Ganot appreciates crowd, wishes it were larger

Hawaii coach Eran Ganot appreciates the fans who’ve shown up for this year’s one-for-all, all-for-one brand of Rainbow Warrior basketball.

He’d also appreciate more of them for the remaining five contests in the Stan Sheriff Center, including Saturday’s matchup with contending Cal State Fullerton.

UH (13-5 overall) is riding a four-game winning streak to claim sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference at 4-1.

Ganot was animated, by his monk-like standards, on the sideline in Saturday’s 77-72 win over UC Davis, which gave the Rainbows the top spot in the conference. The season’s second-largest crowd was on hand, 4,828 through the turnstiles (6,581 tickets issued).

His energy carried over to the very end of the postgame press conference.

“I’ll always take the opportunity to thank our fans. I think our fans have been tremendous. Today was a factor again,” Ganot said, independent of any question on crowd size. He pounded the interview table twice.

“People should come support this team,” he continued. “Obviously, I get it. You always want to support a winner. And we’re doing that. But, Hawaii is a special place, because I’ve said more than any other place, our people in Hawaii support effort and team. And our team is doing that at a maximum level. And that’s why we’re having the success we’ve had. And including the turnout we had tonight, that is a factor. And we have a big game Saturday. And I usually don’t say stuff like this, but we need that. This program is built on team and the locker room and out there (the court). So I can’t thank them enough.”

The numbers bear out the general sense in the arena that, compared to Ganot’s first two seasons, the crowds have lagged for a team that has won by committee instead of relying on a star player or two. Forward Mike Thomas leads the team with 12.3 points per game.

In 15 games in the Sheriff this season, UH has averaged just 3,351 through the turnstiles. Last year, when the ’Bows went 14-16 overall but had a singular star in Noah Allen, it was 3,799 in 19 home games. For Ganot’s first season, the Big West champion ’Bows of 2015-16 welcomed 5,223 in 20 contests, including crowds upwards of 6,000 in the last seven games of the year.

This year’s nonconference schedule, which drew some criticism for its overall strength, featured several smallish crowds. Fewer than 3,000 people attended games against North Dakota, Troy, Adams State, Prairie View A&M, Hawaii Hilo, Utah Valley, and Princeton on Christmas morning.

Attendance has started to come around; more than 4,400 people came for wins over UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis the past two Saturdays.

The remaining home games are: Saturday vs. Fullerton; Feb. 7 vs. UC Riverside; Feb. 10 vs. Cal State Northridge; Feb. 22 vs. Long Beach State; and Feb. 24 senior night vs. UC Irvine.