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.