# 2002–03 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball team

The 2002–03 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball team represented the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rainbow Warriors, led by head coach, Riley Wallace, played their home games at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, as members of the Western Athletic Conference. Hawaii finished in a tie for 6th in the WAC during the regular season and won one game in the WAC tournament before falling in the semifinals to Tulsa.
Hawaii failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament, but was selected to participate in the NIT, earning a postseason bid for a school-record third consecutive season. In the NIT, the Rainbow Warriors won their first game, but were eliminated in the second round of the tournament by Minnesota, 70–58.

## Roster

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## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Preseason ||||||
| November 17, 2002* 5:00 pm | | EA Sports California All–Stars Exhibition | L 72–73 | — | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 22, 2002* 7:00 pm | | Arkansas–Little Rock Hawaiian Airlines Tip-Off Tournament | W 76–52 | 1–0 | Stan Sheriff Center (6,823) Honolulu, HI |
| November 24, 2002* 7:00 pm | | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Hawaiian Airlines Tip-Off Tournament | W 100–81 | 2–0 | Stan Sheriff Center (6,344) Honolulu, HI |
| December 9, 2002* 7:00 pm | | Hawaii–Hilo Exhibition | W 73–60 | — | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI |
| December 14, 2002* 5:00 pm | | at San Diego State | L 49–60 | 2–1 | Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl (6,138) San Diego, CA |
| December 20, 2002* 8:00 pm | | Eastern Illinois Adidas Festival | W 81–65 | 3–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (6,133) Honolulu, HI |
| December 21, 2002* 8:00 pm | | New Orleans Adidas Festival | W 68–56 | 4–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (6,096) Honolulu, HI |
| December 27, 2002* 7:00 pm | | Bradley Rainbow Classic | W 90–69 | 5–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (7,366) Honolulu, HI |
| December 29, 2002* 7:30 pm | | Tennessee Tech Rainbow Classic | W 74–61 | 6–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (7,184) Honolulu, HI |
| December 30, 2002* 7:30 pm | | Butler Rainbow Classic | W 81–78 $^{OT}$ | 7–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (7,925) Honolulu, HI |
| January 2, 2003 4:05 pm | | at UTEP | W 64–52 | 8–1 (1–0) | Don Haskins Center (5,199) El Paso, TX |
| January 4, 2003 10:00 am | | at Boise State | L 63–65 $^{OT}$ | 8–2 (1–1) | BSU Pavilion (3,911) Boise, ID |
| January 9, 2003 7:05 pm | | SMU | W 72–55 | 9–2 (2–1) | Stan Sheriff Center (6,607) Honolulu, HI |
| January 11, 2003 7:05 pm | | Louisiana Tech | W 57–53 | 10–2 (3–1) | Stan Sheriff Center (7,706) Honolulu, HI |
| January 13, 2003 7:05 pm | | Fresno State | W 88–77 | 11–2 (4–1) | Stan Sheriff Center (8,351) Honolulu, HI |
| January 18, 2003 5:00 pm | | at San Jose State | L 67–79 | 11–3 (4–2) | Event Center Arena (1,536) San Jose, CA |
| January 23, 2003 5:00 pm | | at Fresno State | L 55–56 | 11–4 (4–3) | Selland Arena (10,220) Fresno, CA |
| January 25, 2003 5:05 pm | | at Nevada | L 65–73 | 11–5 (4–4) | Lawlor Events Center (6,846) Reno, NV |
| January 30, 2003 7:05 pm | | Rice | W 85–70 | 12–5 (5–4) | Stan Sheriff Center (6,457) Honolulu, HI |
| February 1, 2003 7:05 pm | | Tulsa | W 73–67 $^{OT}$ | 13–5 (6–4) | Stan Sheriff Center (9,861) Honolulu, HI |
| February 6, 2003 3:00 pm | | at Louisiana Tech | L 65–66 | 13–6 (6–5) | Thomas Assembly Center (2,627) Ruston, LA |
| February 8, 2003 3:00 pm, Fox Sports Net | | at SMU | L 69–78 | 13–7 (6–6) | Moody Coliseum (4,072) Dallas, TX |
| February 15, 2003 7:05 pm | | San Jose State | L 54–55 | 13–8 (6–7) | Stan Sheriff Center (8,113) Honolulu, HI |
| February 19, 2003 7:05 pm | | Nevada | W 73–71 | 14–8 (7–7) | Stan Sheriff Center (6,603) Honolulu, HI |
| February 22, 2003* 4:30 pm, ESPN2 | | at Kent State ESPN BracketBusters | W 79–78 | 15–8 | MAC Center (6,327) Kent, OH |
| February 27, 2003 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Tulsa | L 51–76 | 15–9 (7–8) | Reynolds Center (8,182) Tulsa, OK |
| March 1, 2003 12:00 pm, FSN | | at Rice | L 58–75 | 15–10 (7–9) | Rice Gymnasium (2,018) Houston, TX |
| March 6, 2003 7:00 pm | | Boise State | W 68–65 | 16–10 (8–9) | Stan Sheriff Center (6,490) Honolulu, HI |
| March 8, 2003 7:00 pm | | UTEP | W 77–63 | 17–10 (9–9) | Stan Sheriff Center (9,562) Honolulu, HI |
| WAC tournament ||||||
| March 13, 2003 2:00 pm | (5) | vs. (4) Rice WAC Quarterfinals | W 62–61 $^{OT}$ | 18–10 | Reynolds Center (4,735) Tulsa, OK |
| March 14, 2003 4:30 pm | (5) | at (1) Tulsa WAC Semifinals | L 56–66 | 18–11 | Reynolds Center (6,134) Tulsa, OK |
| NIT ||||||
| March 19, 2003 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at UNLV NIT First Round | W 85–68 | 19–11 | Thomas & Mack Center (2,697) Las Vegas, NV |
| March 24, 2003 3:00 pm | | at Minnesota NIT Second Round | L 70–84 | 19–12 | Williams Arena (4,311) Minneapolis, MN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Hawaiian Time. ||||||
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