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By JAYMES SONG AP Sports Writer HONOLULU (AP) -- Hawaii coach Riley Wallace was more impressed with Matt Lojeski's toughness and defense than his offensive prowess Saturday. Lojeski, battling a sprained left shoulder, had 20 points to lead Hawaii to a 69-59 victory over Western Athletic Conference newcomer Utah State. He also held the Aggies' leading scorer to five points in the second half. "He's a wiry, tough, Polish person from Wisconsin," Wallace said. "That young man is a tough kid because (the shoulder) hurts. He was able to shrug it off and play." Julian Sensley had 19 points and seven rebounds and Ahmet Gueye added 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for the Rainbow Warriors (4-2, 1-0 WAC) who remained undefeated at home with four wins. "We didn't play good in the second half. It's not for a lack of trying. I think Hawaii is awfully good in this building, and they're one of the top two or three teams in the WAC," Aggies coach Stew Morrill said. Jaycee Carroll had 15 points, including 10 in the first half, for the Aggies (4-3, 0-1), who played their first WAC game after spending the previous 27 seasons in the Big West Conference. "Welcome to the WAC, Utah State. Thank you very much," Morrill said. Trailing by three points, Hawaii opened the second half with a 10-2 run to take a 42-37 lead. Sensley had five points during the run. Chris Huber's 3-pointer, his only shot of the game, gave the Aggies a 47-46 advantage, but Hawaii's defense tightened up and Utah State's shooting went cold. The Aggies were 2-of-17 from the floor in the final 11 minutes. For the game, Utah State -- the best shooting team in the nation -- shot 38 percent to 51 percent by Hawaii. "We locked up our defense a little better," Wallace said. Carroll, a sophomore who averaged 20 points entering the game, was 4-of-6 in the first half and 1-of-8 in the second. "I thought Lojeski did a really good job of tracking Carroll all night," Wallace said. "(Carroll is) a great player. He really uses those picks and they really find him. But I thought the long 6-6 body on him made him change a few shots. "He just didn't get into the flow like he normally does." Lojeski, who also had five rebounds and three blocks, said he was trying to use his four-inch height advantage over Carroll to disrupt his shooting. "It was a little shaky at times, but we stuck together and ended up pulling it out," Lojeski said. Hawaii had a 17-4 run in the first half to take a 22-11 advantage. The Aggies scrapped back and finished the first half with a five-point play to take a 35-32 lead at halftime. Carroll sank a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and Nate Harris made two free throws after being bulldozed by Hawaii's Milos Zivanovic during Carroll's shot. Harris had 12 points and eight rebounds and Cass Matheus added 11 points for Utah State.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-12-17-05 1953MST
