Coach Arnold, the rest of the staff, and the players gave all Hawaii basketball fans an early xmas present with its signature win over Utah last night.  Hawaii controlled the game from its opening 10-2 run, and defeated a team that has already defeated fellow WAC members Boise State and Fresno.

What can say about how important Hiram is to the team. After two quick Bobby Miles turnovers, Gib inserted  Hiram into the game. he walked outt onto the court in obvious pain, limping from his back injury, and then proceeded to play 34 consecutive minutes leading the team to victory. Not everything he did will show up on the stat sheet like causing Utah to foul him on three consecutive positions late in the game or throwing a beautiful bounce pass to Zane for an easy lay-up.

Hawaii's pressure defense was outstanding. Utah made only one three in 14 tries and Hawaii constantly harassed Utah whenever they tried to get into the paint. And maybe for the first time all season, Hawaii outscored their opponent on  point after turnovers.

Now its on to Mississippi State with an 11;30 5th place game on Xmas. It will interesting to see what Miss St does with the two players who thought the Arena was converted into a boxing ring. Not only were the combatants team-mates, but room-mates. I don't see how they cant be suspended

Happy Holidays to all fo you, even those who take the time to disagree and criticise. Tha's what freedom of speech is all about. The common thread is we are all UH basketball fans