake Sottos added 13. However, the 'Bows never got closer than 16 in the second half, and they had no answer all game long for Rice's Michael Harris.
A crowd of around 2,000 at Autry Court watched Harris make history on "Senior Day." The 6-foot-6 senior forward scored 30 points and grabbed 24 rebounds, and became the school's all-time leader in both categories.
"Harris killed us," Sottos said. "He's a great player. Every time they needed something, he was there. We couldn't stop him."
The telling sign came early when Harris grabbed an offensive rebound and went up for a two-handed dunk for Rice's first basket of the game.
"Rebounding is just something that I love," said Harris, who is 6 feet 6 and 240 pounds. "That's maybe more of a passion than scoring."
Hawai'i tried to surprise the Owls by opening in a 1-2-2 zone defense.
"I'm not a zone guy, but I thought, hey, our legs are a little bit weary so if we get in that zone, maybe it'll affect them," Wallace said. "And it did. It bothered them the first few minutes of the game, but then we couldn't score."
The 'Bows stayed close early, but Harris scored six points during a 14-0 surge that gave the Owls a 32-15 lead with 3:20 remaining in the first half.
"We were putting too much pressure on a defense that we're not used to playing by not being able to score," Wallace said. "If we had gotten the lead, we could have stayed in it. And I let it go about five points too long before I went back to our (man-to-man)."
Rice built the lead to 38-20 at halftime, and Harris already had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Hawai'i shot just 29 percent from the field (9 of 31) in the first half, and the 20 points was its lowest output for a half this season.
"We took some quick shots, some quick 3s, and they got the rebounds and ran," Gibson said. "It's just not falling. You can say it's the trip, you can make excuses, but I don't really want to say that. It's just not a shooter's night, I guess."
By the second half, the Owls were having fun at Hawai'i's expense. Jason McKreith, another Rice senior, scored 13 of his 22 points in the second half, including two alley-oop dunks.
Led by Harris' 11-of-14 shooting, the Owls shot 57.4 percent from the field while holding the 'Bows to 37.5 percent.
"We had no heart, basically," Hawai'i center Chris Botez said. "They took everything from us inside and we gave it to them without a fight."
Hawai'i trailed by as many as 27 in the second half, and Gibson's 20 second-half points prevented the final score from looking worse.
"A loss is a loss, by three or by 20," Gibson said. "We just have to try to look past it and look forward to going back home."
A month ago in Honolulu, Hawai'i beat Rice on a four-point play in overtime by Bobby Nash. The Owls said that result had no bearing on yesterday's game.
"It was another conference game, and the last home game, so I think everybody was just ready to go," McKreith said.
Gibson and Sottos were the only Hawai'i players to score in double figures. Junior forward Julian Sensley did not start for the third consecutive game. He finished with a season-low four points, but grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
The 'Bows will close the regular season this week with home games against Nevada on Thursday and Fresno State on Saturday.
"I feel like some guys are ready to give up," Botez said. "We can't let that happen. We need to put it together for these next two games and then win some more in the (WAC) tournament."
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
