Rice hangs on to defeat Hawai'i

By DARRELL MOODY

Appeal Staff Writer

FRESNO - Rice basketball coach Willis Wilson didn't pull any punches.

"That was a great basketball game for anybody to watch," he said after Thursday's 70-68 win over Hawai'i in a quarterfinal game at the WAC tournament at Save Mart Center.

"It was a fantastic college basketball game and very representative of the WAC. I don't know if there are games around the country that are better than that quality of basketball."

The victory earned Rice a date with WAC co-champion Nevada tonight at 6. The teams split their home-and-home series.

This one went down to the wire, as the Owls almost blew a five-point lead in the final 25 seconds.

Trailing 70-65 after a free throw by Michael Harris (29 points), Jeff Blackett drained a jump shot to make it 70-67 with 18 seconds left. Rice's Rashid Wilson missed the front end of a one-and-one situation with 12 seconds left, leaving the door open for Hawaii.

Hawai'i guard Logan Lee was fouled, and hit the first free throw to make it 70-68. His second shot bounced off the rim and into the hands of forward Phil Martin, whose potential game-tying three-footer was no good at the buzzer.

"There's nothing wrong with the ball bouncing your way," Wilson said. "We've had the ball bounce against us so many times over the years. You don't get the bounce if you aren't a good team."

Harris, who had only 11 at the half, exploded for 18 in the final 20 minutes to lead all scorers.

"I think there was a point in the second half where I needed to be more aggressive," said Harris, who was 13-for-20 from the floor. "I got two fouls early, and I thought I was letting the team down by sitting on the bench. In the second half, I was more aggressive."

UTEP 62, LOUISIANA TECH 55

The second-seeded Miners, 23-6, got 20 points from Omar Thomas and advanced to the semifinals with a narrow win over the Bulldogs, who finished 15-15.

Thomas was 9 for 20 shooting from the floor and pulled down six rebounds. Chris Craig scored 12 points, all on three-pointers.

Paul Millsap led the Bulldogs with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Donell Allick scored 12 and JueMichael Young added 11.