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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, January 21, 2007

Rainbows as cold as weather in 73-62 loss

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i's Ahmet Gueye smothers a shot by Boise State's Coby Karl. Gueye scored 16 points, but missed a key stretch of the second half with an ankle injury.

MATT CILLEY | Associated Press

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Boise State's Anthony Thomas, who scored a career-high 21 points, shoots over Hawai'i's P.J. Owsley.

MATT CILLEY | Associated Press

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BOISE, Idaho — On its sixth consecutive day in cold temperatures in Idaho, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team still couldn't warm up.

As a result, the Rainbow Warriors once again came up short on the road, falling to Boise State, 73-62, yesterday.

Hawai'i dropped to 10-9 overall — including 0-6 on the road — and 1-5 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Broncos improved to 9-8 and 3-3.

Temperatures were in the low 30s yesterday in Boise, and the 'Bows matched it with their shooting percentage. Hawai'i's 33.8 field-goal percentage was its second-worst of the season, and its 14.3 percentage from 3-point range was its worst of the season.

"We worked hard; I was pleased with our effort," Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said. "But we had too many guys go 1 for 6 or 1 for 7. You can't shoot like that and expect to win on the road."

A sellout crowd of 10,190 — many of them football fans who came out to honor the Boise State football team — at the Taco Bell Arena helped energize the Broncos. Boise State took the lead midway through the first half, and kept it the rest of the way.

"It was getting frustrating because every time we'd get close, we'd miss a tough shot and they'd come down and make a tough shot," Hawai'i guard Matt Lojeski said. "There's going to be nights when we don't hit shots, but that's when we need to find other ways to win."

Ahmet Gueye led Hawai'i with 16 points and six rebounds, although he missed a key stretch in the second half with an ankle injury.

Bobby Nash added 16 points and four assists. Lojeski was held scoreless in the first half, but finished with 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting, five assists and five rebounds.

"The team is relying on me to score and to get zero points at halftime, I can't let that happen," said Lojeski, who entered the game averaging 17.6 points per game.

Boise State head coach Greg Graham said the Broncos' defense on Lojeski was one of the keys to the victory.

"I thought we did a good job of keeping the ball away from him, and not letting him get into a rhythm, especially in the first half," Graham said.

But Lojeski did his part on defense, helping limit Boise State's leading scorer, senior guard Coby Karl, to a season-low four points — 12 below his average. Karl and Lojeski defended each other for most of the game.

"I thought Coby did a good job defensively, and he really directed our team, even though he didn't get his points," Graham said.

As Wallace put it: "When you shut down a top scorer, somebody else has to step up. They did and we didn't."

In particular, the Broncos got career games from junior Matt Nelson and freshman Anthony Thomas.

Nelson, a 6-foot-9 center, scored a career-high 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and grabbed 10 rebounds.

"He's a very talented player," Hawai'i center Gueye said. "I was trying to push him out, but he kept going."

Thomas, a 6-foot reserve point guard, scored a career-high 21 points, including 11 of 11 free-throw shooting. Prior to yesterday, he was averaging 2.7 points per game.

"He's our point guard of the future," Graham said. "So we're trying to give him more minutes. Tonight, he got in there and got in a good rhythm, so we stayed with him."

The 'Bows took a 7-2 lead on a 3-pointer by Nash, and held a 14-10 lead with 10:25 remaining in the first half.

The Broncos responded with a 13-2 surge to take a 23-16 lead with 7:26 remaining in the half. They would not lose it the rest of the way.

Boise State increased the lead to as many as nine points in the first half, and eventually took a 33-27 lead at intermission.

"I thought our defense was OK in the first half, but we just couldn't get our offense going," Lojeski said. "I put some of that on myself. I didn't really get aggressive until the second half."

Gueye had to be helped off the court less than a minute into the second half after injuring his left ankle. With Gueye out, Boise State went on a 9-2 run to increase its lead to 43-33 with 16:06 left.

"When Ahmet got hurt, we thought we had a big advantage, so we tried to go inside," Graham said.

Hawai'i cut the deficit to 45-42 on a 3-pointer by Matt Gibson with 13:49 remaining, but that was as close as it got.

Gueye eventually returned to the court with 11:50 remaining, but was ineffective the rest of the way.

Boise State shot 52.3 percent from the field, and out-rebounded the 'Bows 36-32. It was only the third time this season that Hawai'i was out-rebounded.

"We gave it our all and just came up short," Nash said. "Of course it's frustrating, but we have to learn from this and get better."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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