Box Score

HONOLULU - The Hawai'i men's basketball team escaped with a 62-59 victory over SMU, Saturday night, in front of a Valentine's Day crowd of 7,883 at the Stan Sheriff Center. With the victory, the Rainbow Warriors moved into a first place tie in the Western Athletic Conference standings at 9-3.

Seldomly-used guard Jake Sottos sparked Hawai`i (17-5) with a career-high 10 points and seven assists in 25 minutes played. Prior to tonight, Sottos hadn't appeared in the last five games and saw action in 10 contests all season. Senior guard Michael Kuebler scored a game-high 21 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 48.7 seconds remaining. Kuebler finished with six 3-pointers and extended his streak of long balls to 18 games.

Junior Julian Sensley recorded 11 points and eight rebounds while senior Haim Shimonovich had 10 points, eight boards, and two blocks. Both blocks came with under a minute to play, a shot by Justin Isham from under the basket and on Bryan Hopkins' 3-point attempt at the buzzer. Hopkins led SMU (10-13, 4-9) with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

SMU surged to an early lead, 12-3, through the first seven minutes after UH missed 9-of-10 attempts. After a Sottos four-point play, UH closed to 15-11 with 9:02 to play. Sottos connected again to bring UH to within 15-14.

Kuebler's first trey tied the game at 21 with 3:02 remaining. After consecutive buckets by the Mustangs, Sottos struck again to pull UH to 25-24 at the half. UH shot just 29.0 percent in the first half, including a 4-of-13 shooting performance from 3-point range.

SMU scored the first two buckets of the second half for a 29-24 lead. Kuebler converted back-to-back 3-pointers to close to deficit to 31-29. Moments later, Kuebler's third trey of the half put UH on top 34-33 lead with 14:11 remaining. After a Justin Isham 3-point play, Kuebler connected again and Sensley's lay-up gave UH a 39-36 lead.

A Sensley dunk and Martin turnaround jumper gave UH its largest lead at 52-43 with 6:27 to play. SMU chipped away with five straight points by Lowe and a Castro lay-up to close to 54-52. With the 'Bows leading by two, Hopkins' four-point play with 1:14 left put SMU back on top 59-58. On UH's next possession, Kuebler's trey from the top of the key with under a minute to play was the game-winner.

SMU had a chance to tie but Hopkins missed from close range twice and Shimonovich blocked Isham's putback. Logan Lee was fouled with 8.8 seconds left but made just one of two giving the Mustangs one last chace. Shimonovich blocked Hopkins' 3-point attempt as time expired.

The 'Bows travel to the mainland for a three-game/eight-day road trip beginning with Boise State, Wednesday, Feb. 18. On the same trip, UH will participate in the second Bracket Buster Saturday event, which pits them against Southern Illinois, Feb. 21, in a game televised nationally on ESPN. Hawai`i rounds out the trip against UTEP, Monday, Feb. 23.



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