Rainbows look to use their size against Vulcans

On the heels of a clash with the North Carolina Tar Heels, Hawaii’s bigs look to pay forward some front-line punishment against Division II counterpart Hawaii Hilo today.

Gibson Johnson, UH’s 6-foot-8 power forward, was asked on Sunday how the Rainbow Warriors intend to play the Vulcans, who top out at 6-6.

“Um, probably North Carolina’s approach against us,” Johnson replied with a laugh.

The now-No. 4 Heels, who are playing in the Maui Invitational, bested UH on the backboards 46-23, the main difference in an otherwise competitive game that went 83-68 to UNC on Friday.

Johnson didn’t want to use UNC’s superior size and athleticism as an excuse. But now he and UH’s other bigs will turn to those same advantages for this 7 p.m. tipoff at the Stan Sheriff Center.

“I mean, we gotta stay aggressive, we gotta box out, we gotta be aggressors on the boards,” he said. “If we have them outsized and outweighed, then we gotta take advantage of that and impose our will down low.”

Hawaii (2-2) has outrebounded its three other opponents an average margin of 3.3. Emphasis on rebounding is a constant under second-year coach Eran Ganot.

Manoa and Hilo have made it an annual affair; it’s the fourth straight year they’ve played in the regular season. This time, it officially counts on both ends because Hilo needed the game to fill out its schedule. Previously, the Vulcans counted it as an exhibition on their side.

“Just like last year, they’re extremely well coached. They don’t beat themselves,” observed Hilo coach GE Coleman, now in his fourth season. “They’re unselfish and I think it was even Roy Williams the other night who said, ‘Noah Allen was a man out there.’ You could argue he was the best player on the floor the other night.”

Allen, UH’s 6-7 small forward, is averaging teams highs of 17.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting 47.5 percent.

The Vulcans have a pair of players who can fill it up in 6-4 guard Parker Farris (27.3 ppg) and 6-6 forward Darius Johnson-Wilson (20.3 ppg).

Hilo showed some offensive prowess in a 1-2 road trip to the state of Washington, averaging 85.7 points per game while starting four guards. Coleman’s team is playing its first contest of the season in the islands.

UHH was picked to finish 10th out of 14 teams in the PacWest Conference.

“As far as an identity, I think they’re still trying to form one,” Coleman said of his players. “I hope we hang our hat on being tough, hard-working and unselfish. They’ve definitely shown in the three games they’re unselfish. If we can continue to grow on that until we get to league, I think that’s good for us.”

UH’s Johnson (10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg) is determined not to overlook the Vulcans, who haven’t won a game against the Rainbow Warriors in eight official meetings. After all, he knows what it was like to be an overlooked underdog against Carolina.

“We didn’t go into that game thinking, ‘Hey, let’s stick around and show people we can play,’ “ Johnson said. “We were thinking, ‘Hey, let’s win this game.’ So we’re disappointed with the loss but trying to bounce back, and how we bounce back is taking care of Hilo.”