Tulsa
Hawaii (WAC Tournament)
Golden Hurricane Advances To WAC Finals Over Hawaii, 66-56
3/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 14, 2003
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Kevin Johnson scored 20 points as Tulsa overcame 33 points from Carl English to beat Hawaii 66-56 Friday night in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
Tulsa (21-9) will play Nevada for the title Saturday night as each team pursues the conference's automatic NCAA tournament bid that likely represents their only chance at the tournament.
Johnson had four points on two free throws and a dunk in an 11-3 spurt that made it 61-48 with 1:13 left after Hawaii (18-11) had pulled within five. Fifteen of Johnson's points came in the second half.
English, the WAC's leading scorer, hit 6-of-10 from 3-point range, including three in the final two minutes as Hawaii tried to claw back. The Rainbow Warriors fell to 3-10 on the road this season.
Dante Swanson added 12 points for Tulsa, which benefited from an easy quarterfinal victory over Texas El-Paso that allowed players to rest. Conversely, Hawaii needed overtime to defeat Rice Thursday.
Jason Parker's breakaway layup with 14 seconds left in the first half capped an 8-0 Tulsa run to finish the period. The Golden Hurricane led 27-17 at halftime despite shooting just 24 percent from the floor. Tulsa hit 15 of 16 first-half free throws.
The Rainbow Warriors made just 27 percent of their shots and committed nine turnovers before halftime while going to the free-throw line just once.
