UH men’s hoops tops Hawaii Pacific

Playing without its floor general, Hawaii made the requisite battlefield adjustments to defeat a second local Division II hoops opponent this week.

UH (7-1) beat Hawaii Pacific 83-71 tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center, remaining perfect at home heading into the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic despite missing point guard Roderick Bobbitt for the first time this season. Bobbitt did not dress to play and watched the game on the bench.

A UH team spokesman said before the game, “The team is working through some issues with Roderick Bobbitt.”

Despite that, UH blew a tight game wide open with a 17-0 run over a five-minute span of the second half.

The teams were tied at halftime.

Sophomore Isaac Fleming stepped into the starting lineup for the third time in his career and recorded 16 points on 7-for-13 shooting with four assists.

Forward Stefan Jankovic scored a career-high 29 points, while Aaron Valdes dished a career-best seven assists. Guard Quincy Smith added 10 points and seven rebounds.

HPU went on a late 10-0 run to trim its 22-point deficit and got within 11 points. A late 3 by Nikola Urli cut it to 10.

Valdes went scoreless in the first half after ringing up a season-high 33 in a 19-point win over Hawaii Hilo on Tuesday. Valdes, UH’s top scorer for the season, finished with 12.

Valdes’ first basket of the game came on a baseline drive with 15:25 to play, kicking off the game-breaking spurt for the hosts.

Guard Trevor Baker led the Sharks with 15 points off the bench.

The teams swapped the lead six times in the first half before settling for a 31-all tie at the break.