UH’s Taylor tells team to get over it

WAILUKU » Hawaii coach Benjy Taylor did some fishing after Friday night’s Pitt stop on Maui.

"(The players) were thinking and talking about it a little too much. To be honest, we had to get them reeled in a little bit," Taylor said Saturday of the rousing 74-70 upset of the Pittsburgh Panthers the night before at War Memorial Gymnasium.

He told the team after the game it had only that night to enjoy the win.

"I don’t want to have any hangovers going into this game against San Francisco," he said. "We have to put that Pitt win behind us today."

UH (4-1) flew out from Maui to Dallas on Saturday night and was to catch a connecting flight to Fort Myers, Fla., site of the Gulf Coast Showcase eight-team tournament. The Rainbow Warriors open against San Francisco (2-0) in the first round Monday and will play successive games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It caps a stretch of eight games in 13 days to launch the 2014-15 season.

The players could be forgiven for savoring the unexpected (to outsiders, anyway) win against Pitt and former UH assistant coach Jamie Dixon, now in his 12th year leading the perennially successful Panthers. Pitt (2-1) of the Atlantic Coast Conference now must overcome shock and prepare for the EA Sports Maui Invitational that opens Monday at the Lahaina Civic Center. The Panthers meet host Chaminade (2-0) at 4 p.m.

"We still talk about it, we’re still hyped about it," UH forward Aaron Valdes said Saturday. "But I think we’re getting ready to move on. We had a little walkthrough this morning so it was good."

Taylor, who inherited head coaching duties at UH less than three weeks before the season opener, said he was pleased with the way his team came together, especially after a disappointing loss to High Point for the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic championship earlier in the week.

For fatigue reasons, Taylor elected to eschew practice Thursday night after the team arrived on Maui. It seemed to work, as UH came out fresh and aggressive the next night.

"I’m proud of them, and it’s been a lot of work to get them to this point," Taylor said. "They’ve responded. Not only are they playing very hard and together, we’re playing good basketball. … We have a very cerebral group, we have a very intelligent group."

UH shot 52.9 percent and committed only seven turnovers against the team picked to finish sixth in the ACC. It zoned defensively basically the whole way, helping keep UH’s bigs out of foul trouble. Of the seven ‘Bows to see heavy minutes, five scored in double figures and all seven made big plays affecting the outcome. Mike Thomas’ go-ahead dunk with 6:46 to play, Isaac Fleming’s and-1 layup followed by a 25-foot 3-pointer, and clutch free throws from Valdes and Garrett Nevels stood out late in the game.

The performance was not lost on athletic director Ben Jay, who celebrated the win on the court with delirious Maui fans in the immediate aftermath.

"It’s a result from a team that’s really played together," Jay said. "They really like each other and they played free. They’re ready to attack anyone. They won’t let anybody take ’em down."

Jay was asked if the victory affected Taylor’s long-term future with the program. Taylor, formerly the associate head coach, was named the interim head coach for only this season in the wake of Gib Arnold’s firing on Oct. 28.

"Right now it’s positive progress," Jay said. "One thing I want to stress for the team is for them to play for Benjy and to be able to play for each other, and they have been doing that."

Arnold, incidentally, appeared at the Pitt game and was seen cheering on his former players from the top row of the War Memorial stands.

The game itself (which was not televised) had a special feeling to it. Not only was Dixon going up against one of the programs that jump-started his successful career, but 1,200 Maui fans made their presence known in the small gym. There had been concerns about the crowd size the day before the game, as only a couple hundred tickets were sold in advance. But by tip-off, only a speck or two of the bleacher-style seating in the old gym was available.

Dozens of the appreciative fans lined up after the game to get autographs from the UH players.

"I’m proud of the crowd," Jay said. "I mean, what a reception we got here on Maui. It was a packed gym, it was loud, and I’m really excited the folks in Maui county really came out (Friday)."