Hawaii and Northern Iowa have more in common than just the services of the late athletic director Stan Sheriff.
Neither team is especially jumping for joy at the prospect of playing the other in the opening round of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic at Sheriff’s namesake arena in today’s nightcap.
Sheriff was the football coach, then athletic director at UNI between 1960 and 1982.
“We got the short straw. They are good,” Panthers coach Ben Jacobson said Monday of facing the host Rainbow Warriors. “They test you everywhere. They test you in rebounding, they test you in transition. They test you with their offensive capability, different guys that drive it and attack the rim. What’s the most impressive is their experience level, how hard they play. It doesn’t appear to be any time in the game where you can relax, because they’re always testing you.”
The Rainbows will have to ace their own three-part exam if they are to contend for their first Diamond Head title in the event’s seven years. As usual, the winner of the eight-team tournament must win three times in four days, capped off with a Christmas Day showdown.
The tournament again will be televised on the ESPN family of networks.
UH (7-1) is undefeated at the Sheriff in seven games this season, but faces its toughest test so far in the Panthers, who’ve taken down two top-five teams — then-No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 21, and No. 5 Iowa State just before flying out to Honolulu.
“I think they’re going to get a lot of attention for what they’ve done this year and obviously recently,” first-year UH coach Eran Ganot said. “But this is a program, year in and year out … they compete on both sides of the ball.”
The Panthers (7-3) haven’t missed a beat after losing three starters from last year’s 31-win outfit, including Missouri Valley Player of the Year Seth Tuttle.
Point guard Wes Washpun has stepped forward to lead UNI. He posted career bests of 28 points and 11 assists in the 81-79 win over in-state rival ISU on Saturday.
UNI is one of the most prolific 3-point shooting teams in the country, and certainly the best in that regard, UH has faced so far this season. The Panthers make an average of 9.7 triples a game at a 42.4 percent clip. UH, meanwhile, converts just 31 percent of its 3s.
Assistant coach Adam Jacobsen said the first keys to stopping UNI’s four-out attack will be in transition defense and on ball screen penetration.
“Their point guard Washpun is such a good penetrator, that you have to deal with him, No. 1,” Jacobsen said. “I mean, one of the reasons they beat North Carolina and Iowa State is he just got to the rim. … It sucks in your defense and now they’ve got three shooters out there they can kick to at all times.”
The Rainbows have had 10 days since their last game, a 12-point win over Division II Hawaii Pacific, to stew on their most difficult stretch of the nonconference season. Over that span, point guard Roderick Bobbitt returned to the starting rotation after being sidelined for the HPU game for unexplained reasons. Bobbitt has been unavailable for interviews since.
His return likely means a trip back to the bench for sophomore Isaac Fleming, who’s played the best stretch of ball in his career — 16.8 points over the past four games. His other best stretch was during last year’s DHC, when he made the all-tournament team.
“Basically just pick up where I left off at, plus more,” Fleming said. “So, just looking to have a great tournament and bring home the championship.”
The Rainbows follow up today’s game by facing either No. 3 Oklahoma or the Pac-12’s Washington State on Wednesday.
UNI’s Jacobson signed on for the DHC after speaking to other Missouri Valley coaches who’ve participated here, including Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall, whose team edged UH in a thrilling semifinal last year.
It’s unlikely the Panthers will let up after their second defining win of pre-conference play.
“We’ve got three seniors on the team with (Paul) Jesperson, (Matt) Bohannon and Washpun … they understand you’ve got to be prepared,” Jacobson said. “I think that’s the most important thing for us. Is having guys in the locker room that are able to lead that charge, and keep guys on task if you will.”
DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC DAY 1
Today at Stan Sheriff Center
>> Game 1: Auburn vs. New Mexico, 9:30 a.m.
>> Game 2: BYU vs. Harvard, 11:30 a.m.
>> Game 3: No. 3 Oklahoma vs. Washington State, 6 p.m.
>> Game 4: Northern Iowa at Hawaii, 8 p.m.
>> TV: ESPNU
>> Radio: UH on KKEA, 1420-AM