Rainbow Warriors show off new shooters against BYU-Hawaii

For one night, it didn’t feel like a complete rebuild job.

The overhauled Hawaii basketball team displayed some offensive prowess in dispatching BYU-Hawaii 97-74 in a preseason exhibition on Thursday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The result against the Division II Seasiders — who are folding their program after this season — didn’t officially count. That comes Nov. 11, when UH opens the regular season against SIU-Edwardsville.

But 55 percent shooting on a roster that features 10 newcomers? Eran Ganot took that in a heartbeat.

“There have been breakthroughs. There’ve been struggles,” the second-year coach said of the preseason. “Our biggest thing is to fight through those struggles and enjoy moments like this.”

Six Rainbow Warriors scored in double figures: Sheriff Drammeh (19), Noah Allen (15), Leland Green (13), Matt Owies (12), Gibson Johnson (12) and Jack Purchase (11).

UH had an entirely new cast of characters operating its four-out, one-in offense, including all five starters. Drammeh made his debut at the point, Green got the nod at shooting guard, the UCLA transfer Allen was at small forward and Johnson and Purchase were dual power forwards.

After some fits and starts, the ’Bows built a 14-point halftime lead and blew the game wide open early in the second.

“I thought we moved the ball really well,” Allen said of UH’s 21 assists. “We only had 10 turnovers. Our goal is to get less than 11.”

After some shaky ball distribution in the first half, Drammeh sought out his shot aggressively in the second and finished shooting 7-for-10 with three assists and three turnovers. He rated his performance as “solid.”

“We always try to come out and compete,” said Drammeh, UH’s top active returnee from its 28-6 NCAA Tournament team. “We treated this game like it was a real game.”

Twelve of 15 UH players suited up, and 11 saw action. Senior forward Mike Thomas (wrist) will miss the season as a redshirt. Freshman guard Drew Buggs (knee) has an uncertain return timetable. And freshman forward Zigmars Raimo is suspended through the opener against SIUE for a violation of team rules, UH said.

The Seasiders hoisted 3s aplenty in an attempt to stay in the game. They buried 16 (in 41 attempts), including 10 in the second half. It wasn’t nearly enough as the lead swelled to 29.

“We gotta find our identity defensively, especially defending the 3,” Ganot said.

UH countered by going 52-16 in points in the paint and plus-17 on the boards (47-30) against the smallish Seasiders.

“It’s just their length; we’re so small,” BYUH coach Gabe Roberts said. “That’s one of the big differences between Division I and Division II basketball, the size difference. They were killing us on the rebounds offensively and defensively.”

BYUH recently lost two projected starters to injuries and another to early graduation.

The Laie school’s top returnee, guard Tanner Nelson, scored 17 points on 7-for-17 shooting. Guard Shad Watson hit six 3s and scored a game-high 21 off the bench, while Bailey Kikuchi added 12 points and six assists.

UH’s Green banked in his first shot, a wing 3-pointer, and the true freshman nailed four of his next five before the break. The Rainbow Warriors cruised to a 44-30 halftime lead on 56.3 percent shooting.