Rainbows fail to seal the deal

RIVERSIDE, Calif. >> Imitation can be more than the sincerest form of flattery. For Hawaii’s opponent Saturday night, it provided the key to ending a seven-year losing streak.

UC Riverside used defensive intensity to rally from an early 13-point deficit and emerge with a 66-62 victory over the Rainbow Warriors.

UH lost to the Highlanders for the first time since 2008 — and for the first time ever in Big West Conference play.

“We’ve got to get off the mat,” said Rainbows coach Benjy Taylor, whose team returns to the Stan Sheriff Center to play UC Davis and UC Irvine this week before facing its next four Big West opponents on the road.

UH (13-6, 1-2) combined defensive pressure with Stefan Jankovic’s offense to build a 27-14 lead with 7:41 left in the first half. The ’Bows made five steals while forcing 10 turnovers that resulted in nine first-half points.

The visitors also stifled Taylor Johns, Riverside’s leading scorer, who began the game averaging 16.4 points per game. Johns did not score until he made a free throw with 5:44 left in the first half — and did not make a basket until he converted a two-handed slam dunk 4:26 before halftime.

Meanwhile, Jankovic scored 12 of his career-high 17 points in the first 7 minutes, 56 seconds.

The 6-foot-11 Jankovic replaced Negus Webster-Chan, who did not travel to California because of a virus.

Stefan Jovanovic joined Jankovic in the starting lineup as a replacement for Garrett Nevels, who missed his third consecutive game while recovering from surgery on his right thumb.

“When you take two starters off any team in the country,” Taylor said, “you’re going to struggle.”

Those struggles began when UH held its 13-point lead. Riverside ended the first half with a 14-4 blitz that narrowed the halftime deficit to 31-28.

In the second half, the Highlanders (9-9, 2-2) responded to UH’s quick pace by increasing the tempo. Riverside attacked the Rainbows’ zone defense and became more aggressive in stripping balls, forcing jump balls and pursuing loose balls.

Attacking UH’s zone enabled the Highlanders to shoot 55 percent in the second half. 

The teams exchanged the lead seven times in the second half before UH took a 56-54 lead with 3:58 to play. But Steven Thornton made two free throws to tie the score with 3:41 left, then Riverside moved ahead.

Austin Quick made a steal, drove the length of the court and made a reverse lay-in to give the Highlanders a 58-56 lead with  3:19 remaining.

Jankovic’s jumper with 2:14 to go tied the score at 58, but Riverside’s Jaylen Bland responded with a 3-point shot with 1:38 left. 

Roderick Bobbitt’s two free throws with 22.6 seconds to play drew UH within 63-62. Yet even after Bland converted two more foul shots with 22 seconds left, the Warriors had two chances to tie or win.

Bobbitt took the ensuing inbounds pass, dribbled the length of the court and fired a floater that Johns blocked out of bounds with 15.5 seconds remaining. After Taylor called a timeout to organize the inbounds play in the frontcourt, Bobbitt passed to Isaac Fleming just inside the sideline.

But Fleming took an off-balance shot from 3-point range that glanced off the rim and fell to Johns with 13 seconds to play.