As Hawaii and San Jose State prepare for a series of lasts in the Western Athletic Conference, perhaps it is only right that the two schools experience a first.
The Rainbow Warriors and Spartans, mutual league foes going back to 1996-97, open up WAC league play for the first time against each other today at 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
SJSU (at least for now) will remain in the WAC, while UH is kicking off its 33rd and final season in the only hoops conference it has ever known, before leaving for the Big West Conference next season.
UH will look to break a streak of five losses in WAC openers in its last chance to do so. Tonight is also the last of nine straight instate games for the ’Bows.
UH has gotten in a full week of preparation since losing 74-69 to then-no. 19 UNLV on New Year’s Eve. The time off has allowed senior guard Zane Johnson (team-best 15.1 ppg) to get closer to full health after suffering a separated rib against the Runnin’ Rebels.
UH coach Gib Arnold called Johnson a “game-time decision” earlier this week, but Johnson has looked fluid in recent practices.
“We want to make a statement. We want to win the WAC,” Johnson said. “I want to win as bad as anyone; this is my last shot. I want to make it fun and exciting. Do whatever we can do to win.”
Both teams are riding high going into their last WAC meeting in Honolulu. UH (8-6) has won six of eight and SJSU (6-8) is coming off a two-game sweep of the Elgin Baylor Classic, its first tournament title since ’96.
The WAC is considered mostly wide open this year, or as SJSU coach George Nessman said upon arriving at UH on Friday, “There are no easy outs.”
UH, 8-8 in WAC play last year, was picked to finish fourth in 2012. SJSU was sixth and seventh in the two preseason polls.
The ’Bows’ WAC tournament dreams ended prematurely last season when the eighth-seeded Spartans upset the fifth-seeded ’Bows at the last second, 75-74, in the first round at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
That’s not the only SJSUrelated item to get away from UH lately. Spartans sophomore guard Keith Shamburger, a one-time Hawaii recruit, is only getting better. He leads the WAC in assists at 5.1 per game, is the reigning WAC Player of the Week and was MVP of the Baylor Classic.
“He’s a sponge, he wants to learn,” Nessman said. “He’s definitely becoming the leader of our program, which we hoped he would be. For a young guy who’s only 19, that’s pretty good.”
The Spartans lost their talented backcourt of Adrian Oliver and Justin Graham to graduation, but retooled around Ohio transfer guard James Kinney (16.7 ppg) and Shamburger (15.4 ppg), who are the WAC’S third- and fourthleading scorers.
“I think San Jose creates a lot of problems in that they’ve got two outstanding scorers,” Arnold said. “Both guards, both quick, both athletic, both can shoot it and can take it off the dribble. They look for their shot a lot, hunt their shots. It’s going to be a perimeter-oriented game where we’ve got to guard. If we don’t do that then it could be a long night for us.”
UH has seen high-scoring backcourts this season in then-no. 14 Xavier and South Carolina State, and trumped both.
“We know their guards play really well together,” junior swingman Hauns Brereton said. “They got great chemistry, they’re doing Euros (dribble-handoff screens) … up top,” Brereton said. “That’s what we gotta be able to defend, their screens for each other and their 3-point shot.”
Besides Johnson, three other ’Bows — center Vander Joaquim (12.1), forward Joston Thomas (11.1) and guard Shaquille Stokes (10.1) — average doublefigure scoring. Point guard Miah Ostrowski’s 5.1 assists per game would be with Shamburger atop the WAC had he played more than eight games.
SJSU is 0-7 when opening up WAC play on the road. UH has lost seven of its past eight WAC openers overall. Autograph sessions
After UH’S remaining Saturday games, starting with today’s contest against SJSU, UH players will be available for autographs and photos at the Stan Sheriff Center concourse near Gate B.
