Kyle Allman Jr. lived up to his surname — all man — the last time he faced Hawaii.
The Cal State Fullerton junior guard had one of the all-time great performances at the Stan Sheriff Center on Jan. 27. He shot 16-for-19 from the field for 40 points, one off the building scoring record.
That 69-66 comeback win by the Titans, from down 11 points in the second half, sent UH down a dark path it has trod often since, including in a 70-59 loss at UC Davis on Thursday in which the Rainbow Warriors couldn’t recover from a woeful 21-point first half.
Sixth-place UH (16-12, 7-8 Big West) flew from Sacramento, Calif., down to Los Angeles on Friday and got in a practice at Titan Gym to prepare for this afternoon’s rematch and regular-season finale.
UH BASKETBALL
>> Hawaii (16-12, 7-8 Big West) at Cal State Fullerton (17-10, 10-5)
>> When: Today, 1 p.m., at Titan Gym, Fullerton, Calif.
>> TV: Fox Sports Prime Ticket
>> Radio: KKEA, 1420-AM
>> Series: UH leads 12-4
The 6-foot-3 Allman, of Brooklyn, can potentially become Big West player of the year with another dominant performance heading into next week’s Big West tournament in Anaheim, Calif. He eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in CSUF’s emphatic 102-76 win at Cal State Northridge on Wednesday — the Titans’ fifth victory in six games — scoring 23 and raising his Big West-leading average to 19.5.
“I’m glad he’s done it to other teams, too,” UH coach Eran Ganot quipped in a phone interview.
“I don’t think we’ve had (another) performance like that against us,” he added of his three-year UH tenure. “And we’ve played some of the leading scorers in the country. … Allman changed the game.”
Ganot credited him as “rightfully a player of the year candidate if not the player of the year” and “probably the best two-way player.”
UH could see him again next week. The top four teams — UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara and Fullerton — are all first-round opponent possibilities. Fullerton (17-10, 10-5) can finish as high as second, which would be a first since 2011-12.
The Rainbows held CSUF’s No. 2 scorer, guard Khalil Ahmad, scoreless in Honolulu. Because of Allman’s brilliance, it didn’t matter.
Coach Dedrique Taylor said to Titans athletics after Wednesday’s season-high point total, “I told the guys, as long as they are engaged mentally, they play hard and they share the basketball, then we can play longer in the tournament.”
The ’Bows need a win, and a Long Beach State senior night loss to UC Riverside to tie the 49ers for fifth (UH owns the tiebreaker) and move into the 4-5 pairing in the Big West first round.
Otherwise, UH is the sixth seed. The Rainbows haven’t finished below fifth, or had a losing conference record, in six seasons of Big West play.
In a testament to UH’s inconsistency, if it wins today, it will have beaten everyone in the league once and lost to everyone once. Ganot said he was focused on today’s game and not tourney scenarios.
“I don’t know if there’s an advantage or disadvantage if you play anybody,” he said.
Point guard Drew Buggs bears watching. The freshman sat out the second half at Davis with his right wrist wrapped. He is one of only three ’Bows to play in every game this season.
“He hurt his wrist in the first half and it became clear he couldn’t go in the second,” Ganot said. “We’re seeing how he progresses today and tomorrow and kind of going from there.”
Sheriff Drammeh was assessed a technical foul in the comeback bid when he barked at a referee after a second-half 3-pointer, which came immediately after a no-call on a drive. It had the effect of giving back two of the three points, a costly mistake.
Drammeh has four of his team’s eight technicals this season (Jack Purchase has three and Ganot was assessed one). All but one have come in conference play.
“I think there have been cases where some weren’t warranted but there’s been enough where it’s a concern,” Ganot said. “We gotta play with passion and composure.”
Bucknell in for Saint Mary’s in 2018 DHC
The Bucknell Bison of the Patriot League have replaced Saint Mary’s of the West Coast Conference in the eight-team field of the 2018 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, UH and event-runner ESPN announced Friday.
Saint Mary’s, a two-time DHC participant, withdrew because of a scheduling conflict, ESPN said. Bucknell made five NCAA Tournament trips and three more NIT appearances in the past 13 years, and is 22-9 this season.
The rest of the December field is Charlotte, Colorado, Indiana State, Rhode Island, TCU, UNLV and host Hawaii.
