Thursday, March 19, 1998
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Fresno State's Larry Abney (21) swats the ball away
from Hawaii's Anthony Carter on Feb. 2 at Hawaii.
The Bulldogs, led by steady
By Cindy Luis
Larry Abney, hope to put their most
recent episode behind them tonight
against the Rainbows
Star-BulletinSunday's "60 Minutes" segment on the Fresno State men's basketball team wasn't long enough. The CBS crew would have had a more dramatic story had they continued filming for "48 Hours."
In less that two days, the Bulldogs have:
Defeated Memphis on a controversial 3-pointer at the buzzer by Tremaine Fowlkes;
"There's been a few distractions," sophomore forward Larry Abney said before last night's practice at the Stan Sheriff Center. "It's been hard to concentrate, but after the second or third time, you learn to shut it out and continue on."
If there has been any continuity for the Bulldogs this scandal-plagued season, it's been with Abney. He's one of four scholarship players who have not had problems with the law or the school's tough student-athlete code of conduct, and one of three players who have been eligible for -- and competed in -- all 31 games.
Coach Jerry Tarkanian protested being sent to Hawaii for tonight's NIT quarterfinal -- a third straight home game for the Rainbows. But getting away from the attention in Fresno might have been a blessing for the Bulldogs.
Abney would be happy to relive his last trip to Honolulu, when he hit all seven field-goal attempts and had season highs of 15 points and 11 rebounds in the Bulldogs' 91-76 Western Athletic Conference win over Hawaii.
The winner of tonight's game advances to Madison Square Garden, and will face Minnesota on Tuesday in a semifinal. Last night, the Golden Gophers upset Marquette, 73-71.
Abney is 40 minutes away from going home. He grew up in Nyack, N.Y., 30 minutes outside of New York City.
"I've been to the Garden a thousand times," Abney said, "but I've never played there. For me and Rafer (junior guard Rafer Alston, who is from Queens), it would be a dream come true.
"This would be a very important victory for us. Obviously, we didn't have the season we expected to have, so we want to end the season on an up note for coach and for ourselves. We could have had a horrible season, could have gone 0-20, but we won some big games, and for the most part, stuck together."
Adversity brings people together, Abney said. It has in the case of the fans in Fresno. The Red Wave took to the Internet and radio airwaves to support Tarkanian, who said he was "devastated" after Jones and redshirt transfer Kenny Brunner were arrested Tuesday morning.
Hawaii coach Riley Wallace can empathize with Tarkanian. Just three years ago, the Rainbows were considered the bad boys of the WAC with the suspensions of Tes Whitlock, Justice Sueing and John Molle.
"Ours were more on-court problems, but I certainly understand what he's trying to do," Wallace said. "We've had our share, too. Kids make mistakes. Tark's trying to help kids get a second chance, but he's probably taken too many at one time.
"What's bad is that it hurts the good guys who are in the program."
A win tonight would ease some of the pain. The Bulldogs also would like to avenge a 92-78 loss to Hawaii three weeks ago at Selland Arena. Their fans left in droves with about nine minutes remaining.
"That loss at home was pretty much our fault," said Abney, who played sparingly and finished with just four points and one rebound. "We committed turnovers, didn't go after the loose balls. We had a lot of frustration and a lot of problems that game.
"Hawaii is a good team. They can get hot any night. They have a smart coach, a great point guard and athletic players. As long as we stay focused, we can have the game we want."
NOTES: It took just over three hours yesterday to sell all the tickets available to the general public for the game. Ticket windows opened at noon, and all tickets were gone by 3:15 p.m. At least 100 fans still were waiting in line when sales ended . . . Rainbow senior forward Eric Ambrozich returned to practice yesterday, fitted with a clear mask to protect his broken nose. "It doesn't feel real good right now, but we'll get some readjustments made," Ambrozich said. "We're going to cut the mask down a little bit and get some new straps. It feels awkward, but I want to play tomorrow." Ambrozich's nose was broken when he took an elbow from Gonzaga's Bakari Hendrix early in Monday's second-round game.
On Abney
Numbers on 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Larry Abney in 1997-98:
NIT
1997-98 Rainbow Men's Basketball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
