Box Score

FRESNO, Calif. - Rice hung on for a 70-68 victory over the Hawai'i men's basketball team, in the quarterfinals of the 2004 McCaffrey Western Athletic Conference Tournament, Thursday afternoon, at the Save Mart Center. The Rainbow Warriors (19-11) made its earliest exit in the WAC Tournament since falling in the preliminary round in 1998.

In a frantic ending, the 'Bows had a chance to send the game into overtime after Rice's Rashid Smith missed the front end of a one-and-one with 11.7 seconds remaining. Down by three, Logan Lee brought the ball upcourt and was fouled with 3.4 seconds left.

The sophomore made the front end and purposely missed the second. Senior forward Phil Martin grabbed the rebound and his point-blank putback rimmed out as the final buzzer sounded.

UH, winners of its last four WAC Tournament quarterfinal games, will await word on whether it will be invited to the National Invitation Tournament. The 'Bows qualified for the NIT last season, advancing to the second round.

"I think we were ready to play," head coach Riley Wallace said. "We were loose and you could see it in the first half. Our guys fought back till the end. We haven't made a lay-up all year and it was ironic that that last shot didn't go in."

Guard Michael Kuebler led the 'Bows with 15 points, including 13 in the second half. Forward Julian Sensley was a workhorse, recording 14 points and11 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season. Forward Jeff Blackett added 13 points off the bench.

The duo of forward Michael Harris and guard Jason McKrieth combined to score 48 points for the Owls (22-9). Harris, a first team all-WAC selection, netted a game-high 29 points on 13-of-20 shooting. McKrieth, who was named to the second team earlier this week, scored 19 points, including 14 in the opening period.

UH raced out to a 10-2 lead to start the game. The Owls fought back and used a 10-1 run to take a 12-11 lead. The 'Bows answered back and retook the lead with a 7-0 spurt for a 22-16 advantage. Hawai'i held on to the lead for the rest of the half and Paul Jesinskis' putback just before the halftime buzzer, put UH on top 39-35 at the break.

At the half, McKrieth and Harris combined to score 25 of the Owls 35 points. UH used a balanced attack as eight different players scored led by Sensley's 10 first half points.

The Owls erased the four-point deficit by scoring the first six points of the second half. Kuebler responded with his first trey but that would be UH's last lead of the game. The teams traded buckets the rest of the way.

Midway through the half, Kuebler got hot scoring 10 straight points to pull the 'Bows to within 61-60. Moments later Blackett's free throw tied the game at 61 with 5:19 left. But the Owls then scored the next six points and UH went scoreless during a 4:14 stretch.

A pair of Blackett free throws cut the deficit to 67-63 with 1:15 remaining. On Rice's next possession, Smith's runner in the lane put the Owls back on top by six. Blackett responded with a lay-up and after a Harris free throw, added another lay-up with 18.6 second left with the score 70-67.

The game was a rematch of last year's quarterfinals, in which the 'Bows outlasted the Owls, 62-61 in overtime.



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