Air Force ends UH’s season

Vander Joaquim called it a season with 15 minutes left. Not long after, his Hawaii teammates were done as well.

Air Force buried 15 3-pointers, then the Rainbow Warriors for 2012-13 with a 69-65 victory in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament on Wednesday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Gib Arnold’s team could not replicate its second-round CIT showing of 2011. UH (17-15) saw its season officially come to an end with a four-game losing streak.

A crowd of a little more than 3,000 saw the ‘Bows rally from a 14-point deficit in the opening moments and take a three-point halftime lead. Then, much like Hawaii’s season, things unraveled down the stretch.

Falcons guard Mike Fitzgerald went 6-for-10 from deep for 25 points. He iced the win with two free throws with 7.3 seconds left once Hauns Brereton’s left-wing 3-point look to go ahead with 17 seconds left was off the mark.

"Well-executed good shot from the player I wanted to shoot it," Arnold said of the final UH play coming out of a timeout, which was set up by an open-court steal by Garrett Jefferson.

"Just pleased. I’m not hanging my head on this one. I enjoyed coaching that group. … just too bad we couldn’t hit one more shot."

In a preview of what the UH frontcourt should look like next season, two-thirds of Hawaii’s "Big Three" played well as the bulk of UH’s 30-12 points-in-the-paint advantage against the lean Falcons. Freshman forward Isaac Fotu had 24 points on 10-for-14 shooting off the bench with nine rebounds and three blocks. Junior forward Christian Standhardinger added 16 points and eight boards as the two 6-foot-8 posts worked well together for much of the game.

But senior center Joaquim had one of his worst outings in his finale to a three-year career in Manoa. He had two points, two rebounds and three turnovers in seven minutes.

Just five minutes into the second half, he picked up a personal foul, then a technical foul for shoving an Air Force player. Joaquim went over by the UH bench and had a discussion with Arnold. Then, he walked out of a Sheriff Center tunnel and left the building.

"He just got really frustrated. He’s an emotional kid to begin with," Arnold said. "I think he just … I haven’t talked to him, but he got really frustrated, wasn’t playing great.

"He just left."

The visitors from the elite Mountain West Conference were down a man, too. The Falcons were without All-MWC guard Michael Lyons for the first time this season. But they soldiered on in their Princeton-style offense and solved a few different types of defenses — zone, box-and-1, fullcourt pressure — UH tossed out.

UH’s interior play was solid, but the Falcons had the superior firepower. They shot 15-for-31 on 3s, tying a season high in makes to pick up the first road win in the service academy’s postseason history.

In contrast, UH mustered only 5-for-23 (21.7 percent) on 3-pointers against Air Force’s predominant zone.

"Thank God we did (shoot like that), because they’re strong inside," Falcons coach Dave Pilipovich said. "I love Fotu. Gosh, he’s a great player. So much respect for their team and playing here. It was a great game for us, and great for our (five) seniors playing without Mike Lyons."

Fotu and Standhardinger were in high spirits in the postgame. They agreed this loss felt better than the 71-60 defeat to UC Irvine in the Big West first round last week. Few thought UH would be playing in the postseason, including the ‘Bows themselves.

"To be honest, if it finished like the Irvine game, I wouldn’t have been happy at all," said Fotu, who tied it up for the last time at 43 on a three-point play with 12:20 to play. "Finishing like this was fun for us. We got better I think. Some positive things to work on for next year. We know what we can do now when we work together."

UH was also buoyed by the return of junior guard Brandon Spearman, who hadn’t played in the previous five games with a sprained ankle. Spearman supplied eight points and seven boards in 32 minutes.

"The game was amazing. We lost, but we all had fun, we all battled," Standhardinger said. "It was fun watching this freshman (Fotu) here playing like a beast down there."

UH’s first-half comeback from a 19-5 deficit had the makings of a great story for a time.

The Falcons commenced a bombing run in the game’s opening minutes, jumping out to a 14-point lead by virtue of a 5-for-6 shooting start from 3.

Spearman knocked down his first shot, a 3-pointer, and wound up playing 15 minutes in the half.

Arnold inserted walk-on Michael Harper, the team’s 12th man, looking for a spark.

Harper obliged. He picked off a Falcons pass, fed Spearman in the open court, and Spearman fed Standhardinger for his first dunk of the season. Harper improbably remained in for the rest of a 19-0 ‘Bows’ run.

"I probably had as much fun during that (run) as I ever have coaching," Arnold said.

Manroop Clair got a start in the backcourt, his sixth nod of the season and first since Jan. 24. He played only the first five minutes of the game.

The teams hadn’t met since 1997, when both were in the Western Athletic Conference.

Standhardinger and Fotu combined for 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting in the first half. Still, Air Force connected on eight 3-pointers in the period to stay within 34-31 at the break.

The Falcons soared back into the lead to open the second half with a 9-1 run.