UH men advance to face Long Beach in Big West final
DARRELL MIHO / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER
UH Rainbow Warrior’s Sheriff Drammeh goes in strong against UC Santa Barbara Gaucho’s Dajuan Smith during a semifinal game at the Big West Tournament tonight at the Honda Center. UH won the game 88-76.
ANAHEIM, CALIF. >> Hawaii is back in the Big West championship game.
For the second straight day, the top-seeded Rainbow Warriors used a huge run to open the second half, this time defeating No. 4 UC Santa Barbara 88-76 in the Big West tournament semifinals today at the Honda Center.
UH (26-5) turned to its all-conference performers to get it done. Forward Stefan Jankovic scored 24 points, point guard Roderick Bobbitt added 21 and second-team wing Aaron Valdes 19. They combined to shoot 21-for-38 from the field.
All three were present for last year’s 67-58 season-ending loss to UC Irvine in the Big West title game.
“These guys have fought long and hard to get back here,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “Very happy for them right now, and obviously we’ve got to enjoy it for a second and get ready for a big one.”
The ’Bows will play No. 3 Long Beach State in Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. title game televised on ESPN2. The 49ers beat No. 2 seed UC Irvine 77-72 in tonight’s second semifinal.
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UCSB (18-13) saw its nine-game winning streak snapped. The Gauchos lost all three games against UH this season. First-team wing Michael Bryson had 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Gauchos.
The Rainbows shot 52 percent from the field and converted 27 of 37 free-throw attempts to stave off UCSB’s second-half comeback bid.
Valdes had 10 rebounds and seven assists. Bobbitt had six boards, five assists, four turnovers. The point guard’s four steals boosted his UH career record to 167.
Bryson tied it up on a 3 just before halftime, but Bobbitt answered with a deep 3 of his own to beat the buzzer for a 37-34 halftime lead. UH kept it going on the other side, a 24-3 run to break the game open. Bobbitt nailed four 3s during the spurt.
“After I hit that one right before halftime, I felt really, really good,” Bobbitt said. “I came out (in the second half), shot one and it dropped, shot another one and it felt good. I hit the last one and it felt good, and the next two I airballed, so I figured I should (be) passing a little bit more. But that was a big shift in the game.”
The Gauchos went to desperation trapping and got a 21-point deficit down to nine late in the game.
Starting guard Quincy Smith left the game in the first half with an apparent hip injury. He did not return. Ganot did not have an immediate update on his status for the title game.
20 responses to “UH men advance to face Long Beach in Big West final”
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Good win for the men, they played well enough to win this one. I think tomorrow night, they play much more focused and nothing is going to stop them from this championship…not even allie or HOSSANA..LOL
Go Rainbow Warriors. This is the year!
Ccchhhee-hhhuuuu!!!!!
Where was Q?
Hope the injury to Q is not significant. The Bows do need another steady ball handler, who can penetrate and score. Drammeh is just a freshman, and his dribbling is an adventure. Too bad Fleming was such a head case. For the most part, great collapsing defense and for the Bows to win, 3 of our guys have to have good scoring games – mainly Janks, Bobbitt, and Valdes. Time to close the deal. Go Bows!
Bobbitt tweaked a knee or an ankle? Q brings all kinds of energy to this team – it would suck if he’s out.
Spoke W/Quincy after game & he said he’s alright and will be ready for the Championship game tomorrow. Go Bow’s!
Four more wins to the Sweet Sixteen! You gotta believe! Go Bows ! Go Bows! Go Bows,
thanks for the update!
Appreciative of the good news; We do need Q!
Good win, wish them the best for tomorrow. Team plays much better without Fleming. You can feel the love and the energy coming off of the bench. Everyone’s happy.
Who’s Fleming?
Seemingly LBSU would be the better opponent because Hawaii would have a bigger chip on their shoulder than if we played UC-Irvine. We won versus Irvine twice while losing to the 49ers twice, this year. It seems likely that the revenge factor would be more prevalent in the LBSU matchup because it is unlikely that one team could beat another three times in a row, especially now with Eran Ganot installed as the UH Head Coach, which is a long-awaited much needed improvement over Gibson Department Stores, which shut down in Mapunapuna years ago due to the influx of Costco (COST, Nasdaq), into Salt Lake in 1988.
You may get your wish but right now Long Beach is winning and playing very well. UH matches up better against UC Irvine, even the announcers have noted that.
At least UH has gotten much better the second time around as they improved their free throw % and field goal % against Long Beach in the second game. Hopefully UH can win the rebounding and three point % battle in the championship game, which be a key to victory. I’m also expecting this game to be very physical–so Ganot has to look out for flagrant fouls and contest them so that The Beach will have to beat UH fair and square. Go ‘Bows!
39-30 LBS at the half; & they look more physical and motivated. Really don’t care for the homey broadcasters – praising UCI & discounting Hawaii – even talking up the fact the the Bows lost twice to LBS. I agree, this is the match-up we want!
Si se puede con Valdes! Vivan los Rainbows… mais para a frente!
Sheriff Drammeh has to step up big time, time to grow up.
Hi-ho, Hi-ho, it’s off to work we go; LB we’ve got your number. You next.
Janks did a good job not getting into early foul trouble, and topped it off with his scoring. Tummala, what happened to your 3’s??
Overall, our Warriors needed this win; now with the wind behind their sails, going full on, no stopping them.
Head Coach Ganot has “The Best Assistants” in the BWC.
Thank you very much!