Thursday, March 13, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
A switch in the defensive zone alignment helped Hawaii get its offense running.
After falling behind by 10 points in the first half, Hawaii coach Riley Wallace installed a 2-3 zone that helped defeat Oregon 71-61 Wednesday night in a first-round National Invitation Tournament game at Honolulu.
The win sends the Rainbows to Las Vegas for a second-round game Monday against Western Athletic Conference rival UNLV, which defeated Memphis earlier Wednesday. During the regular season, Hawaii defeated the Rebels twice.
"I felt that in the first half, they outhustled us," Wallace said. "Then we switched from a 1-2-2 to a 2-3 in the second half and made up 10 points quick on them."
Kyle Milling scored 16 of his 22 points and grabbed half of his 16 rebounds as the Ducks (17-11) jumped to a 40-30 halftime lead.
But the realigned zone shut down Oregon, while the Rainbows (21-7) opened the final 20 minutes with a 14-2 run that erased the deficit and, in effect, eliminated the Ducks.
Alika Smith, who led Hawaii with 23 points, added, "We switched to a 2-3 and they struggled shooting when we got out on them."
Oregon didn't make a field goal for the first 8:02 of the second half. In the final 20 minutes, the Ducks missed 20 of 27 shots, while Hawaii, with Carter and Smith doing most of the damage, was 18-for-27 after halftime.
For the game, Oregon was just 3-for-25 from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, Hawaii picked up the pace as Eric Ambrozich sparked the opening second-half run with seven points. That put the Rainbows ahead for only the second time since the early moments of the game.
Then, with the scored tied at 52, Hawaii went on a 14-5 run, led by Carter and Smith to pull ahead for good.
Oregon coach Jerry Green said his team played a day-and-night game.
"I thought, in the first half, we did what we wanted to do," he said. "I was really surprised they stayed in the zone being down 10. But we didn't make any shots and they shot the ball well."
After his strong start, Milling scored just six points in the second half.
"In the second half, every time I touched the ball, they sent someone at me," he said.
* UNR 97, FRESNO ST. 86: At Fresno, Faron Hand scored 27 points as Nevada-Reno (21-9) beat Fresno State (20-12). Richard Brown added 22 points for UNR, while Chris Herren and Daymond Forney each scored 20 for Fresno.
* CONNECTICUT 71, IONA 66: At Storrs, Conn., Richard Hamilton scored nine of his 25 points down the stretch as UConn (15-14) held off Iona (22-8). Kevin Freeman added 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Huskies, while Bryan Matthew led Iona with 19 points.
* MICHIGAN ST. 65, GEORGE WASHINGTON 50: At East Lansing, Ray Weathers scored 18 points as Michigan State (17-11) defeated George Washington (15-14). Shawnta Rogers led GW with 18 points, but the 5-foot-4 guard was only 6-for-18 from the field.
* WEST VIRGINIA 98, BOWLING GREEN 95: At Morgantown, Seldon Jefferson scored 29 points as West Virginia (20-9) beat Bowling Green (22-10). Bowling Green had a chance to tie, but Antonio Daniels missed a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
* PITTSBURGH 82, NEW ORLEANS 63: At Pittsburgh, Vonteego Cummings scored 25 points and the Panthers (18-14) used their height advantage to beat New Orleans (22-7).
* NOTRE DAME 74, ORAL ROBERTS 58: At South Bend, Admore White scored 18 points and Pat Garrity added 16 to lead Notre Dame (15-13) over Oral Roberts (21-7). Tim Gill led Oral Roberts with 21 points.
* ARKANSAS 101, NORTHERN ARIZONA 75: At Fayetteville, Pat Bradley scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half as Arkansas (16-12) downed Northern Arizona (21-7). Andrew Mavis led Northern Arizona with 26 points.
* NEBRASKA 67, WASHINGTON 63: At Lincoln, Mikki Moore and Bernard Garner hit free throws in the final 12 seconds to give defending NIT champion Nebraska (17-14) the victory over Washington (17-11).
* TCU 85, ALABAMA-BIR MINGHAM 62: At Forth Worth, Mike Jones scored 18 points and reserve James Penny added 17 as Texas Christian (22-12) routed Alabama-Birmingham (18-14). Carlos Williams and Credric Dixon each scored 16 points for UAB.
* BRADLEY 66, DREXEL 53: At Peoria, Ill., Anthony Parker scored 15 points and Bradley (17-12) held Drexel (22-9) to 32 percent shooting from the field.
* NORTH CAROLINA ST. 77, SW MISSOURI ST. 66: At Raleigh, Danny Strong scored 25 points, including seven free throws in the final 69 seconds, as North Carolina State (17-14) beat Southwest Missouri State (24-9).
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