Warrior basketball team hopes to rise up to the challenge

An opening-night victory was a positive first step for the Hawaii basketball team and its new head coach.

Eran Ganot is fully aware the competition in the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic only figures to get tougher from here.

"Montana State was a concern for us, and now we’ve put it aside," Ganot said of Friday’s 87-76 win. "(But) whenever you talk about other teams, you always have to start with us. Because if we don’t fix some of the things we did, we’ll be in trouble."

While the Bobcats were coming off a 7-23 season, Coastal Carolina, UH’s opponent today, is the two-time Big South Conference tournament defending champion and put up 24 wins last year.

The Chanticleers lost a physical battle with athletic Nevada of the Mountain West on Friday, 73-56. After facing CCU, Hawaii caps the round-robin tourney against the Wolf Pack late Monday, 11 p.m., as part of the annual ESPN College Hoops Tip-off Marathon.

Although UH didn’t close out the Bobcats especially well — MSU cut a 26-point second-half deficit to 11 thanks in part to some poor free-throw shooting by the Rainbows — there were some strong individual performances.

Point guard Roderick Bobbitt handed out 14 assists, the third-highest total in recorded program history and most since Victor Kelly had 18 against Centenary on Feb. 22, 1975.

That was on the heels of a 15-assist outing in a preseason exhibition win over Chaminade — which didn’t officially count.

Bobbitt, the reigning Big West Defensive Player of the Year, also had five steals and five rebounds in 39 minutes Friday, while committing just two turnovers.

"(He’s) playing a lot of minutes, and we did that at Saint Mary’s," Ganot said. "We expected a lot out of our point guards. It is, without question, the hardest position to play. You have to run your team, you have to be an extension of your coach, you have to defend, you’ve gotta do it all. Those special guys want that responsibility. For Rod to do that and take care of the ball like he did in a 39-minute effort … we gave him a blow and he still wanted to go in."

Big man Stefan Jankovic had a 15-point, 11-rebound effort, the second double-double of his career, while swingman Aaron Valdes added 18 points and newcomer Sai Tummala 17.

One of the biggest questions going into the game was sophomore guard Isaac Fleming, who missed a chunk of the preseason due to "personal issues."

Fleming played 22 minutes off the bench, scoring six on 2-for-6 shooting with two steals and two turnovers.

"He had to get out there first. You could feel the rust," Ganot said. "He didn’t get an exhibition game. He needs reps, and … in terms of getting him out there, (this) was a step in the right direction."

While Ganot is just cutting his teeth as a head coach, Coastal Carolina’s Cliff Ellis ranks among the most experienced in the game.

Ellis ranks ninth among active Division I head coaches in victories with 692. He is the only coach in NCAA history to notch 150 wins each at four D-I programs (South Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Coastal Carolina).

Friday’s setback was only the second season-opening loss for the Chants since 2009. NCAA Tournament-seasoned CCU is adjusting to life without last season’s top two scorers, guards Warren Gillis and Josh Cameron.

"I thought we missed those two guys without question," Ellis said. "You can see our scoring was not where it needed to be. Fifty-six points is not enough. We gotta learn to adjust without those guys."

Senior forward Badou Diagne led the way against the Wolf Pack with 15 points. He hit three 3-pointers to open the second half for a 34-25 Chants lead, but the physical Pack shut CCU down the rest of the way while scoring 52 points in the period.

"We had three straight turnovers and they turned them into buckets, and I thought the turnovers (17), especially late in the game … were big," Ellis said.

While three teams in the Classic had the day off from games, Montana State continued play at the Sheriff on Saturday. It edged Hawaii Hilo 90-85.

UH last met Coastal on Nov. 26, 2004, a 72-65 home victory. Forward Jeff Blackett scored 22 points and the ‘Bows rallied from an 18-point hole with 14:20 to play to give Riley Wallace his 300th career victory.