UH, UC Irvine set for hair-raising battle

Few things are more fitting than a Battle of the ‘Fros on " ’70s Disco Night."

The retro hair styles of Hawaii freshman Isaac Fotu and UC Irvine senior Michael Wilder will be on full display at 7 tonight, when the Rainbow Warriors and Anteaters square off at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The UH students’ well-timed theme comes as UH (14-9, 8-4 BWC) looks to match its longest winning streak under third-year coach Gib Arnold. The Rainbow Warriors won their fourth straight on Thursday, a 94-73 victory over Long Beach State, to pull within 11⁄2 games of the first-place 49ers and into a virtual tie for second with Pacific.

A victory over fourth-place UC Irvine (12-12, 6-5) would also give Arnold his 50th win at UH.

The first matchup of the most-out-there hair in the Big West was a quiet affair, with Fotu and Wilder combining for just 11 points in a 68-64 Anteaters win on Jan. 9. Arnold joked that Wilder (seven points) received the gold medal and Fotu (four points) the silver that game.

"Fotu’s young. He’s still got time," Arnold said.

"I don’t want to use an excuse, but I was sick last time we played," Fotu said. "So I’m going to come out and (we’ll) hopefully win that game. We’re playing well, much better than we were at Irvine. We watched video of that game and it was terrible. Hopefully we can come out with more effort and energy, and hopefully our ‘fro will win."

Turnovers were a problem late in that tight contest, after UH took good care of the ball in four straight road games over the past two weeks and again in a 53-point first half against the 49ers.

"It was beautiful. Everything was clicking for us out there, everything was falling," freshman guard Brandon Jawato said.

Then, UH regressed.

Long Beach State went into full-court scramble mode once it fell behind by 33 at halftime, and forced 18 of UH’s season-high-tying 23 turnovers after the break. It was the most intense pressure the ‘Bows had seen in Big West play.

"We haven’t been pressed a lot, and not a lot of teams press," Arnold said after Friday’s team practice. "That was out of necessity. It’s tough to press 40 minutes, you’re going to get worn down. That was a thing to get those (Long Beach State) guys going, which was successful for eight, nine minutes.

"We obviously worked on that today, not to be caught off guard again."

The deficit got down to 14 points before UH finally advanced the ball consistently enough to win the game. Long Beach State had 19 steals, a UH opponent season high.

"I think we’re prepared for the press," Jawato said. "Last game, we hadn’t worked on press that much … so we’ll be ready to take that on if UC Irvine decides to press us."

Anteaters coach Russell Turner did not say if that would be in his team’s game plan, but he called Long Beach State’s 19 steals against UH a "shocking statistic."

He was more concerned with the big picture, though.

"Long Beach beat the hell out of us. Hawaii did that to them last night," Turner said. "Give them credit, they’re playing well. They’ve fought their way into some momentum by winning on the road. It’s not easy. I respect what they’re doing. We’re obviously going to have to play well here to beat them."

The Anteaters were dealt a 70-61 setback at Cal State Northridge on Thursday.

Guard Daman Starring is the only UC Irvine player averaging double figures at 13.3 ppg. Five others average between 9.5 and 7.6 points, including Wilder.

"They’re that type of team that will out-hustle you and be real physical with you," UH assistant Brandyn Akana said. "They came out and outhustled us that game."

UH’s hustle machine, reigning Big West Player of the Week Christian Standhardinger, is coming off 20 points and 13 rebounds against Long Beach State for his third double-double in the past four games. Senior swingman Hauns Brereton scored 21 for his first game with 20 or more since the season opener.

Senior center Vander Joaquim had 18 points against the 49ers to pass both Anthony Carter (1,070) and Tom Henderson (1,082) on the UH career scoring list. Joaquim is 11th with 1,085 and needs 42 points to move into the top 10.

UC Irvine has won the past four meetings in the series after UH won the first three all in 1972.