‘Bows look to make it 3 straight in Big West

Two spirited comebacks earned the Hawaii men’s basketball team a share of first place in their new conference home.

The Rainbow Warriors are hoping they won’t need a third mad scramble tonight against UC Riverside to stay atop the Big West.

Reserve guard Garrett Jefferson’s floater at the buzzer beat Cal State Fullerton 90-88 on Thursday night to cap a rally from 11 points down in the final five minutes.

"I think we’re always trying to (win comfortably), but we’re trying to give the audience a good show. Get their money’s worth," said freshman forward Isaac Fotu, who shot 13-for-16 for a career-high 29 points with nine rebounds against the Titans. "We’re always trying to get a comfortable win, but we’ll take anything when we’re down by 11 with five minutes to go."

Hawaii caps a six-game homestand against the Highlanders, heading into its first league road trip next week. UH can improve to 3-0 in league play for the first time since it opened 6-0 in the Western Athletic Conference in the NCAA Tournament season of 2001-02.

"We’re going to play to our strengths, have to rebound against a good rebounding team," Hawaii coach Gib Arnold said. "We’re gonna have to defend the low post … and we’re going to have to win the turnover battle."

UH coughed it up 20 times against Cal State Fullerton, leading to a 31-15 Titans advantage in points off turnovers. Thursday night’s frantic rally, featuring big shots from several players, came against some of the best guards in the league and a team projected to finish second.

The ‘Bows, showing a flair for the dramatic, also came back from 11 points down in the first half against Cal State Northridge last weekend.

"It’s a great feeling, but we have a game (today) and we’re focusing on that now," freshman point guard Manroop Clair said. "What’s done is done."

The Highlanders are coming off a thrilling comeback of their own on Thursday. Forward Chris Patton scored the last five points of the game, including the game-winner with 11 seconds left, as they upset Cal State Northridge 65-64 at the Matadome.

Because of Academic Progress Rate restrictions, the Highlanders are not eligible for the eight-team Big West tournament in Anaheim, Calif., in March. Sixth-year coach Jim Woolridge has made this season about forging an identity for future years.

"We’ve got this young team (with eight freshmen). We keep telling them, ‘You’re the face of the program today and the future,’" Woolridge said. "We want to build a good, stable base underneath this team so we can move forward in the years to come. If (Thursday) is any indication, we can come back together and keep getting better and see where it takes us over the next couple months, and certainly as we move into the next couple of years with these guys."

UH has increasingly turned to its freshmen as well.

Clair is likely to start at point guard for the fourth time in five games. He practiced with the first team again on Friday along with swingman Hauns Brereton (7.8 ppg), forwards Christian Standhardinger (15.6 ppg, 7.8 rpg) and Fotu (11.4 ppg, 7.8 rpg) and center Vander Joaquim (14.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg). Senior Jace Tavita is projected to come off the bench, but continues to lead the Big West in assists at 5.3 per game.

Freshman swingman Brandon Jawato hit two big second-half 3s against Fullerton and scored in double figures for the fourth time in the past six games.

And Fotu’s outburst bumped his average enough to give UH four players averaging double-figure scoring. He went a combined 19-for-26 against the Matadors and Titans, raising his season field-goal percentage to .648.

"I’m feeling really good, using my size against the smaller Big West forwards," the 6-8 Fotu said. "I think I’m getting so open because everyone’s worried about Vander."

Joaquim had a quiet offensive night with six points, but the senior grabbed 12 rebounds. Joaquim is 48 points away from becoming the program’s 15th 1,000-point scorer.

Scoring has been a struggle all year for the Highlanders. They average 57.7 points per game on 39.8 percent field-goal shooting, two marks near the bottom of all Division I programs. Riverside had previous outings of 30 and 26 points this season.

The 6-foot-10 Patton leads the way at 10.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.