Box Score

HONOLULU - The Hawai'i men's basketball team made quite an opening statement for the 2005-06 season with an emphatic 84-62 victory over No. 4 Michigan State, Saturday afternoon, at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbow Warriors handed head coach Riley Wallace his 300th victory at the school in front of a crowd of 9,431.

UH (1-0) posted its biggest win since upsetting second-ranked Kansas in the 1997 Rainbow Classic championship game and first over a ranked opponent since a win at No. 25 Utah State in the 2004 NIT.

Senior forward Julian Sensley and junior guard Matt Lojeski each scored 20 points to lead the 'Bows, while junior Ahmet Gueye added 13 points and a team-best six rebounds. Junior guard Bobby Nash came off the bench and scored 10 points, including a trey in the second half which ignited an 11-0 run to ice the victory.

The 'Bows controlled the tempo of the game throughout and wore down the Spartans in the second half. UH built a 39-32 lead at the half and led by as many as 12 with 7:48 remaining. Sensley scored 13 in the half, while Lojeski drained three 3-pointers.

In the second half, Hawai'i pushed its lead to 14 after a breakaway dunk by Deonte Tatum with just over 17:00 to play. The Spartans used a 14-6 run to close to within six. But Nash's banked-in 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down started a run which saw UH increase its lead to 67-50 with just over seven minutes to play.

The pace of the game took its toll on the Spartans as four players suffered from leg cramps. Guards Shannon Brown, Drew Neitzel, and Maurice Ager and forward Paul Davis each went down during the second half and didn't return to the game.

The 'Bows head to Las Vegas for the first part of a home-and-home series with UNLV this season. The game is set for Tuesday, Nov. 22, at the Thomas & Mack Center. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. PST. The game will be shown on a pay-per-view basis and can be heard live on Sportsradio 1420am.

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