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BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
The Hawaii bench reacts on a three point shot in the first half of the UC Irvine vs University of Hawaii men’s basketball game at Stan Sheriff Center.
Hawaii used a record-breaking shooting display and stifling defense against 7-foot-6 Mamadou Ndiaye on Thursday to move into sole possession of first place in the Big West men’s basketball race.
A turnstile crowd announced as 8,578 at the Stan Sheriff Center saw the Rainbow Warriors beat UC Irvine 74-52 after taking control with a 16-4 run in the first half and never relinquishing the momentum.
UH improved to 8-1 in the conference and 19-3 overall while the Anteaters fell to 7-2 and 18-7.
Roderick Bobbitt scored a game-high 23 points, including 18 on 3-pointers. Hawaii tied the school record with 14 made shots from beyond the arc on 28 attempts.
The strategy of shooting from outside negated the shot-blocking ability of Ndiaye. Ndiaye had no blocks for only the second time this season in 24 games, and was coming off an eight-block performance in Irvine’s last game, a win Feb. 3 against Cal Poly.
UH also kept Ndiaye from doing much on offense (10 points, 2.6 below his average) through a combination of denying him the ball and challenging him hard when he did get it.
It was a team effort in containing Ndiaye. Even 6-foot backup guard Niko Filipovich got in the act, tying him up for a jump ball that went in UH’s favor. That led to the first of two consecutive 3-pointers by Sai Tummala, part of what turned out to be the decisive run; it also included two treys by Bobbitt and gave Hawaii a 25-13 lead.
Ndiaye, who averages seven rebounds and 24.3 minutes per game, had just four in 20 minutes.
Aaron Valdes finished with 16 points and Tummala added 12 for UH.
Luke Nelson led Irvine with 11.
Hawaii hosts Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.
Absolutely great “D”
Great victory for a truly great UH team. Man, this must be a tough night for the haters to have to climb out from under their rocks.
Nice to see the ‘Bows in a break-out performance; now not to get too ahead of “ourselves” & play a team at a time. The near-term goal is to lead the Big West to the Conference tournament, & then take the Tournament. The rest will be gravy! Go Bows!
Meant to wake up at 1am-my time to listen to the game, however, I missed it by 3hrs & 45minutes.
Needless to say, maybe it was meant to be; GO RAINBOW WARRIORS!!
This is why UH moved to weak a conference. Only if they don’t have football and UH could win every year TOO.
You’re such an a–. Had they stayed in the WAC or played in the MWC this team would still be at the top of the league. They are performing far more than the “never was & never will be” that you are. Never an athlete, just a couch potato critic who was never good enough to play competitively. If you ever have the nerve to contact me directly I can be found at jimmyhouse67@aol.com. Grow a set will you, NANCY?!!
Believe you got your direction backwards because what is coming out sure isn’t from your front.
This was our first LIVE game that we went to and the place was rockin’. Way to go Bows!