Former University of Hawaii sharpshooter Michael Kuebler made a rare appearance at the Stan Sheriff Center on Thursday night.
It’s too bad the Rainbow Warriors couldn’t suit him up.
Coach Gib Arnold had his team focusing on defense this week in practice, and rightfully so.
"It’s not offense that’s going to win the conference," he told them.
But make no mistake — it was the offensive end that betrayed UH in its 75-64 home loss to UC Santa Barbara that dropped Hawaii a notch below the contenders in the Big West.
It’s too bad, because it wasn’t really that much what the Gauchos — preseason favorites to win the conference — did to the Rainbow Warriors that determined the outcome.
It was a night where the shots just wouldn’t fall for nearly anyone in a Hawaii uniform. The only player to make more than miss from the field was backup center Davis Rozitis, who was 2-for-3.
The season-low 36.8 percent from the floor was lower than the Rainbow Warriors have shot from 3-point land in several games.
"It’s one of those nights we didn’t make a lot of shots," forward Christian Standhardinger said. "And that’s where we lost the game, I think."
Alan Williams lived up to his reputation as perhaps the league’s best player, with his 10th double-double of the season. But he wasn’t out of control, and UH made him work for all 20 points and all 17 rebounds.
Standhardinger and Isaac Fotu rotated defensive responsibility on Williams. Even with help, Fotu said the defensive workload might have hurt his offense.
"It took a lot of energy to box him out and have energy on offense, on the other end," said Fotu, who led UH with 17 points but missed several chip shots.
Point guard Keith Shamburger is now 2-for-14 and 0-for-8 on 3-pointers in the past two games.
"I don’t think it’s anything technique-wise," Arnold said. "He’s a guy I want to shoot."
Hawaii’s defense was good enough to win, but an off shooting night by nearly the entire team left Arnold with no options for play-calling.
The Gauchos managed just 35 percent in the first half, and UH led 37-34. But UCSB beat the shot clock three times in the second half, frustrating Hawaii at key junctures.
UH’s shot selection wasn’t terrible, but a couple of untimely turnovers hurt its comeback chances after UCSB built a lead.
Despite Williams’ presence, rebounding was virtually even, as were turnovers. There really wasn’t a lot separating these teams Thursday except for Hawaii’s pathetic shooting.
As we said last week, there are no must-wins yet. But dropping two of the past three at home is definitely not a good sign for this team’s chances come tournament time.
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Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. Read his blog at staradvertiser.com/quickreads.
