Tough cuts

It was incredibly difficult paring down the list of Hawaii’s most memorable Western Athletic Conference games to 10.  Several BYU games got the spotlight, including the Ruffin and Whitlock buzzer beaters, and the 1994 WAC tournament championship. I wanted to highlight games from different eras of UH basketball. In some cases (the Carter-Smith Dynamic Duo years) the most memorable games happened outside of WAC play.

Among the tough cuts, there were a few upsets of an often-ranked New Mexico; showdowns with Chris Herren and Fresno State (including the 1998 NIT quarterfinals); a win over No. 6 Utah back in 1981; the 2002 WAC tournament championship over Tulsa; and last year’s Miah Game against Utah State. Much of this is subjective, of course, and everyone had their own games that may have stood out more than others.

I’d like to thank Jason Kaneshiro, Dave Reardon, Curtis Murayama, Ferd Lewis, Stephen Tsai, and Cindy Luis for their recommendations and advice when it came to this list. All have been around UH basketball at one time or another.

What were some of your WAC favorites?

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On a positive note for the current ‘Bows, senior guard Zane Johnson looked near full strength in practice yesterday, and should be good to go for Saturday’s WAC opener against San Jose State.

And for what it’s worth, he was seen at the same place at the same time (Manoa Lower Campus) as Colt Brennan on Thursday. So no, Colt is not extending his UH career as a look-alike hoops sharpshooter — that myth can be debunked once and for all.