Hawaii eager to put its bad showing against UC Santa Barbara behind

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ANDREW LEE / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

Brocke Stepteau and the rest of the Hawaii men’s basketball team were overwhelmed the last time they took the floor.

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For Tuesday’s scheduled trip to the mainland, each Hawaii basketball player was given a bento of chicken, teriyaki beef, Spam and rice.

That might not have been enough to satisfy a team hungering to rebound from this past weekend’s loss to UC Santa Barbara.

“We’re really motivated,” UH post player Zigmars Raimo said of the Rainbow Warriors’ games against Long Beach State on Thursday and UC Irvine on Saturday. “We have to prove to our fans we’re better than that.”

Against UC Santa Barbara the ’Bows trailed 30-26 at the intermission, then were outscored 45-28 in the second half. The Gauchos hit 65.4 percent of their second-half shots. Freshman Amadou Sow dominated the post, scoring 20 points on hooks and layups off spin moves. The ’Bows missed 17 of 22 shots from behind the arc.

“We always start with giving (the opponent) credit, and then, ‘What can we do better?’” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “They just outplayed us in every facet, I thought, during the game, after the game, and then watching film.”

In a scheduling quirk, the ’Bows will play Long Beach State for the second time in eight days. The ’Bows won a week ago, 74-57, in the Stan Sheriff Center.

The ’Bows will have played LBSU and Irvine twice before playing Cal Poly once.

“I think every year we’ve had something similar,” Ganot said of the schedule. “Either way, you’re going to be familiar with each other because it’s conference play. We have to respond after a tough setback the other day. But that’s the nature of what we signed up for.”

The ’Bows are seeking to regain their 3-point aim. Through the first 19 games, the ’Bows connected on 34.8 percent of their 3-point shots. In the past two games, they have hit 12 of 50 (24 percent) from long distance. Their three most prolific outside shooters — Jack Purchase, Eddie Stansberry and Brocke Stepteau — were a combined 8-for-30 (26.7 percent) on 3s the past two games. Purchase was hindered against UCSB when he was assessed two early fouls in a first half in which he did not launch a shot.

“We took some tough shots,” Ganot said of the UCSB loss. “It probably was one of those games where we took the most bad shots we ever had.”

Samuta Avea, a reserve who has hit four of his last six 3s, noted that “these are key games for us. We know where everything lies right now. We know what we need to do. We’re coming with a chip on our shoulder, coming off how we lost the last game. I’d say it’s a really fired-up group right now.”