Late putback by LaTech stops UH, 61-59

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

The home-court winning streak for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team ended last night, but its losing streak to Louisiana Tech continued.

Louisiana Tech's Wayne Powell grabs an uncontested rebound of a missed Hawai'i shot as teammate Paul Millsap looks on. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Wayne Powell's putback of a missed layup by Corey Dean with 3.3 seconds left gave the Bulldogs a 61-59 win last night.

A crowd of 6,043 at the Sheriff Center went home in stunned silence as the 'Bows lost at home for the first time this season. It ended a 13-game home winning streak for Hawai'i. Its last two losses in the Sheriff Center are to LaTech.

Hawai'i dropped to 10-3 overall and 2-3 in the Western Athletic Conference. Its three losses are by a combined six points.

LaTech snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 7-8 overall and 2-4 in the WAC.

"You just saw the Rainbow Warriors get out-hustled, out-worked, and our defense wasn't near what it was," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "We got out-rebounded by a shorter team and we got out-worked by a quicker team."

Still, Hawai'i had more than its share of opportunities to win.

The 'Bows took a 59-57 lead with 3:52 remaining in the game, then went scoreless the rest of the way.

Hawai'i's Julian Sensley missed a desperation 3-point shot from 30 feet away as the final horn sounded.

"We're bummed about this one because we know we let it get away," Hawai'i senior guard Jake Sottos said.

Sottos was the only consistent offensive threat for the 'Bows last night, and he finished with a career-high 20 points, including six 3-pointers. "Little Matt" Gibson added 10 points and was the only other Hawai'i player in double-figures.

LaTech stymied the 'Bows by sticking with a zone defense for the entire 40 minutes.

LaTech normally likes to play a man-to-man defense, but head coach Keith Richard said "there were some bad match-ups" with Hawai'i's big men.

"They run their man offense very, very well," Richard said of Hawai'i. "I did not feel like we could guard them man to man."

Wallace said the 'Bows played into LaTech's plan by casting too many shots from long-range. Hawai'i shot 42.1 percent from the field overall, and 32 percent (8 of 25) from 3-point range.

Sottos was 6 of 12 on his 3-point shots, and the rest of the team went 2 for 13.

"We needed that kind of effort to be close and have a chance to win," Richard said. "Fortunately for us, it turned out well."

The Bulldogs used a similar slow-down strategy last season to pull out a 62-61 victory over the 'Bows.

Last night, LaTech used only six players in the game (two reserves were suspended for violating team rules).

Senior guard Donell Allick led LaTech with 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting, and six assists.

"Probably his best game as a Bulldog," Richard said. "He made some big shots when we needed some big shots."

Star forward Paul Millsap tied his season-low with 10 points, but he grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to help lead the Bulldogs to a 36-29 advantage on the boards.

Hawai'i forward "Big Matt" Gipson helped cause Millsap to shoot 5 of 12 from the field, but Gipson did not score himself and grabbed four rebounds.

"(Millsap) gets a double-double and Big Matt doesn't score," Wallace said. "So if you look at the battle there, Millsap killed."

The Bulldogs shot 48.3 percent from the field, and had 20 assists to Hawai'i's 15.

"Very few people do that to us," Wallace noted. "That was the Louisiana Tech team I feared."

The Bulldogs raced to a 9-2 lead to open the game, with Allick scoring seven of those first nine points.

The 'Bows rallied behind the shooting of Sottos. He scored 14 in the first half, including four 3-pointers, to help keep the 'Bows close.

The Bulldogs managed to take a 34-32 advantage at intermission by shooting 55.6 percent from the field (to Hawai'i's 43.3), and out-rebounding Hawai'i, 18-11.

The 'Bows took their first lead of the game at 42-40 on a putback by Chris Botez with 14:32 remaining. The game went back and forth after that, with neither team going ahead by more than three.

Hawai'i appeared to seize the momentum on a 3-pointer by Sottos that gave the 'Bows a 59-57 lead with 3:52 remaining. But LaTech responded by going to Millsap, who scored on a driving layup to tie it at 59 with 1:57 remaining. Millsap played the final 7:35 with four fouls.

"We wanted to go inside and attack; get a foul or score," Wallace said. "But we never got the ball inside."

With the score tied at 59, Hawai'i had two possessions to tie or go ahead. They missed on the first possession, then turned the ball over on the next.

On LaTech's final possession, Dean drove the baseline and lofted a high shot that bounced off the top of the backboard and then into Powell's hands for an uncontested putback.

"Somebody had to get to the rim and Corey did," Powell said. "That opened it up and I just went and got the ball."

Several Hawai'i players said they thought the ball would be ruled out of bounds after it hit the top of the backboard, but the officials said the ball never went over the backboard.

"Everyone kind of paused for a second and that (Powell) kept boarding and put it right back," Sottos said.

The 'Bows are scheduled to depart Honolulu tonight for a two-game road trip at Texas-El Paso on Thursday and then at Boise State on Saturday.

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