Watching what ‘could have been us’
It’s rare when a team would rather be on the road than at home, but that’s how the Hawaii basketball team was feeling yesterday.
The Warriors got together on Saturday evening to watch the championship game of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. They met at the UH basketball conference room and ordered pizza, then watched Utah State defeat Boise State for the WAC championship.
“We’re all watching the game together and I want them to see that and I want it to hurt a little bit in that it could have been us,” Hawaii head coach Gib Arnold said. “In the same voice, I want to tell them this is realistic. Boise State is a team we beat and Utah State is a team we were winning with seconds left in the game, so it’s not as far as we think.”
Hawaii was eliminated in the first round of the WAC Tournament at Las Vegas, losing a heartbreaker to San Jose State, 75-74. The Warriors lost that game on Wednesday, and made some quick flight changes to get home by Thursday afternoon.
“There’s nothing like coming home, but it would be even better if we were still over there (in Las Vegas) playing,” junior point guard Miah Ostrowski said.
But the Warriors were also in a rush to get home because their season is not over. They will host Portland in a first-round game of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament on Tuesday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Hawaii, which has an 18-12 record in Arnold’s first season as head coach, is making its first postseason appearance since 2004. Portland, which is 20-11, finished in fifth place in the West Coast Conference.
Hope they learn,.
Zane has to be more aggressive and they need to hit their freaking free throws next time they are in a do or die game.