San Jose State beats Hawaii 75-74

Everybody likes something free. Can we all agree on that? Well, all those connected with Hawaii basketball would beg to differ. The Rainbow Warriors put on a pitiful display with its free throw attempts -- 18 for 30 for the game -- and it resulted in paying the price of losing a tourney game.

Hawaii led 59-54 with 9:40 remaining. But at 7:57, it was just 61-60. UH was maintaining a small lead but unable to pull away while the Spartans came close but couldn't tie.

Then SJSU did, followed by a pair of Keith Shamburger free throws putting SJSU up by two. Adrian Oliver followed with his own duet of foul shots.

Bill Amis countered with a solo free throw, making it 69-66, followed by a Vander Joaquim jump hook.

On a pass from Adrian Oliver, Wil Carter banked in a reverse layup to boost the point differential back to three.

Justin Graham then nailed a jumper but subsequently committed his fifth foul. Amis put down a free throw and another, making it 73-70.

An Ostroswki steal resulted in Zane Johnson scoring on a layup, cutting the Spartan lead to one with 1:04 showing.

Keith Shamburger missed on a jumper and a long rebound had Johnson fouling Calvin Douglas. CD missed and Hawaii came down with Bill Amis being fouled and 21 second remaining.

He made the first, followed by the second and Hawaii led by one 74-73.

Oliver scored on a jumper with seven seconds left. SJSU led 75-74.

Ostroowski missed on a jumper and Amis tipped it back in but an the eventual ruling by the referees waved it off, resulting in the San Jose State victory.

Oliver totaled 29 points (plus seven boards), Carter 15 and Shamburger 12. Amis concluded with 23 points plus six boards. Joston Thomas had 16 and Zane Johnson 14. The 5-foot-9 Ostrowski paced the Rainbow Warriors with eight assists and eight rebounds.

Throughout all this, Matt Ballard picked up his fourth with 16:58 showing. Joe Henson got his fourth at 14:09 and then fouled out at the 11:52 mark. UH had an enormous advantage in the paint but simply couldn't succeed enough at the foul line.

At the half, it was 42-37 in favor of Hawaii. The Spartans started out en fuego and enjoyed a 6-0 lead, holding the advantage until the Rainbow Warriors tied it at 20. UH took its first lead 23-22 with 7:05 remaining.

The numbers after the initial 20 minutes:

* Amis 14 points, Thomas 11 points and five boards, Ostrowski five assists, 61% from the floor, 6-14 at the foul line, 13 assists. three fouls for both Johnson and Trevor Wiseman

* Oliver 16 points, Graham seven points, four rebounds, three assists, 37% shooting, 11 second chance points off five offensive rebounds, three fouls for both Ballard and Henson.

*** A note to Commissioner Benson: please reverse the setup and have the men play the night games and the women the day games. The background noise was akin to a pickup game in our backyard.

It's SJSU Wednesday at noon versus Hawaii

So did anyone expect host Fresno State to bop Hawaii 85-70 since UH was riding a five game winning streak and the Bulldogs had lost four consecutive conference contests? Can we get a show of hands? Yes, it's been that kind of season. We loved the opening line from Daniel Lyght's game report that night: "Fresno State's men's basketball players took the floor with a blaze under their butts Saturday night."

It was the second game for Hawaii since leaving the islands and they will not return home until their involvement in the WAC tourney concludes. Maybe some fatigue plus continual unfamiliar surroundings evolving into distraction will set in.

Now it's San Jose State matching (Wednesday, noon, Las Vegas) up with Hawaii for the third time this season opening up the WAC post-season action. Here are our game reports from the earlier contests between these two teams:

March 3, 2011

Spartans fall 77-71

Back and forth. Forth and back. The SJSU - Hawaii matchup was a veritable teeter-totter as neither team could sink the dagger and pull away from the other. One would go up followed by the other regaining ground and taking the lead. Eventually, a critical call took place, changing ball possession and offering UH a pair of free throws and that ultimately determined the outcome.

The final 77-71. Adrian Oliver led the way for San Jose State with 18 points. Justin Graham scored 15 and Keith Shamburger 14. At the forefront of the Hawaii offensive attack was Zane Johnson with 26 points and Bill Amis contributed 18.

Here's how it played out:

A Johnson trey cut the San Jose State lead to one.

Following that, Shamburger missed on a pair of free throws with 2:37 remaining.

Then at the shot clock buzzer, Amis caught net with a 17-foot fadeaway.

At the 1:46 mark and Hawaii ahead by one, UH freshman backcourter Bobby Miles was struck by an elbow went down. The referees checked the video to determine the consequences, if any. It was judged an intentional foul based on the rules established prior to this season.

In a no-brainer, Coach Gib Arnold inserted Bo Barnes for Miles. The sharpshooting frosh sank both free throws, putting the Rainbow Warriors up by three. UH also retained possession. The scoreboard: 71-68

Amis then fouled Wil Carter who sank the first but missed the second, with just over a minute left.

Johnson subsequently buried a long trey to make it 74-69 with 35 ticks showing on the clock.

Oliver was fouled and was good on both his attempts at the line. The scoreboard: 74-71

Amis proved to be a thorn again with a layup that put the Rainbow Warriors up by five.

Subsequently, Shamburger missed a trey attempt which Oliver rebounded but he missed the followup. Barnes rebounded and was fouled.

He was good on the first but erred on the second. Hawaii led by six and the remaining seconds didn't matter.

At the half, it was San Jose State with a one point lead at 37-36. Graham had 12 points and Amis 11 at that point.

and

January 22, 2011

Spartans fall to Hawaii 67-61

The Spartans wore blue and felt that way after giving Hawaii a run on the road before falling 67-61. Elvis was obviously not in the building. Otherwise, it would have been blue Hawaii.

With 11:25 remaining, the score was 47-42, with SJSU down by five.

Later, Justin Graham's jumper at the 6:33 mark cut the deficit to 53-52.

But UH then went on a mini-run, boosting the margin to 61-54 with 4:50 showing.

At that point, Adrian Oliver made one of two free throws but UH's Joston Thomas countered with a pair at the foul line. Hiram Thompson connected on 1 of 2 at the charity line to make it 64-55. An Oliver runner cut the lead to seven.

Bill "Famous" Amis then got free for a dunk and the contest was over minus additional trips to the foul line.

It was inconsistent free-throw shooting hindered SJSU.

Amis totaled 20 points and nine boards. Fellow frontcourter Joston Thomas put up a 14/14 double-double.

Justin Graham led the Spartans with 20 points. He also notched six rebounds and four assists with nary a turnover. Keith Shamburger totaled 12 points with Oliver and Wil Carter contributing 10 apiece. Matt Ballard led in rebounding, corralling 10 boards. SJSU shot 31% overall.

At the half, it was 31-24.

Adrian Oliver returned to the starting lineup tonight. He picked up a pair of somewhat early fouls, thereby missing some of his usual playing time early on. Rebounding totals were fairly even, it seemed like UH big Vander Joaquim was having a block-athon.and the teams went back and forth. Late in the initial 20 minutes, a 9-0 run pushed Hawaii to a 10-point lead until Graham's trey cut it to seven.

The Rainbow Warrior Starting Five (numbers are for WAC games)

* 6-foot-10 sophomore Vander Joaquim -- 11.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest, 28 blocked shots, his numbers are improving as the season progresses

* 6-foot-9 senior Bill Amis -- averaging 14.5 points and 7.9 rebounds a game with 31 shotblocks in 14 games

* 6-foot-7 freshman Trevor Wiseman -- label him the Energizer Bunny as he averages just 3.3 points and 3.5 rebounds a game but brings a franticness to the court

* 6-foot-6 junior Zane Johnson -- 15.9 ppg., THE long distance marksman on the team, shooting 41% on trey attempts, 120 of his 182 shots have been three-pointers

* 5-foot-9 junior Jeremiah Ostrowski -- 51/27 assist-to-turnover ratio, can pop from three but is more of a dribble-driver penetrator, had 10 assists with zero turnovers the last time these two teams met

*** Again, 6-foot-3 senior Hiram Thompson, the normal starter at the point, is sidelined with an arm injury

Off The Bench

* 6-foot-7 sophomore Joston Thomas -- 7.7 ppg and 5.3 rpg., is very athletic and best inside but sometimes tries to do too much and goes outside his skills zone

6-foot-1 freshman Bobby Miles -- he's now the backup at the point despite his freshman status

* 7-foot-0 senior Doug Kurtz -- the back-up in the middle, he can score inside

* 6-foot-4 freshman Bo Barnes -- 5.6 ppg., 66 of his 77 shots have been from long distance

Forward Bill Amis was named a member of the All-WAC second team with wing/guard Zane Johnson landing on the Honorable Mention list.

In the most recent game (and loss) to Fresno State, the Bulldogs out-boarded UH 43-30. Will that play out again? SJSU out-rebou7nded UH 38-33 on March 3 but it was 38 apiece on January 22.

As a team, the Rainbow Warriors are shooting 44% in WAC play to 41% for opposing teams.

If Zane Johnson doesn't shoot well from outside, then UH suffers because his teammates, Bo Barnes excepted, don't possess that kind of range.

The UH Roster

Bo Barnes G 6-4 190 Fr.
Bobby Miles G 6-1 190 Fr.
Zane Johnson G 6-6 210 Jr.
Bobby MIles, G, 6-1 190 Fr.
Pi`i Minns G 6-4 180 So. (walk-on)
Jeremiah Ostrowski G 5-9 175 Jr. (walk-on)
Hiram Thompson G 6-3 175 Sr.

Bill Amis F 6-9 235 Sr.
Dominick Brumfield F 6-8 215 So.
Joston Thomas F 6-7 235 So.
Trevor Wiseman F 6-7 210 Fr.

Vander Joaquim C 6-10 245 So. (Angola)
Douglas Kurtz C 7-0 265 Sr. (Brazil)
Davis Rozitis C 7-0 230 So. (Latvia) (redshirting)

Spartans fall 77-71

Back and forth. Forth and back. The SJSU - Hawaii matchup was a veritable teeter-totter as neither team could sink the dagger and pull away from the other. One would go up followed by the other regaining ground and taking the lead. Eventually, a critical call took place, changing ball possession and offering UH a pair of free throws and that ultimately determined the outcome.

The final 77-71. Adrian Oliver led the way for San Jose State with 18 points. Justin Graham scored15 and Kieth Shamburger 14. At the forefront of the Hawaii offensive attack was Zane Johnson with 26 points and Bill Amis contributed 18.

Here's how it played out:

A Johnson trey cut the San Jose State lead to one.

Following that, Shamburger missed on a pair of free throws with 2:37 remaining.

Then at the shot clock buzzer, Amis caught net with a 17-foot fadeaway.

At the 1:46 mark and Hawaii ahead by one, UH freshman backcourter Bobby Miles was struck by an elbow went down. The referees checked the video to determine the consequences, if any. It was judged an intentional foul based on the rules established prior to this season.

In a no-brainer, Coach Gib Arnold inserted Bo Barnes for Miles. The sharpshooting frosh sank both free throws, putting the Rainbow Warriors up by three. UH also retained possession. The scoreboard: 71-68

Amis then fouled Wil Carter who sank the first but missed the second, with just over a minute left.

Johnson subsequently buried a long trey to make it 74-69 with 35 ticks showing on the clock.

Oliver was fouled and was good on both his attempts at the line. The scoreboard: 74-71

Amis proved to be a thorn again with a layup that put the Rainbow Warriors up by five.

Subsequently, Shamburger missed a trey attempt which Oliver rebounded but he missed the followup. Barnes rebounded and was fouled.

He was good on the first but erred on the second. Hawaii led by six and the remaining seconds didn't matter.

At the half, it was San Jose State with a one point lead at 37-36. Graham had 12 points and Amis 11 at that point.

Let's hula Hawaii

Hawaii is here Thursday night for a 7:30 p.m. game with San Jose State. It's a UH victorious in eight of its last 10 games as Coach Gib Arnold's group of newcomers has melded together well. Arnold has praised the defensive effort of his players and deservedly so as the Rainbow Warriors have held three straight WAC opponents to less than 40% overall shooting (Nevada and Louisiana Tech both to 37% and, most recently, New Mexico State to 36%.

Another factor figuring prominently in Hawaii's success is the emergence of football player Jeremiah Ostowski as the starting point. Former starter Hiram Thompson went out with an arm injury a few games back and this provided the opening for the 5-foot-9 Ostrowski, who is a defensive back on the gridiron and came over in December. His play has certainly aided the UH hoops fortunes but improvement from others on the team is just as significant.

Junior college transfer and sophomore Vander Joaquim is rebounding, defending and now even scoring well. Senior Bill Amis has been a steady contributor of double-doubles, along with some shotblocking.

Something to watch for is that it should be the Warrior starters doing the damage as the Hawaii bench is lean and not contributing all that much. Two guards departed from the squad at the break in December and that has lessened the available depth in the backcourt.

Here is our game report from the earlier matchup of these two teams:

Spartans fall to Hawaii 67-61

The Spartans wore blue and felt that way after giving Hawaii a run on the road before falling 67-61. Elvis was obviously not in the building. Otherwise, it would have been blue Hawaii.

With 11:25 remaining, the score was 47-42, with SJSU down by five.

Later, Justin Graham's jumper at the 6:33 mark cut the deficit to 53-52.

But UH then went on a mini-run, boosting the margin to 61-54 with 4:50 showing.

At that point, Adrian Oliver made one of two free throws but UH's Joston Thomas countered with a pair at the foul line. Hiram Thompson connected on 1 of 2 at the charity line to make it 64-55. An Oliver runner cut the lead to seven.

Bill "Famous" Amis then got free for a dunk and the contest was over minus additional trips to the foul line.

It was inconsistent free-throw shooting hindered SJSU.

Amis totaled 20 points and nine boards. Fellow frontcourter Joston Thomas put up a 14/14 double-double.

Justin Graham led the Spartans with 20 points. He also notched six rebounds and four assists with nary a turnover. Keith Shamburger totaled 12 points with Oliver and Wil Carter contributing 10 apiece. Matt Ballard led in rebounding, corralling 10 boards. SJSU shot 31% overall.

At the half, it was 31-24.

Adrian Oliver returned to the starting lineup tonight. He picked up a pair of somewhat early fouls, thereby missing some of his usual playing time early on. Rebounding totals were fairly even, it seemed like UH big Vander Joaquim was having a block-athon.and the teams went back and forth. Late in the initial 20 minutes, a 9-0 run pushed Hawaii to a 10-point lead until Graham's trey cut it to seven.

The Rainbow Warrior Starting Five (numbers are for WAC games)

* 6-foot-10 sophomore Vander Joaquim -- 12.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest, 23 blocked shots, his numbers are improving as the season progresses

* 6-foot-9 senior Bill Amis -- averaging 14.2 points and 7.8 rebounds a game with 26 shotblocks in 12 games

* 6-foot-7 freshman Trevor Wiseman -- label him the Energizer Bunny as he averages but 3 points and 3.5 rebounds a game but brings a franticness to the court

* 6-foot-6 junior Zane Johnson -- 14.7 ppg., the long distance marksman on the team, shooting 39% on trey attempts, 101 of his 154 shots have been three-pointers

* 5-foot-9 junior Jeremiah Ostrowski -- 38/23 assist-to-turnover ratio, can pop from three but is more of a dribble-driver penetrator

Again, 6-foot-3 senior Hiram Thompson, the normal starter at the point, is sidelined with an arm injury

Off The Bench

* 6-foot-7 sophomore Joston Thomas -- he enjoyed a brief 'vacation' recently when concerns erupted about his dwindling PT, is best inside the paint, very athletic, tries to do too much and goes outside his skills zone which led to his benching which then prompted his hiatus

6-foot-1 freshman Bobby Miles -- he's now the backup at the point despite his freshman status

* 7-foot-0 senior Doug Kurtz -- the back-up in the middle, he can score inside

* 6-foot-4 freshman Bo Barnes -- he started out on fire from long distance this season but has since enjoyed less and less PT, 54 of his 64 shots have been three-pointers


As a team, the Rainbow Warriors are shooting 44% in WAC play to 41% for opposing teams. UH is underwater in assist-to-turnover ratio as a team at 147/213.

If Zane Johnson doesn't shoot well from outside, then UH suffers because his teammates, Bo Barnes excepted, don't possess that kind of range.

Hawaii's WAC schedule to date

12/29/2010 @ Utah State L 66-74
12/31/2010 @ Nevada L 69-86
1/6/2011 Idaho L 44-59
1/8/2011 Boise State L 55-79
1/13/2011 @ New Mexico State L 64-82
1/15/2011 @ Louisiana Tech W 56-48
1/20/2011 Fresno State W 62-52
1/22/2011 San Jose State W 67-61
1/29/2011 Utah State L 84-89 (2OT)
2/03/2011 @ Boise State W 73-66
2/05/2011 @ Idaho L 61-75
2/14/2011 Nevada W 69-67 (OT)
Wolf Pack big Dario Hunt totaled just seven points and six rebounds.

2/24/2011 Louisiana Tech W 71-58
Tech's big man Olu Ashaolu was held to just nine points and four boards.

2/26/2011 New Mexico State W 76-70
In the above game against the Aggies, Zane Johnson led the way, scoring 22 points, including 6-of-12 shooting from 3-point range. Center Vander Joaquim also came up big, finishing with 18 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots. He shot 7 for 10 from the field, and 4 of 4 on free throws. Bill Amis contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds. He also played a key defensive role, helping limit New Mexico State forward Troy Gillenwater to six points on 2-of-10 shooting.

The UH Roster

Bo Barnes G 6-4 190 Fr.Bobby Miles G 6-1 190 Fr.
Zane Johnson G 6-6 210 Jr.
Bobby MIles, G, 6-1 190 Fr.
Pi`i Minns G 6-4 180 So. (walk-on)
Jeremiah Ostrowski G 5-9 175 Jr. (walk-on)
Hiram Thompson G 6-3 175 Sr.

Bill Amis F 6-9 235 Sr.
Dominick Brumfield F 6-8 215 So.
Joston Thomas F 6-7 235 So.
Trevor Wiseman F 6-7 210 Fr.

Vander Joaquim C 6-10 245 So. (Angola)
Douglas Kurtz C 7-0 265 Sr. (Brazil)
Davis Rozitis C 7-0 230 So. (Latvia) (redshirting)

Spartans fall to Hawaii 67-61

The Spartans wore blue and felt that way after giving Hawaii a run on the road before falling 67-61. Elvis was obviously not in the building. Otherwise, it would have been blue Hawaii.

With 11:25 remaining, the score was 47-42, with SJSU down by five.

Later, Justin Graham's jumper at the 6:33 mark cut the deficit to 53-52.

But UH then went on a mini-run, boosting the margin to 61-54 with 4:50 showing.

At that point, Adrian Oliver made one of two free throws but UH's Joston Thomas countered with a pair at the foul line. Hiram Thompson connected on 1 of 2 at the charity line to make it 64-55. An Oliver runner cut the lead to seven.

Bill "Famous" Amis then got free for a dunk and the contest was over minus additional trips to the foul line.

It was inconsistent free-throw shooting hindered SJSU.

Amis totaled 20 points and nine boards. Fellow frontcourter Joston Thomas put up a 14/14 double-double.

Justin Graham led the Spartans with 20 points. He also notched six rebounds and four assists with nary a turnover. Keith Shamburger totaled 12 points with Oliver and Wil Carter contributing 10 apiece. Matt Ballard led in rebounding, corralling 10 boards. SJSU shot 31% overall.

At the half, it was 31-24.

Adrian Oliver returned to the starting lineup tonight. He picked up a pair of somewhat early fouls, thereby missing some of his usual playing time early on. Rebounding totals were fairly even, it seemed like UH big Vander Joaquim was having a block-athon.and the teams went back and forth. Late in the initial 20 minutes, a 9-0 run pushed Hawaii to a 10-point lead until Graham's trey cut it to seven.

It's Hawaii in Honolulu on Saturday

So who or what is Hawaii basketball this season?

Is it the squad 9-3 in non-conference contests (albeit with but two road games) or the team currently 1-5 in the WAC? (albeit with but two home games).

The answer depends on your perspective, your bias, whatever you wish to label it.

Coming over from an assistant coach spot at USC, Gib Arnold has taken over the reigns and quickly undertook a dramatic roster makeover -- by necessity. Greater talent was needed and there were quite the number of openings to fill. But two newcomers, freshman guard Jordan Coleman and junior college transfer backcourter Anthony Salters, have since departed, leaving the Rainbow Warrior guard depth quite lean. This is also a young and relatively inexperienced Hawaii squad.

Arnold hired one assistant with strong ties to Brazilian basketball so it will be interesting to watch if that connection pays off. He also hired a former D-1 head coach from the Chicago area to beef up the UH recruiting reach in the Midwest.

+++++

A key stat

Do keep in mind that in the last four WAC games, UH is shooting very poorly from three-point range:

* 29% against Nevada
* 17% in the Boise State matchup
* 20% versus New Mexico State
*21% in the Louisiana Tech contest

Will the trend continue, or not?

Plus, in conference play, the Rainbow Warriors are shooting 41% while allowing 43% overall to opponents, 25% to 36% from long range.

Another key numbers ratio in WAC action to date: Arnold's team is scoring 59 points a game but giving up 71.


The Rainbow Warrior Starting Five (numbers are for WAC games)

* 6-foot-10 Vander Joaquim -- progressing as the season goes on, he is scoring and rebounding more at 7.6 points and 7.8 rebounds a game, he is shooting 50% and has six blocked shots in the same number of games

* 6-foot-9 Bill Amis -- he missed a long stretch of games with a broken foot, came back rusty but put up a 22/12 double-double last game versus Louisiana Tech, averaging 11.8 points and 6.0 rebounds a game, can face the hoop and play with his back to it

* 6-foot-6 Zane Johnson -- primarily a long-distance shooter, his 15.2 ppg. is tops on the team, shooting 44% and 35% respectively, 40 of his 65 shooting attempts have been three-pointers

* 6-foot-3 Hiram Thompson -- he began the season performing spectacularly but a back injury and major minutes on the court have lessened his numbers, scoring 8.3 ppg., shooting 39% and 29% respectively, he scored10.9 ppg., shooting 45% and 33% respectively in non-conference play, has 16 assists and 16 turnovers in WAC action

* 6-foot-1 Bobby Miles -- The freshman Miles wasn't expected to be playing all that much, let alone be in a starting role, scoring 2.3 ppg., on 43% shooting, with 6 assists to 11 turnovers, posted a 45 assists to 41 turnovers ration in non-conference action

Off The Bench

* 6-foot-7 Joston Thomas -- he has been a starter most of the season and may start on Saturday depending on how Arnold wants to play it, he's strong, physical and athletic plus he loves to attempt dunks, averaging 7.5 ppg. versus 10.7 ppg. in non-league games, shooting 38%, grabbing 5.2 rebounds a WAC contest

* 6-foot-7 Trevor Wiseman -- the freshman very athletic, an energy-type guy whose numbers have reduced of late

* 7-foot-0 Doug Kurtz -- the back-up in the middle, he can score inside, shooting 42% in WAC play versus 55% in non-league action

* 6-foot-4 Bo Barnes -- Another freshman who was banging in treys in the early going but his proficiency has really slowed, shooting 4-21 overall in WAC minutes with 19 of those attempts coming from long distance

Hawaii's bench has not been all that helpful since WAC games began -- is this a trend or an anomaly?


Hawaii's WAC schedule to date

12/29/2010 @ Utah State L 66-74

12/31/2010 @ Nevada L 69-86

1/6/2011 Idaho L 44-59

1/8/2011 Boise State L 55-79

1/13/2011 @ New Mexico State L 64-82

1/15/2011 @ Louisiana Tech W 56-48

1/20/2011 Fresno State


The UH Roster

Bo Barnes G 6-4 190 Fr.Bobby Miles G 6-1 190 Fr.
Zane Johnson G 6-6 210 Jr.
Bobby MIles, G, 6-1 190 Fr.
Pi`i Minns G 6-4 180 So. (walk-on)
Jeremiah Ostrowski G 5-9 175 Jr. (walk-on)
Hiram Thompson G 6-3 175 Sr.

Bill Amis F 6-9 235 Sr.
Dominick Brumfield F 6-8 215 So.
Joston Thomas F 6-7 235 So.
Trevor Wiseman F 6-7 210 Fr.

Vander Joaquim C 6-10 245 So. (Angola)
Douglas Kurtz C 7-0 265 Sr. (Brazil)
Davis Rozitis C 7-0 230 So. (Latvia) (redshirting)

Spartans win 83-60

We understand why nobody has ever written a song titled "What a Difference 11 Days Make" -- Dinah Washington notwithstanding -- but all Spartans were singing that tune tonight as San Jose State won what turned into a second half yawner over Hawaii 83-60. The Rainbow Warriors had earlier nabbed a 68-67 victory in the islands.

The biggest lead for the Spartans was 27 points. This victory moved the SJSU season record to 12-8 and was the fifth conference win to date.

Adrian Oliver totaled 33 points (12-18 shooting), plus added four rebounds and and an equal number of assists. Chris Oakes just missed a double-double with 18 points and nine boards and Robert Owens totaled 12. Justin Graham passed for eight assists.

San Jose State shot 51% on the night and went 7-16 from three-point range.

Roderick Flemings led Hawaii with 19 points, Jeremy Lay contributed 12 and Brandon Adams nine. Lay and Adams both had 19 in the earlier Rainbow Warrior victory.

UH was miserable at the foul line, going 9-21 while shooting 42% from the floor for the game.

SJSU won the battle of the boards 37-30.

At the half, it was 41-32 in favor of SJSU and that nine point differential was made closer by a late UH scoring rush. 14 was the largest Spartan lead in the initial 20 minutes. Oliver scored 17 at that point, on 6-10 shooting from the floor. Roderick Fleming totaled nine points. The statistic of the most importance was San Jose State's 52% overall shooting to Hawaii's 42%.

Post Game Quotes

San Jose State coach George Nessman

“I think our guys responded well to this entire homestand. It was a real important homestand for us if we’re going to project ourselves into the conference race. Winning these three games at home has done that. We’re a 1 ½ games out of first (place). Now the challenge is to stay in the race and staying focused through the balance of the season. “We didn’t play great, but we played with a lot of intensity. We were able to hold them off. They made some nice runs at us. We got one last run and put it away with 5-6 minutes to go.

“Adrian (Oliver) draws so much attention. He makes it easier on everyone else. He’s a very focused person and works extremely hard. Those two characteristics will always lead him to be consistent. What I’m really proud is seeing consistency in the other guys. Chris Oakes’ level of consistency is very high. Mac Peterson, Robert (Owens), Justin (Graham). The core group is playing most of our minutes right now is really playing consistently. That’s what you want.

“It’s very good to have C.J. (Webster) back. He’s not in game condition. He sat out, couldn’t practice for, like, 14 days. You could see the difference he can make for us in terms of his power around the goal. We’ll definitely need him going down the stretch. “Right now, what we can do is put three guys who are shooting well over 40 percent from the 3-point line at once. That has a tendency to spread defenses away from the rim. Justin can really drive and Adrian can really drive. The only guy left is the other team’s ‘big’ who has to rotate off of Chris Oakes. If he is late getting down in front of Chris, he’s pretty hard to stop once he gets his hands on the ball. He’s a good finisher in there. “We haven’t had our full team since early December. We have to work to get all our skills back in the same place. We’ve been using the four guards for many weeks now. We won’t abandon that. At the same time, we want to have another set of weapons we can apply when we have both Chris and C.J. on the floor. That’s a whole new set of problems for opponents to think about, too.

Hawaii Coach Bob Nash

“We didn’t have any energy and didn’t have any pop. We didn’t do it on the defensive end whatsoever.

“Oliver came out on fire. He was dialed in. When they smelled the kill, they went for it. He’s hard to stop. He’s one of the better guards in the league.”

San Jose State guard Adrian Oliver

“We always have two to three guys who can score during the course of the game. If we don’t, that’s unusual. Even when I have a great game, other guys step up. Chris (Oakes) has been playing like that the whole year. It’s nothing unusual.

“I told him, when I drive, he’s going to be open. He’ll get about five dunks a game. The strides he’s made this summer are amazing. He’s the reason we are at this point. He’s the difference.

“I have a lot more sense of trust with these guys. When you’ve been with guys for a year like I have, you gain this trust. Last year, some trust wasn’t there at times. Now, it’s total team ball. It’s fun to play that way.

“I don’t want to be seen as a scorer. All the great scorers I’ve known have said the same thing. I highly dislike when people label me as a scorer. It’s one of the things I good at. I want to be a complete player.

“We have a lot of chemistry right now. With this four-guard lineup, it’s been hot. We’ve been hard to guard. Now with C.J. back, it’s going to be hard to guard, because we have another big guy down low.”

Thursday night - Walt McPherson Court - Hawaii

Screamin' headline, breakin' news: HAWAII HAS LEFT THE ISLANDS!!!

The background: believe it or not, for just the third time this season, the UH basketball team has taken a road trip.

On December 2, the Rainbow Warriors tripped to Orange County to face UC Irvine and headed right back at game's conclusion. It was February 13 when Coach Bob Nash's team played Louisiana Tech in Ruston and two days later faced Utah State in Logan.

That's been it.

Every other Hawaii game has been in the familiar confines of the Stan Sheriff Center.

So will that play any sort of factor Thursday night at Walt McPherson Court?


Let's check in on what took place during the matchup of these two teams back on January 17:

A last-second shot attempt determined the final outcome as UH backcourter Hiram Thompson was fouled on his dribble-drive to the basket with but 2.1 seconds remaining. He went to the line with his team down by one, 67-66. Thompson buried the first to tie the game. His second attempt was also accurate and proved to be the gamewinner as Hawaii came out on top 68-67.

Here's what led up to Thompson heroics:

A Brandon Adams basket at the 4:05 mark put UH up 63-58.

Adrian Oliver countered with a basket to cut the deficit to three.

After a Rainbow Warrior miss, Chris Oakes rebounded the ball and tossed a long outlet pass to Justin Graham. San Jose State's junior guard was intentionally fouled by Jeremy Lay. Graham nailed both his free throws to reduce the point differential to 63-62 and the Spartans also retained possession of the ball.

Robert Owens then nailed a trey to put SJSU ahead at 65-63.

Lay came down and put down his own three-pointer to boost Hawaii ahead by one, 66-65.

At the 1:14 mark, Chris Oakes traveled making a move to the basket.

With regaining possession, Lay came down and went long range again, missing his trey attempt, but Roderick Flemings rebounded with 45 seconds left.

But Graham nabbed a steal and fed the ball to Oakes who dunked to make it 67-66 San Jose State with 19 seconds on the clock.

Graham again stole the ball when Hawaii came down the court and he passed to Adrian Oliver, who was fouled.

With a one-and-one at the line, Oliver missed and UH rebounded.

That's when Thompson's heroics came into play and proved to be the difference.

Oliver earned a double-double of 20/10 as did Oakes with 14/11. Graham was particularly effective going to the hoop and led the Spartans with 21 points.

UH shot just 41% for the game after a quick start but did succeed on nine of 24 three-point attempts. SJSU was 4-20 from long distance. Both teams made 11 free throws -- in 13 attempts for Hawaii and 19 for San Jose State.

At the half, it was 42-39 in Hawaii's favor in a back and forth contest. Graham scored 13 points and Oliver contributed 11 in the initial 20 minutes. UH was an unconscious 55% on field goal attempts including 6-13 on three-pointers at that point. SJSU wasn't far behind at 52%.


The UH WAC Schedule To Date

1/2/2010 Idaho L 52-59
1/4/2010 Boise State W 76-68
1/9/2010 @ Fresno State L 64-78
1/11/2010 @ Utah State L 54-98
1/17/2010 San Jose State W 68-67
1/21/2010 New Mexico State L 69-71
1/23/2010 Louisiana Tech L 60-65


The UH Starting Five

Who knows which quintet Nash will send out as he has been switching around? Our best guess is:

6-foot-10 Paul Campbell - scoring is not his forte as he is much more competent at shotblocking and rebounding, is shooting 19-38 from the foul line so it may be better to foul than let him score a chippie

6-foot-6 Brandon Adams - the best athlete on the team, his offensive skills are limited but he has made the most of them lately, including 19 points on 7-11 shooting against SJSU earlier this month and just notched 22 versus Louisiana Tech plus 14 against New Mexico State -- he is also grabbing close to 10 boards a game since being inserted in the starting lineup

6-foot-7 Roderick Flemings - he's the top talent on the team but has been hit by a number of nagging injuries this season -- Nash has brought him off the bench of late so who knows -- he put up 23 points and 10 rebounds versus New Mexico State plus 17 points and six boards against LA TECH

6-foot-1 Jeremy Lay - a junior college transfer with a rep as a shooter/ballhandler, he has shot 27% overall and from three-point range so far this season, along with a 46/37 assist-to-turnover ratio but made 6-13 shots (5-11 from three-point range) for 19 points in the earlier matchup against the Spartans

6-foot-2 Hiram Thompson - He's finally healthy after last year's multitude of injuries and now scoring 9.2 ppg. while having 80 assists to 44 turnovers -- Thompson is shooting 42% overall and 42% from long distance

The Cavalry

6-foot-7 Adhar Mayen - he does have 13 starts this season but wasn't a factor in the earlier game in Honolulu

6-foot-8 Petras Balocka - the top rebounder at 8.4 a contest, he is primarily an in-the-paint shooter

6-foot-0 Dwain Williams - isn't on the road trip and, actually, the team has actually performed better and been more cohesive in his absence (he has missed the last four games due to a death in his family)

7-foot-0 Douglas Kurtz - playing just less than six minutes a game, his contributions have been negligible to date


The Hawaii Roster, by position

Petras Balocka C 6-8 250 Sr.
Paul Campbell C 6-10 215 Sr.
Douglas Kurtz C 7-0 265 Jr.

Note the home countries respectively of these three: Lithuania, Canada and Brazil respectively.

Adhar Mayen F 6-8 195 Sr.
Ji Xiang F 6-10 240 So.(China)
Brandon Adams F 6-7 220 Sr.

(redshirting) Aleksandar Milovic F 6-7 220 So. (Montenegro)

Hiram Thompson G 6-2 175 Jr.
Dwain Williams G 6-0 175 Jr.
Rykin Enos G 5-11 190 So.
Beau Albrechtson G 6-4 205 So.
Jeremy Lay G 6-0 185 Jr.
Leroy Lutu G 6-3 200 So.
Roderick Flemings G 6-7 210 Sr.

(redshirting) Zane Johnson G 6-6 210 Jr.


What To Expect

- SJSU shot 4-20 from three-point range and 11-19 at the foul line in the January 17 game -- a repeat of that seems unlikely

- San Jose State was very effective in the paint, outscoring UH 40-18 earlier -- why not again?

- There will definitely be a bunch of Hawaii fans in attendance Thursday night -- here's a cut-n-paste from the recent article:

Friends and family expected on road Hawai'i is expected to have dozens of fans in attendance at Thursday's game in San Jose. Junior guard Hiram Thompson and senior forward Brandon Adams have already received numerous requests for tickets from family and friends in the area. "Maybe 30 to 40," said Thompson, who grew up in El Dorado Hills, Calif. "It's nice to see so many familiar faces like that when you're on the road." Adams attended high school and junior college in California, and he is expecting to have 20 to 30 friends and family members in attendance. "Everybody's calling me already," he said. "I even know some of the guys on the (San Jose State) team, so it should be a fun game."

So this MUST be countered. That is your marching order. Let's not leave the noise-making to the band and the students.

Hawaii wins 68-67

Way back when, Sunday was supposed to be a day or rest. That's a typically easy task in Hawaii -- heck, that's why people head there. But two groups of young men met on a shiny indoor court Sunday evening, exerting themselves in order to come out the victor. The Rainbow Warriors desperately needed to stop their slide in the WAC. The Spartans were primed to move ahead to a 3-2 league record.

A last-second shot attempt determined the final outcome as UH backcourter Hiram Thompson was fouled on his dribble-drive to the basket with but 2.1 seconds remaining. He went to the line with his team down by one, 67-66. Thompson buried the first to tie the game. His second attempt was also accurate and proved to be the gamewinner as Hawaii came out on top 68-67.

Here's what led up to Thompson heroics:

A Brandon Adams basket at the 4:05 mark put UH up 63-58.

Adrian Oliver countered with a basket to cut the deficit to three.

After a Rainbow Warrior miss, Chris Oakes rebounded the ball and tossed a long outlet pass to Justin Graham. San Jose State's junior guard was intentionally fouled by Jeremy Lay. Graham nailed both his free throws to reduce the point differential to 63-62 and the Spartans also retained possession of the ball.

Robert Owens then nailed a trey to put SJSU ahead at 65-63.

Lay came down and put down his own three-pointer to boost Hawaii ahead by one, 66-65.

At the 1:14 mark, Chris Oakes traveled making a move to the basket.

With regaining possession, Lay came down and went long range again, missing his trey attempt, but Roderick Flemings rebounded with 45 seconds left.

But Graham nabbed a steal and fed the ball to Oakes who dunked to make it 67-66 San Jose State with 19 seconds on the clock.

Graham again stole the ball when Hawaii came down the court and he passed to Adrian Oliver, who was fouled.

With a one-and-one at the line, Oliver missed and UH rebounded.

That's when Thompson's heroics came into play and proved to be the difference.

Oliver earned a double-double of 20/10 as did Oakes with 14/11. Graham was particularly effective going to the hoop and led the Spartans with 21 points.

UH shot just 41% for the game after a quick start but did succeed on nine of 24 three-point attempts. SJSU was 4-20 from long distance. Both teams made 11 free throws -- in 13 attempts for Hawaii and 20 for San Jose State.

At the half, it was 42-39 in Hawaii's favor in a back and forth contest. Graham scored 13 points and Oliver contributed 11 in the initial 20 minutes. UH was an unconscious 55% on field goal attempts including 6-13 on three-pointers at that point. SJSU wasn't far behind at 52%.

C.J. Webster again missed the game due to an eye injury.

San Jose State versus Hawaii Sunday night

The drumbeat for more wins or else is beating loudly in and around Honolulu. One of the good guys in college basketball, Bob Nash, has struggled with recruiting both WAC level and complementary talent and the program still lacks a solid foundation of freshman and sophomores.

But there are individual talents.

Wing Roderick Flemings is quite the athlete and certainly has proven hard to guard with his dribble-drives. Paul Campbell has settled in as the 'big' in residence and his shotblocking and rebounding are helpful. Backcourter Dwain Williams has talent but hasn't yet figured out how to use it to make his teammates better. Point Hiram Thompson is finally healthy and enjoying a very productive season. Frontcourter Petras Balocka achieved a 20/20 double-double earlier this season and that doesn't happen to someone lacking skill.

Besides injuries, what seems to ail the Rainbow Warriros the most is consistency -- not having each player perform at his best each game.


WAC Schedule To Date

1/2/2010 Idaho L 52-59
1/4/2010 Boise State W 76-68
1/9/2010 @ Fresno State L 64-78
1/11/2010 @ Utah State L 54-98


The UH Starting Five

6-foot-10 Paul Campbell - he has never been a big scorer but has some point outbursts this season as well as being the top shotblocker with 25 on the season -- is shooting 60% from the floor but 49% at the foul line -- he has collected 38 offensive rebounds to 33 at the other end so blocking him out will be a necessity

6-foot-8 Petras Balocka - the top rebounder at 9 a contest, he is primarily an in-the-paint shooter

6-foot-7 Roderick Flemings - he is the top talent on the team but has been hit by a number of nagging injuries this season -- is averaging 14.4 ppg and 5.6 rpg. but shooting just 41% on the season, 27% on his threes -- he also has more TOs than assists

6-foot-0 Dwain Williams - averaging 14 ppg. so far while shooting 35% from the floor and 34% on a team-leading 90 trey attempts, has the possibility of shooting a team into or out of a game

6-foot-2 Hiram Thompson - He's finally healthy after last year's multitude of injuries and now scoring 9.5 ppg., rebounding at a 4.1 cxlip while having 68 assists to 35 turnovers -- Thompson is shooting 46% overall and 42% from long distance


The Cavalry

6-foot-7 Adhar Mayen - he does have 13 starts this season, averaging 7.1 ppg. while shooting 49%

6-foot-1 Jeremy Lay - a junior college transfer with a rep as a shooter ballhandler, he has compiled twin 28% shooting percentages overall and from three-point land as well as 30 assists to 31 turnovers

6-foot-6 Brandon Adams - the best athlere on the team but his offensive skills set is very limited

7-foot-0 Douglas Kurtz - playing just less than six minutes a game, his contributions have been negligible to date


The Hawaii Roster, by position

Petras Balocka C 6-8 250 Sr.
Paul Campbell C 6-10 215 Sr.
Douglas Kurtz C 7-0 265 Jr.

Note the home countries respectively of these three: Lithuania, Canada and Brazil respectively.

Adhar Mayen F 6-8 195 Sr.
Ji Xiang F 6-10 240 So.(China)
Brandon Adams F 6-7 220 Sr.

(redshirting) Aleksandar Milovic F 6-7 220 So. (Montenegro)

Hiram Thompson G 6-2 175 Jr.
Dwain Williams G 6-0 175 Jr.
Rykin Enos G 5-11 190 So.
Beau Albrechtson G 6-4 205 So.
Jeremy Lay G 6-0 185 Jr.
Leroy Lutu G 6-3 200 So.
Roderick Flemings G 6-7 210 Sr.

(redshirting) Zane Johnson G 6-6 210 Jr.


What To Expect

* Hawaii is viewing this match as its most critical to date (see cut-n-paste below) -- win and there is a vestige of hope, lose and both the spirit is diminished even more plus the extraneous noise gets louder

* Watch the rebounding differentials between the two squads -- can SJSU keep it close?

* UH has 55 more turnovers than opponents this season, plus 46 less steals and these are offensive efficiency killers -- can SJSU facilitate this trend?

* UH also has taken 100 more free throws than its opponents -- that will need to be negated

* We don't see a good UH matchup with Adrian Oliver -- Thompson has the best size in the backcourt but that focus will reduce his effectiveness at the point so does Bob Nash try Flemings?

The week in the WAC
Jeff Portnoy, Hawaii basketball color announcer
January 15, 2010

Since Hawaii's historic loss on Monday, there have been a few other games in the WAC of interest. Utah State appears to have righted its ship as it went to Nevada and won on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, La Tech continued its winning ways by beating a game Fresno State team at home by eight. Finally, for the first time in 15 games, San Jose beat Boise to even its WAC record at 2-2 and continue the downward Boise spiral (the only WAC team the Bows have beaten is Boise). Its beginning to look clearer everyday that Boise, and sorry, Hawaii, are fighting for 8th place, although a win Sunday night at home against San Jose would bring Hawaii's WAC record to 2-3, tying San Jose.

Not much news on the home front this week. Practices have been closed as the team tries to regroup after a terrible road trip. Three home games coming up as the New Mexico State and La Tech come in next week.

A day doesn't go by without someone stopping me on the street or at a meeting to ask what's wrong with the team and/or is there hope for the rest of the season. All I can say is there are significant talent problems, aggravated by lack of depth, and at least on occasion, lack of effort on the part of a player or two. This team, as I have said before, is not good enough to win playing half-hearted basketball or one half of basketball, and needs all five players on the court to contribute. You can not overstate how critical Sunday night's game. A loss would be devastating; a win would give us hope. I am going to stay with hope.