Rainbow Warriors basketball team falls flat in Irvine

IRVINE, Calif. >> One of Hawaii’s worst offensive performances in any first half this season doomed the Rainbow Warriors’ chances of defeating the Big West Conference’s leading team Saturday night.

The visitors scored only five points in a span of nearly 11 minutes during a 67-56 loss to UC Irvine in front of 3,524 at the Bren Events Center and an ESPN3 television audience.

Jack Purchase and Sheriff Drammeh each scored 11 points to lead UH (14-9, 5-4). Purchase needs only one more 3-point basket to tie the program’s career record, Zane Johnson’s 180 baskets from 3-point range.

Yet neither Purchase’s nor Drammeh’s performances compensated for a devastating opening half.

“We knew what they were going to do; we just weren’t ready for it,” forward Zigmars Raimo said. “We didn’t come out ready and we missed some wide-open shots, as well.”

As a result, the ’Bows barely surpassed their poorest start to any game this season.

On Nov. 11, the ’Bows made just five of 24 shots while scoring 17 first-half points in a 68-51 loss to North Texas at the Stan Sheriff Center. On Saturday night, UH managed 18 points and made only one more basket in 24 attempts.

The turning point began 5:05 into the game, after Eddie Stansberry’s 3-pointer narrowed the Anteaters’ lead to 8-7. But the ’Bows added just five more points — and only one basket — in the ensuing 10:55, and Irvine (21-5, 9-1) built a 24-12 advantage with 4:35 before halftime.

The Anteaters’ rebounding dominance made matters worse. Irvine out-rebounded the visitors 6-3 under their own glass in the first half, with 6-foot-9 Elston Jones and 6-foot-10 Jonathan Galloway grabbing five defensive rebounds apiece. Jones finished the half with seven total rebounds, while Galloway added six, as Irvine took a 33-18 halftime lead.

“They made their presence felt and they also out-worked us,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “It’s a factor on the glass and it’s a factor around the rim on finishes. I think there were times when our bigs got the same drop-offs as their bigs did. They finished; we didn’t. That’s a big difference in the game.

“It’s a hard team to score on, and it’s certainly harder when we play with no purpose, no execution. We didn’t screen, we didn’t set up our cuts and we didn’t finish around the rim.”

But the second half proved to be different.

“In the second half, we played with greater energy, greater poise,” Ganot said. “We set screens, we set up our cuts and we ran in transition. That was more Hawaii basketball offensively in the second half.”

The ’Bows began that half with a 14-5 surge that drew them to 38-32 with 15:20 to play. But the Anteaters used Jones’ hook shot and Eyassu Worku’s 3-pointer to extend the margin to 43-32 with 13:55 left.

Six minutes later, Drew Buggs’ teardrop jumper and Drammeh’s 3-point shot enabled UH to narrow the deficit to 52-46 with 7:18 remaining. But Irvine’s Max Hazzard made a driving lay-in and a driving bank shot within 33 seconds, then Galloway ended the 6-0 burst with a slam dunk that put the hosts ahead 58-46 with 4:59 to play.

“In the second half, we showed that we could fight back,” Raimo said. “We played with more energy, more passion. It was a game-changer. But it was too late.”

Hazzard led all scorers with 13 points, Galloway contributed 13 rebounds and Jones finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Though UH committed just nine turnovers, that statistic merely reinforced Ganot’s frustration.

“We did take care of the ball, but we didn’t defend or rebound,” Ganot said.”You’ve got to do three things and we did one of them.”