IRVINE, CALIF. >> Not a lot needed to be said between one of the few holdover Hawaii basketball players to win the Big West tournament last March, and the rest of the Rainbow Warriors roster.
“Everybody pretty much knows what’s coming. Everybody knows it’s going to be tough,” sophomore guard Sheriff Drammeh said on the eve of the 2017 hunger games at the Honda Center. “Long Beach wants it, we want it.”
Fifth-seeded UH (14-15) meets No. 4 Long Beach State (14-18) for the third straight year in the single-elimination tournament. The teams split the season series, including a nine-point 49ers win last Saturday in the regular-season finale in the Walter Pyramid, solidifying a high-stakes rematch between the teams.
UH might bear little resemblance to its championship outfit of a year ago — when it beat LBSU 64-60 in the championship game — but Eran Ganot’s group has all the motivation it could want to win three times in three days and defend the school’s first conference tournament championship in 14 years.
Long Beach might possess even more in the motivation department.
“Hawaii’s been the one that’s knocked us out of the tournament the last two years,” LBSU coach Dan Monson said this week. “So we have great respect for them and certainly not a draw you want, but … you’ve got to play who’s in front of you and so, we’ll show up Thursday.”
UH sophomore forward Jack Purchase, the team’s top perimeter threat and third-leading scorer, has made strides in the few days since rolling his right ankle going for a rebound at LBSU. He’s still considered questionable to play today.
The ’Bows benefit from playing the last game of the day; it’s bought Purchase a few more precious hours to improve.
“I think the next 24 hours will be critical. Either way we’ll be prepared,” Ganot said prior to Wednesday’s afternoon practice at Irvine Valley College.
Monson said Purchase’s injury exit was a big reason the 49ers held on to win last week.
“I think he brings another guard at 6-9,” Monson said. “It’s another guy that stretches the defense that you have to guard on the perimeter. The biggest thing we struggle with is protecting the paint and keeping people out of the paint all year. Now he drags another guy out of the paint, and it opens things up for everybody. He’s a huge dimension for them.”
Inconsistency has haunted both teams this season. LBSU unquestionably has more weapons at its disposal, but as was seen in UH’s 114-107 overtime win in Honolulu on Jan. 14, the 49ers can be downright disinterested in defense for whole swaths of games.
UH doesn’t want to get caught up in an end-to-end contest with LBSU. Instead, the team wants to pick its spots on the fast break when hit with overcommitted full-court pressure.
“Can we push, and push with poise?” Ganot said.
Not allowing The Beach to bask in the paint is also paramount, while UH must also be mindful of shooters like Justin Bibbins, Evan Payne and Noah Blackwell. No easy task for a group with suspect frontcourt depth.
Burly forward Temidayo Yussuf’s 9-for-9 outing against the ’Bows on Saturday was the second-best shooting performance in LBSU history, behind Mate Milisa’s 13-for-13 in 1999.
Behind that performance, Yussuf (9.4 ppg) led BWC players in shooting in conference play at 57.8 percent.
“They’re a very high-octane offensive team,” UH top scorer Noah Allen said. “That’s the type of players that they have. They want to score. They have shooters that if you don’t have your hand up, they’re letting it fly and they’ll knock down those shots. Just come with a more defensive mentality and understand if we want to win the game, that’s where we have to hang our hat.”
There are only a few holdover players from last year’s Big West championship group on the road trip: Drammeh, Brocke Stepteau, Zach Buscher and the redshirting Mike Thomas.
“The stories they have from last year are exciting. You can see the smiles on their faces,” forward Gibson Johnson said. “With me having a similar feeling last year (winning a JUCO championship with Salt Lake Community College), I feel I can pull from that energy and it helps me play harder.”
UH has played the same team in three straight conference tournaments only once: Tulsa in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
UH BASKETBALL TIPOFF
Today, 6:30 p.m. at Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif.
No. 5 Hawaii (14-15) vs. No. 4 Long Beach State (14-18)
TV: Fox Sports Prime Ticket
Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
Series: LBSU leads 13-10
Projected starting lineups
Hawaii
Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl.
PG 2 Brocke Stepteau 5-9 160 So.
SG 23 Sheriff Drammeh 6-3 160 So.
SF 32 Noah Allen 6-7 215 Sr.
PF 12 Jack Purchase 6-8 200 So.
PF 21 Gibson Johnson 6-8 220 Jr.
When Hawaii has the ball
Purchase helps make everything go with his floor-spacing marksmanship, and if UH has a limited or unavailable Purchase today, it will make things interesting. Freshman forward Zigmars Raimo, one of the few ’Bows inclined to bang bodies with the 49ers, is the next man up in such a scenario. Someone else, like Green or Stepteau, will have to hit more than their share of 3s to force LBSU to extend their defense, opening up avenues for Allen.
Long Beach State
Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl.
G 21 Justin Bibbins 5-8 150 Jr.
G 1 Evan Payne 6-1 190 Jr.
G 3 Noah Blackwell 6-2 190 So.
F 23 Roschon Prince 6-6 235 Jr.
F 4 Temidayo Yussuf 6-7 250 So.
When LBSU has the ball
The 49ers want to establish deep post position by beating the Rainbow Warriors to spots; once Prince, Yussuf and Mason Riggins get there, they’re very difficult to dislodge. Blackwell, Bibbins and Payne each shoot north of 36 percent on 3s and thrive in the open court. But LBSU, the highest-scoring team in the conference (75.6 ppg) has a tendency of falling into periods of poor shot selection.
