RENO - The much-ballyhooed showdown between Hawai'i and UTEP wasn't much of a game.
The Miners, who won the two regular-season games by a total of five points, rolled to an early 10-point lead and coasted to an 80-62 win over the Rainbow Warriors Thursday in the WAC Tournament quarterfinals at Lawlor Events Center.
UTEP will meet Rice tonight at 6 in one semifinal tonight.
"We needed to come out and play hard the first five minutes, and let Hawai'i know we were here to play 40 minutes," UTEP coach Doc Sadler said. "Hawai'i is a dangerous team. In the two previous games, we've also been up 10 or 12 in the first half, and they've always come back in the second half with four or five minutes left in the game."
There would be no comeback today. UTEP bolted to a 14-4 lead in the first six-plus minutes, as Jason Williams scored nine of his 18 in that span, and Omar Thomas (21 points) had the other five.
The Miners maintained a double-digit lead much of the first half, as Hawai'i could never get enough defensive stops to get the lead under nine points. UTEP went into the locker room with a 45-33 lead.
Jeff Blackett hit from the right baseline to cut the lead to 45-35 with 18:56 left in the game, but the Miners, taking advantage of three Rainbow Warrior turnovers, went on a 10-2 run to take a 55-37 lead. Fili Rivera (19 points) was key with a driving layup and his second slam dunk of the season, and Giovanni St. Amant knocked down four straight from the line.
Hawai'i cut the deficit to 63-50 thanks to a three-pointer by Jake Sottos and a layup by Deonte Tatum with 10:45 left. Again, the Miners answered back with a vengeance, outscoring Hawai'i 11-2 en route to a 74-52 lead. Thomas had five in that span, as the Miners did an excellent job of carving up the Hawai'i defense.
"Our goal was to match their intensity," UH coach Riley Wallace said. "For these early games, you have to have your people ready to play, and I must not have done a good job of getting our guys ready. They are a very good team and could win this thing."
Another key, according to Sadler, was rebounding. UTEP enjoyed a 40-26 edge, which led to 16 second-chance points, and that was too much for Hawai'i to overcome.
"Defensive boards were very important for us," Sadler said. "We held them to only seven offensive rebounds. That was key."
