Rainbows find a way

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. >> Hawaii needed the best offensive performance of Stefan Jankovic’s collegiate career to overcome a season high in turnovers and the loss of a major scoring threat.

Jankovic scored a career-best 34 points to lead the Rainbow Warriors to a 69-63 victory over Cal State Northridge on Thursday night in front of 1,683 at the Matadome.

UH used its fifth consecutive win and 13th in 14 contests to extend its lead in the Big West Conference to one game over idle UC Irvine, which will host the Rainbow Warriors on Saturday night in a nationally televised showdown for first place.

But UH (21-3, 10-1 BWC) might play without swingman Aaron Valdes, who saw no action against Northridge (9-17, 4-8). Valdes, the team’s second-leading scorer at 14.4 points, has been ill this week. Coach Eran Ganot waited until the warm-ups before Thursday night’s game to decide whether to use Valdes.

“You could tell he wasn’t quite there,” Ganot said. “He hadn’t practiced at all in the last couple of days. He’s getting better but we wanted to be smart about it. We’ll see how it is tomorrow.”

Jankovic more than compensated for Valdes’ absence. The 6-foot-11 Serbian made 12 of 13 shots, including two of three from 3-point range, and converted eight of 10 free throws. The junior dominated the second half, when he scored 19 points, before finishing with eight rebounds and two blocks.

“They pretty much ran the offense through me,” Jankovic said. “That gives you all the confidence in the world.”

Ganot believes Jankovic’s career performance reflects his improved versatility.

“He became more balanced as an offensive threat,” Ganot said. “He picks his shots better. He gets to the free-throw line. He’s gotten strong. Everyone talks about how he prefers the perimeter and wanders over to the perimeter. I didn’t want to take that away because he’s really good there.

“But when you see him do work in the post, you realize that this guy is vastly underrated inside. He’s got tremendous footwork, he’s big and he can finish with both hands.”

Replacing Valdes in the starting lineup was freshman Sheriff Drammeh, who played a career-high 27 minutes and contributed three points, two rebounds and two assists. He also took two charges.

“He doesn’t look scared in big moments,” Ganot said. “He’s always had this chip on his shoulder. He might lead the country in taking charges. He has tremendous belief and he did another tremendous job in terms of his composure.”

Despite Drammeh’s poise and Jankovic’s production, the ‘Bows committed 20 turnovers that led to 14 of Northridge’s points — and needed Sai Tummala’s 3-point basket with 50.1 seconds left to earn their program-best fifth successive road victory to start conference play.

“They’re a hard defense,” said Jankovic, who had eight of the turnovers. “They’re scrappy and they were getting after it.”

With UH holding a 43-34 advantage, the Matadors struck. The hosts relied on four turnovers to ignite a 16-2 blitz that put them ahead, 50-45, with 8:01 to play. Northridge used those turnovers to score eight points during the surge.

The ‘Bows regained a 58-53 lead after Roderick Bobbitt and Quincy Smith each made a pair of free throws with 4:10 remaining. The Matadors’ Tre Hale-Edmerson received a technical foul after fouling out hitting Smith hard from behind as Smith drove to the basket on a fast break. Bobbitt converted the free throws resulting from the technical, and Smith followed with two more foul shots.

Then with 1:07 to go, Northridge’s Aaron Parks made the first of two free throws to narrow the deficit to 62-61. Jankovic fouled Jerron Wilbut as both went for the rebound of Parks’ missed foul shot, and Wilbut converted both free throws one second later to give the Matadors a 63-62 lead.

On UH’s ensuing possession, Jankovic passed from the top of the lane to Drammeh on the left wing. Drammeh quickly passed to Tummala in the left corner, and Tummala made his pivotal 3-pointer to put UH ahead, 65-63.

“I played off the ball in that position,” Tummala said. “Jankovic was playing really well and I think the play was going to go to him. They helped a little too much on him. We got some extra passes and I was in a lucky position to be open. Honestly, I kind of blacked out when I shot it. I just focused on the rim. It was a shot we needed and I’m just glad I hit it.”

Parks had a chance to tie the score with 42 seconds left but missed a shot under the basket. Tummala grabbed the rebound, and Smith ended the ’Bows ensuing possession with a putback dunk with 13.3 seconds remaining to extend the lead to 67-63.

“When we were down five in the last couple of minutes, I thought we were nails,” Ganot said. “Our foundation is about defending and rebounding. That’s been a great trend for us recently, and that’s why we could survive 20 turnovers.”

In the Battle of the Brothers Smith, UH’s Quincy finished with eight points, six rebounds, an assist and a steal in 32 minutes. Northridge’s Kendall, a transfer from UNLV, led the Matadors with 13 points and added three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 32 minutes. UH’s Mike Thomas secured a game-high 11 rebounds and Bobbitt passed for seven assists.

BIG WEST MEN

Thursday

Hawaii 69, CSUN 63

Cal Poly 58, UC Davis 53

UC Santa Barbara 65, UC Riverside 55

Saturday

Hawaii at UC Irvine, 6:30 p.m., HST

CSUN at Cal Poly

UC Davis at UC Santa Barbara

Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State

Hawaii 69, Cal State Northridge 63

Key — fg-a: field goals made-attempted; ft-a: free throws made-attempted; r: rebounds; pf: personal fouls; pts: total points; a: assists; to: turnovers; min: minutes played.

Halftime — Hawaii 32, Cal State Northridge 26

3-point goals — Hawaii 6-18 (Jankovic 2-3, Tummala 2-3, Thomas 1-2, Drammeh 1-3, Fleming 0-2, Smith 0-2, Bobbitt 0-3). Cal State Northridge 1-14 (Smith 1-4, Dawson 0-1, Hale-Edmerson 0-2, Wilbut 0-3, Warren 0-4). Steals — Hawaii 2 (Bobbitt, Smith). Cal State Northridge 7 (Parks 3, Smith 2, Warren 2). Blocked shots — Hawaii 2 (Jankovic 2). Cal State Northridge 1 (Warren).

Turnovers — Hawaii 20 (Jankovic 8, Smith 5, Bobbitt 2, Jovanovic 2, Thomas 2, Fleming). Cal State Northridge 11 (Hale-Edmerson 2, Parks 2, Richardson 2, Warren 2, Dawson, Douglas, Smith). Technical fouls — Cal State Fullerton 1 (Hale-Edmerson). Officials — Verne Harris, Frank Harvey, Jeff Ketchu. A — 1,683.