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A few days out from senior night, the Hawaii basketball team is in wait-and-see mode for the availability of one of its elder statesmen.
Co-captain Mike Thomas, UH’s top man in points (13.5) and rebounds (6.1) per game, missed Saturday’s overtime win at UC Riverside with an undisclosed injury and was not an active participant in Monday’s team practice for the Rainbow Warriors (15-10, 6-6 Big West), who swept last week’s two-game road trip.
“I think we’ll find out more in the next couple days. He’s getting better. All I can say is he had an injury in the Irvine game (Thursday),” said UH coach Eran Ganot, who added it happened in the first half. “We’ve always taken great pride in making sure we do right by our guys and trusting our medical staff, and looking long term as well. I do think he’s closer. We’re getting some more information.”
UH plays its last two home games of the season this week, hosting Long Beach State (13-15, 7-5) on Thursday and UC Irvine (14-15, 9-4) on Saturday’s senior night.
Thomas and Gibson Johnson are UH’s only seniors. Until Saturday, Thomas hadn’t missed a game since late in the 2014-15 season, not including his injury redshirt year of 2016-17.
With 17:03 on the clock in the first half at Irvine, UCI forward Tommy Rutherford pivoted toward the basket and into Thomas. On his way up, his right arm and elbow made contact with Thomas’ throat and jaw. Thomas, staggered, went down to a knee and came out of the game.
Thomas returned by the 13-minute mark and ended up logging 23 minutes, scoring 10 points with seven rebounds. He was instrumental in the 62-61 win, as he converted eight of 11 free throws, including several down the stretch.
“Sometimes something can come up the next day,” Ganot said. “He was fine, he actually was fine in that game, and then the next day, heading towards practice, he had some discomfort there. So, we’ll always do right by him. We have a great medical group, obviously (athletic trainer) Jay Goo does a great job.”
UH prevailed 74-69 at Riverside while also getting only 10 minutes from Johnson because of foul trouble. Fellow big men Jack Purchase (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Zigmars Raimo (six points, five rebounds, five assists) stepped up in their stead.
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