His family could hardly bear to watch.
On the pivotal play of Hawaii’s 90-86 overtime win at UC Irvine on Saturday, point guard Keith Shamburger flung a desperation 3-pointer over and around two Anteaters defenders, off the backboard on a line-drive trajectory and through the hoop to tie the score just before the regulation buzzer.
"My sister actually turned her head on the shot," Shamburger said. "She didn’t watch it. She said she didn’t know what I was going to do with it. So she turned around. My mom screamed when I made it. … Before the play I looked at my mom and she just smiled at me and shook her head. It just felt good, man, once that shot went in."
It was an emotional few days for Shamburger, who was away from the team Friday attending his maternal aunt’s funeral in Los Angeles. The night before the services, he helped the ‘Bows to a 90-73 win at UC Davis.
"It just felt good to have everyone support me," he said.
In the days since the 2-0 road trip, it’s been a steady stream of congratulations and recognition for the junior. He was named the Big West Player of the Week on Monday after setting the table for the rousing comeback win on UC Irvine’s homecoming night at the Bren Events Center.
In that one, the San Jose State transfer posted his first double-double with UH, 17 points and 11 assists, and he hit the clinching free throws in the extra period after sending the game to overtime despite a 10-point second-half deficit.
It dealt the first-place Anteaters their first loss of Big West play, while UH improved to 14-5 overall and 3-2 in the Big West with its third straight win.
In the win at UC Davis on Thursday, Shamburger scored 14 points and hit a UH career-best four 3-pointers, including another tough buzzer-beater going into halftime.
For the week, the junior from Los Angeles averaged 15.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists while shooting 53.3 percent from the field and committing just three turnovers in two games.
It was Shamburger’s first career Big West weekly honor. He became the third UH player to receive the award this season, after Christian Standhardinger and Brandon Spearman.
UH opens up a four-game homestand on Thursday against Long Beach State.
Sophomore forward Isaac Fotu would have been another worthy winner of the weekly award; he scored a career-best 30 points on 13-for-16 shooting, bumping him up to sixth nationally in field-goal percentage at .616.
"Congrats to Keith, he earned it," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "Obviously Fotu had a great (50 total points) week. A lot of guys played really well. But Big West Player of the Week, that’s a great honor for Keith and well-deserved. He played huge, and obviously you don’t win that UC Irvine game without him. … I thought he was a mental monster."
Jankovic begins practicing
New UH forward Stefan Jankovic, a midseason transfer from Missouri, practiced with his Rainbow Warriors teammates for the first time on Monday.
The 6-foot-10 Jankovic (not to be confused with 6-10 freshman Stefan Jovanovic) will be eligible to play in games in mid-December of the 2014-15 season as a redshirt sophomore. He’ll operate as a member of the practice scout team in the meantime alongside fellow ex-Missouri player Negus Webster-Chan, his good friend.
"It’s been three months since I practiced, so it worked out in general," Jankovic said. "Just got on the floor, got up and down. A little rusty, but it was good."
Smith returns as video coordinator
Jamie Smith, who helped galvanize the UH student section with themed game nights last year, returned to the team as its video coordinator on Monday.
Smith, of England, worked to resolve work visa issues in his native country from the end of last season through the first half of this season.
He set out immediately to promote this week’s games, including a "Pajama Party Night" on Saturday against Cal State Northridge.
