77
The Hawaii men’s basketball team’s seeding for next week’s Big West tournament was settled today, with the Rainbow Warriors receiving the fifth seed and a first-round matchup with UC Irvine.
Irvine (18-14, 11-7), the fourth seed, overcame a 19-point halftime deficit at UC Davis and won 88-85 to make the pairing happen. Elsewise, UH (17-14, 10-8) would have received the sixth seed and met No. 3 Cal Poly in the first round.
UH and UCI split their meetings in the regular season, with each team winning at home. The Anteaters won in Irvine, 68-64, on Jan. 9 and the Rainbow Warriors took the Honolulu matchup 78-72 on Feb. 9.
The teams will play at roughly 6:30 Hawaii time on Thursday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
